Strep

Well, we *almost* made it three years without ever needing an antibiotic (unless you count that antibiotic Vandy Children's gave her when they admitted her after birth that caused kidney failure).

Tuesday morning, Etta was a little "off", but I didn't think too much of it. I took her to school and picked her up three hours later. Her teachers didn't indicate anything was wrong with her, but I noted a single BIG cough as we were leaving (allergies, I thought). She fell asleep on the ride home and actually transferred from the car seat to her bed! When she woke up a couple hours later, she was crying and she had a fever. She was generally fussy and continued to cry most of the evening. Around 6:00, she threw up all over the couch. Keith gave her a bath, and she went to bed. Tylenol wasn't doing much for that fever.

Wednesday morning, Etta woke up around 6:00 and threw up again. I changed her bedding and she went back to sleep until about 8:30. Still had a moderate fever. I had to call and cancel some therapy evaluations with the school system. I also had to let my mom know that we would not be travelling home to Alabama that day as we had planned to do. Etta didn't feel well all day and the fever continued, but she never threw up again. She took long naps and we wiped her snotty nose. She didn't want to eat much, but I was managing to get fluids in her. When I gave her a lukewarm bath that night, I noticed that the trunk of her body was splotchy red and her normally light pink birthmarks were bright red. I wondered to myself if this was "scarlet fever", which is usually associated with Strep Throat.

So, I called first thing Thursday morning and got in to see her pediatrician. She confirmed strep and prescribed some amoxicillin- Etta's very first antibiotic! We've been pretty lucky that she is a generally healthy kid. I think many parents go into the pediatrician's office HOPING for strep because it's something that can be treated with an antibiotic (as opposed to "it's a virus, you'll just have to let it run its course"). So, we left and had her prescription filled and came home. I dosed her right away and she HATES the stuff! She takes most medicines without a problem and even this stuff I can usually get the first teaspoon down her throat, but it calls for two teaspoons twice a day for 10 days. YIKES! I should have asked them to flavor it! So, she went down for a nap around noon and slept until nearly 5:00! Then she was up for about 3 and a half hours and put herself to bed at 8:30.

She still looks pretty pitiful today. She's got this awful dry cough and her nose is raw from all the snot wiping and she's got these awful dark circles under her eyes and her lips are a little chapped. She still has a fever, though it feels more "low grade" and her skin doesn't seem as red. Keith and I are both terribly paranoid that we've caught this from her. We keep thinking we might have sore throats and Keith keeps insisting that he's running a fever (though the thermometer says his temp is exactly 98.5 degrees- lol). I really don't see how I haven't caught it, but we'll know in a few days... In the meantime, I'm Cloroxing amd Lysoling...