Heart Follow-Up and Hives

Back in our home state we scooped up our babies and there was a whirl of hugs and kisses.  Lila was a little flushed and had a red dry place on her cheek.  We didn't think much of it but I did rub a little ointment on it that night before bed.  

On Sunday she woke up with a low grade fever, but was acting chirpy.  Her follow-up appointment for her heart was the following day (Monday) so we kept her comfortable and hydrated and she didn't have any other issues.  

The night before her outbreak

Monday morning, I went to her room to wake her and both of her eyes were so swollen she could only see through tiny slits between her eyelids.  Her face was super puffy and red.  Between her swollen face and eyes, she didn't look at all like herself.  I calmly yelled for Scott to come to her room, and like me, he took a look at her, took a deep breath and in a calm soothing voice started talking to her.  

She didn't fuss about not being able to see, but she did say her skin was itchy.  We had her swallow and asked how her throat felt. She said her throat was fine (we were worried about air flow) and her breathing did sound completely normal.  We looked over her body and she was covered in a red rash.  90% of her body was red.  I got her dressed, hopped in the car, and we headed to her pediatricians office.  Thankfully we had the early appointment, so it worked out perfect.

In the Drs office they took one look at my swollen baby and immediately got us in a room.  The Dr came in and looked over our sweet girl.  After examining her little body, she confirmed that Lila had hives, and was reacting to the amoxicillin.  I mentioned that she had taken amoxicilin twice before in her life and had zero issue.  The Dr explained that it is very common for a child to handle a medicine/substance a few times before a reaction presents itself.  She said at this time, we would not perform an allergy test, but she would make a note in her file and we would look at it further in the future.  

The Dr. looked in Lila's ears, the reason for our initial appointment the week prior, and luckily the amoxiciln had cleared her ears, the fluid was completely gone.  They listened to her heart and stated that all sounds of the murmur were gone.  Her heart was beating exactly as it should be.  If you could look past the hives and swelling, she was perfectly healthy.  

She could have asked for a pony after her

Dr appointment and I would have got her one.  

Luckily, all she wanted was a donut

The Dr wasn't concerned with her throat closing up.  I was instructed to throw away the remainder of the amoxicilin and unless Lila wanted medicine for itchy-ness, she wasn't going to give her anything at this point.  I was instructed to watch her the rest of the day and as the medicine worked its way out of her body, the hives would go away.  The swelling even started subsiding by the time we left the Drs office.  

After her appointment she wanted a donut and chocolate milk.  I have never been so happy to buy her a sugary treat.  Her hives were still quite noticeable and I was caught off guard by the number of strangers that came up and talked to Lila, telling her she was a pretty little girl or that they loved her headband.  It was then I realized that to an outsider, she looked like she had a severe skin issue.  These strangers were going out of their way to tell a little girl how pretty she looked, despite the angry red splotches that covered her skin.  I was so touched and it was hard to keep tears at bay as stranger after stranger spoke to her.  Of course Lila had no idea why everyone was talking to her and just kind of stared at them.  

After a few days, Lila's skin was back to normal.  Within a week we went from worrying about her hearing, to worrying about her heart, to worrying about hives.  It was a rough week, but in the end, we have our healthy girl....and that's worth all the worry in the world.