Prayers Needed

I'm hoping I can write this blog quickly as I need to "try" and go to sleep this evening. I am very worried about Annabelle, so we need all of the prayers that we can get! I'm hoping I am just being an overprotective and over worried Mommy.

Annabelle developed hives this weekend after visiting the Yellow River Game Ranch (a petting zoo). I originally thought the hives were mosquito bites or an allergic reaction to a lotion or something that her Nana Janet (a friend from Boston) was wearing.

On Saturday evening, she fell and skinned her knee. It was nothing serious. It was a short cry, and I cleaned it with Hydrogen Peroxide and then put some Polysporin on it after we got home (about 30 minutes later).

She woke up on Sunday, and the hives had spread. Her eye lid was swollen as well (not swollen shut though, and not swollen very badly). So, I gave her some Zyrtec at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday. Dr. Calk had recommended this with the last rash she had. The Zyrtec seemed to work as the hives diminished shortly after she had the Zyrtec.

This morning when she woke up, her hives were no longer, but she now had a rash that had spread all over her body, but mostly on her face, inside her ears (where you can see by just looking at her), and on her bottom area. So, I gave her another dose of Zyrtec. The rash began to diminish again, but it did not completely disappear.

So, this evening, I checked her out again, and I noticed that the rash seemed to be getting worse again, but it was slowly getting worse. So, I decided to get her ready for bed, and I decided I would check on her later this evening after she had fallen asleep.

I left her in her crib around 9:05 p.m. She was fussing, but I let her cry a little because it wasn't a bloody scream, and I seriously thought this child was learning how to manipulate me to allow her to sleep in our bed with me again (since hubby is out of town). She got to sleep with us on Saturday night because she had a very long day, and she would not let me lay her down without screaming. However, last night (Sunday night), she slept in her crib.

I checked on her again between 9:15 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. only to realize that I had forgotten to give her the water I normally give her at night in the crib. She was asking for "Juice Mama, Juice." So, I gave her the juice, but she started doing her swaying and singing, "da da da da da," to let me know that she wanted to be rocked. So, I picked her up and rocked her.

I laid her back down around 9:45 p.m., but when I left the room, she screamed bloody murder. I let her cry for 5 minutes until I heard her at the door crying, "Boo boo hurt, Mommy, boo boo hurt."

When I went in to check on her, she was burning up and sweating. It was as if she had broken a fever, but when I laid her down only 5 minutes before, she did not feel like she had a fever. I can only suspect it was from all of the screaming she had done when I left her for the 5 minutes.

So, I pulled her out of the crib and stood her on the floor. I told her she could pick out some books to put in her crib to read, so she walked from the crib to the book shelf on the other side of the room to pick out a book. She limped all the way. I thought once again that she was being manipulative. Sounds silly, right? Well, we were with her Nana Janet and Papa Bill this weekend, and Papa Bill has arthritis in his knees, so he sort of walks with a limp. They compared boo boos on Sunday and Monday because they both had band aids on their knees. So, I honestly thought she had decided to limp like Papa Bill.

Then, after she reached her crib and put her book in the crib, she would not walk anywhere else. She wanted me to get things for her. When I tried to persuade her to move, she just screamed.

She got a bowel movement, so I laid her down and changed her diaper. I took her temperature then too, and it was 98.7 degrees F. After I changed her diaper, she didn't want me to fasten the diaper back on. And, she would not move! She laid on the floor for an hour without moving. When I asked her what was hurting, she pointed to her knee and said "boo boo." At one point (before I laid her on the floor), she pointed to her tongue and head when I asked her what hurt. She also kept putting her fingers in her ears.

She tinkled while she was laying on the floor too, and she moved her legs as if it hurt to tinkle, so maybe she just has another bladder infection. This is one thought that crosses my mind.

I finally called the doctor's office at 10:36 p.m., and I waited 30 minutes for a nurse to call me back. She ran through her list of questions which included making sure that the rash disappeared when I stretched her skin (which it didn't on only one spot). However, the bump was raised so she said that as long as it was raised, I wouldn't need to see anyone on the rash issue tonight. However, she was concerned about the joint pain, so she wanted me to speak with a doctor.

By the way, it wasn't just Annabelle's scraped knee that was hurting her. If I moved or touched either knee, leg or foot, she would cry and say, "No, boo boo Mama, boo boo." Very strange. And, now that I'm thinking about it, I think she complained that her hands were hurting her too.

Shortly before the nurse called, I moved Annabelle to our bed to sleep. I asked her if she wanted to move to our bed to sleep, and this time, she did not jump all over the chance to move. She didn't want to move at all! She cried for a good 5 minutes after I moved her.

The nurse asked if I had given her anything. I told her I wanted to give her Tylenol, but I had waited because I wasn't sure if they were going to recommend Benadryl, and I wasn't sure if both could be given at the same time. Apparently, you can give them both Benadryl and Tylenol at the same time. She recommended I give her a teaspoon of the Motrin I had on hand though. So, I gave her a dose around 11:30 p.m. She was asleep within 10 minutes.

Candace with the doctor's office called back at 11:55 p.m. She said that she definitely needed to see someone, but she thought it could wait until the morning since Annabelle was sleeping and seemed comfortable. She asked if Annabelle was in daycare or had been around other children. I told her that we went to the library for story time last week, but she hasn't seen any other children since. She said it sounded like Strep. Then she said, "Let's hope it is Strep because that is an easy fix." She said that rashes and sore joints are common with Strep.

So, all that being said, I guess we should "hope it is Strep." However, my motherly instinct tells me that it is not Strep. I guess I hope I'm wrong since that is apparently the easy fix.

However, I pulled out my American Academy of Pediatrics book before I spoke with Candace and then started surfing the internet after I spoke with her, and the other diagnoses don't look too good nor do they look easy to diagnose (for sore joints and rashes). I am really worried that this is something more serious, so we really need all of the thoughts and prayers we can get.

I know Annabelle is a fighter, but I don't ever want to see her in a lot of pain again (or any pain for that matter).

Did I mention that hubby is out of town? He feels awful, and he offered to catch a plane home tonight. I told him that was silly because it could just be Strep as the nurse mentioned. He said he "feels awful because he cannot do anything to help her and make her feel better." He's doing his job supporting a family though so that I am able to be home with her, so he really should not be so hard on himself. He's a great Daddy, and I know he'd be here in a heartbeat (or a plane ride) if we seriously needed him. But, right now, we'll just take one day at a time.

Okay, it is 1:33 a.m., and I am off to bed! I started this blog entry at 1:00 am. (even though I changed the date and time to correspond with yesterday). I'm hoping I can actually get some rest. I just heard Annabelle cry out a little bit, so I hope she's not hurting.