Yesterday, I seriously thought was the scariest day ever. That dealing with an allergic reaction for my sweet girl was as bad as it could have gotten. I was wrong!
This morning Sam woke up around 2:20am. I was going to wake her at 2 for her Benadryl, but decided to let her sleep. Instead she woke up twenty minutes later screaming! I went and got her only to realize that her hives had spread to her face, hands, and feet. It was terrible, but looked like her belly was clearing up so I was hopeful since the doctor said it would probably spread before it got better. We watched a couple of episodes of Sesame Street and around 5:30 Sam finally fell back to sleep after some prednisone, benadryl, motrin and another oatmeal bath.
She woke up at 7:30 which is when I called Patrick to make sure he was awake so he wouldn’t miss his flight. I got her up, she looked red still, and her hands and feet were swollen but not much change. I gave her some more medicine and we spent the morning eating yogurt and watching Mickey.
She ate some lunch and took a nap around noon. When she woke up the hives had spread up to her eyes, and her hands and feet looked even more swollen. I called her doctor and told her what was going on. She seemed concerned but told me to give Sam her next dose of benadryl and to call back if it got worse. Well, it got worse. Sam fell asleep for a few minutes on the couch. When she woke up her eyes were almost swollen shut, and her feel were so swollen she didn’t want to walk. She kept asking me to pick her up, the best part is that she pointed to the microwave and asked for “chichen” aka chicken nuggets. She ate 5 of those while I called the pediatrician again. I heard the words from the nurse that I dreaded. “Take her to the Pediatric ER at Huntsville Hospital as soon as you can”. I hung up the phone and immediately started sobbing. Sam leaned over and patted me on the cheek to tell me it was alright. I debated on whether I should call Patrick before he boarded his last plane, or just wait until he was in Huntsville to tell him. I decided that he needed to know what was going on. I called Patrick, who was boarding his flight in Atlanta to come home, and told him that we needed to take Sam to the ER after I picked him up from the airport. He told me he could get a ride with a coworker, and told me to go ahead. I packed Sam up and headed to the ER.
This was the longest 45 minute drive ever! Sam had kicked her mirror so I couldn’t see her sad puffy face, so the only way I could tell she was still breathing was from the sucking sound from her paci. Our wait at the ER wasn’t long, we were seen by the doctor within half an hour, and he seemed to think that she might not have an allergy to penicillin but might have been caused from the initial virus that turned into her ear infection. Patrick came walking in with bags and all straight from the airport, and took one look at her and tried to force a smile. My heart broke as I saw the tears fall from his face. I tried to warn him how bad it was, but seeing her in person I think it just sunk in how serious it really was. He gave her a shot of epinephrine and some more steroids to help with the swelling and itching. He said to keep doing what we were doing to make her comfortable, but that we should notice a difference in a few minutes, and they kept her a little while to make sure her heart rate stayed normal. She was shaking a good bit, and figured that it was due to the prednisone. We got discharged with a prescription for more steroids, and the recommendation to follow up with our pediatrician on Monday.
When we got home Patrick’s parents were here. They had gone and gotten us dinner which was much appreciated. Sam ate some mashed potatoes and gravy, she had been yelling “eat eat” at the hospital but we didn’t want to feed her while she was being treated and stuck with apple juice. Slowly the swelling started going down, and the redness faded in streaks. She did develop a fever of 100 after we left the ER, but I gave her some more benadryl and motrin to help. My mom and nephews and oldest sister came by too to check on us. The boys were so sweet, they could not stand that they couldn’t see her, and you know that my mom was dying not being here! Patrick and I took am to get her a cool oatmeal bath, and for the first time ever she screamed the whole time as she shook with chills. We got her dressed and cuddled and she seemed to start feeling better. She danced around with the boys, folded laundry with our moms, and ran around for a bit. I got a call from Linsie to check on Sam, and took the chance to talk and breathe, she calmed me down which is something I hadn’t been able to do all day. I hate that my best friend lives so far away, but am so blessed to have her in my life. We said our goodbyes to our families, and laid Sam down around 11, which is way past her 8 o'clock bedtime.
Tonight we are just praying for a good night. Praying for no more flare ups. Praying for no more fever. Praying that our sweet girl will get well. Thank you to all of those who are praying with us. We appreciate it more than you will ever know.
********************************************************************
Dear God,
Thank you for all that you do for us. Thank you for our sweet precious little girl, and for letting her sweetness shine through this whole ordeal. Thank you for the doctors and nurses who took care of her today. Thank you for letting Patrick get home at the toughest time of my life. Thank you for our family and friends who have been praying for our sweet girl. Thank you for watching over us. Please continue to heal Samantha, and let us all feel your comfort. Please give Patrick and I the strength to handle this. Please continue to watch over us and let us feel your presence.
AMEN
********************************************************************
You poor thing, what a scary thing to go through! I'm so glad Sam is feeling better and will be thinking of you today. (Take time to relax and take care of yourself, you deserve it!)
ReplyDeleteIt breaks my heart reading this. I am glad she is feeling better though. I can't imagine how scary it was. Know that so many people are thinking and praying for you guys.
ReplyDelete