Rash

WARNING: Yes, this post will be very long. And yes, there will be several pictures showing this awful rash. Be prepared!!!

As mentioned in an earlier post, Kye has been sick for the first time in his life. I also have been sick. I got sick the day after we got Kye on antibiotics (amoxicillin) for his sickness and I was sick all through our trip to Amelia Island. Then I felt a little better for a couple days then got all new symptoms and was sick throughout our trip to Melbourne for “Easter.” Kye finished up the antibiotics on Sunday (while we were in Melbourne) and seemed to be doing fine. We got home and life went on and Monday I called his doctor who prescribed me a z-pack for my sickness (without me having to go in…how awesome is that!?!). I still felt bad and the z-pack thing made me feel very nauseous that night when I took the first dose.

Tuesday morning I woke up feeling a little better but still not 100%. Kye seemed fine but felt a little warm and had a temperature of 99.0 (which is pretty much the highest he’s ever had). I hoped it was just teething (still only has 4 and I can see several near the surface waiting to pop on through) and I put him down for his nap. About 20 min into his nap he woke up bawling and when I went to him he was sweaty and felt kinda clammy so I got a cool washcloth and stayed with him for an hour comforting him. At 10:30 I got him out of his crib and when I turned the lights on I noticed tiny little spots on him.

First thought was chicken pox but he’s had the vaccine so my second thought was allergic to something? I really wasn’t sure but I called the dr and sat on hold for a LONG time. When I got through I described his symptoms and they told me it was something viral and that they would call in a prescription for him. This was around noon and since I didn’t know what he had I didn’t feel comfortable taking him anywhere. Zach had left for out of town UNTIL THURSDAY so I was stuck dealing with it on my own (double BOO!!!)! He wasn’t warm at all but was VERY clingy and fussy so I treated him like any sick child should be treated: I spoiled him! I never allow tv watching and I never allow the paci outside the crib. But don’t we ALL remember being sick as children? What was the best part? Our moms cuddling with us on the couch watching tv! I LOVED it and Kye did too! We spent most of the afternoon cuddling together watching Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (I haven’t even seen the first one but I had this randomly on my DVR so I figured it would be pretty PG rated! haha)

he was so cute trying to drink the sippy WITH his paci in!

Thankfully Mrs. Charlotte came by around 5 and brought the prescription for me. When I took him outside to meet her I realized the rash had gotten worse:

I wanted to wait until he had some food on his stomach for the medicine (which was Atarax) and gave it to him at 6:30. Here’s what he looked like at dinner:

About 15 minutes later I had my child back! He seemed SO much better and happier and sweet and fun. I put him down for bed and felt good about everything. I thought he’d be better in the morning and that it would be gone. At 11:30 (again Zach is gone so I’m on night duty which isn’t the norm for me) he woke up and it’d been 5 hours since the meds so I gave him another dose. He slept until 6 and then woke up and wouldn’t go back to sleep. This isn’t normal for him as typically he sleeps from 7:15 until 7:15 without us ever having to go in his room. While it was still dark in his room while I tried to comfort him I could feel his face and tell it was worse. I didn’t realize how much worse until I went in at 7:15 (he did fall back asleep at 6:45 so we both got a bonus 30 min!) and saw him:

I have to say here that I’m proud of myself. I really handle situations like these well. I DID NOT panic! Not one bit. The plan for the day was that I was going to take him to Mrs. Charlotte’s so I could go get my teeth cleaned (I already canceled one appointment when Uncle Spear passed away) and then run some errands without having to have him with me. Obviously those plans needed to change. I calmly called Mrs. Charlotte and told her that I was going to take him to the walk-in clinic. After he got done eating he went in the bathroom with me so I could get ready and we could go. All day Tuesday he didn’t poop (which he’s normally a 3 or 4 time a day pooper) so for breakfast I made sure to feed him two prunes instead of the normal one prune (my saying is “a prune a mornin’ keeps the poop a formin’ ” haha) and he had a GREAT poop diaper right before we left which made me feel pretty good! Also before we left Mr. Rusty called me and asked if I wanted him to go with me. I didn’t really need him there but I could tell in his voice that he wanted to be there so I told him he could meet us up there at 8:30 (when the opened). 

I felt pretty bad taking him into the clinic especially when there was a little baby there. It was kinda funny though when the guy who checked me in asked what Kye’s symptoms were…my answer? “um look at him.” haha! When they weighed him he actually has lost a little weight. When we went in 10 days ago he weighed right at 24 lbs and yesterday he weighed 23.8. I know it’s not a huge difference but it did make me worry a little. We went back in the room and a different girl saw us rather than Dr. John (who is AWESOME!). She was super sweet and when she checked him out she said “Perfect ears. Perfect ears!” I’m not kidding!!! Isn’t that funny?!? I told her that Dr. John had said the SAME thing and she said that he really does have the most perfect ears (and I mean inside the ear obviously…) and that she wishes all kids could have his ears. I’m sure though she doesn’t wish all kids looked like he does right now!!! 

Kye did really well through the appointment and I told her everything I could think of. He did eat a new food (1 1/2 pieces of lobster ravioli but it was on Sunday and the rash didn’t appear until Tuesday), he did use a different bath soap than normal when we were in Melbourne (but again, that was on Saturday), he had been on antibiotic (but it ended Sunday), etc, etc. I brought my camera with me and she looked through the pictures and told me how awesome it was that I had done that!!! She said it REALLY helped!!! She did look in his throat (and Mr. Rusty came in handy to help hold him down) and then she left to look things over. And she was gone a LONG time which made us nervous. 

When she came back she had my camera and Dr. John. He went on and ON about how wonderful it was that I had taken pictures (can I be honest here for a second??? I took the pictures for this BLOG not because I thought it’d help diagnose him…so I don’t know that I really deserved the credit, but I took it!) which made me laugh b/c Mr. Rusty teases me about all my picture taking and this time it proved to be a GOOD thing!!! He looked him over and looked in his mouth again and told me that the other girl (I think her name was Kelly…not sure) thinks it may be roseola but that since Kye never had a high fever and since the majority of the rash is on his face and not his torso that he wasn’t sure if that was it. 

He said that it’s something viral and that it should go away on it’s own in 7-10 days but that it may get worse before it gets better. He said that it’s not contagious and that it was potentially contagious before the break-out but that the rash is the body’s way of getting rid of the infection. He said that Kye was sick with that cold and may have gotten hit with another cold which may have cause his body to respond this way (kinda makes sense since I got sick twice within a week!!!). He was not 100% confident in this diagnoses. He said that the rash was a “goofy” one and that the “good” signs were that he didn’t have a fever, he was acting fine (he was busy playing with a truck while we did all this talking such a good boy!), that his mouth looked fine, he was still eating, and that the spots were “blanching” (which means when you touch them they turn white). The thing that worried him was that Kye has small spots on his palms and feet which isn’t a good sign.

Basically he said that there isn’t anything I can do to make it better. The Atarax only helps if it itches and since Kye’s doesn’t itch it won’t do much for him. He said that I just need to really keep an eye on it and continue to take pictures of everything (NOT hard for me to do!!!). The things to really look for are: swelling, fever, brown colored pee, not eating, lack of pee, etc. Dr. John said that he wants to monitor the situation closely so he got my cell number and said he’ll call me everyday AND that if he doesn’t call me I need to call him and let him know how Kye’s doing. Hearing that as a parent you think two things: WOW great, supportive, involved doctor and Oh crap, this must be serious if the doctor wants to keep tabs on him. But what could I do? It is what it is. All I can do is take the best care of him that I can and keep on going.

While at the doctor, Dr. John needed help holding Kye down to look in his mouth and he said “Daddy come and hold him down.” to MR. RUSTY!!! hahaha! I laughed and said “oh no, he’s not Daddy, he’s the grandpa” It was hilarious! I KNOW Mr. Rusty loved that though as it is a compliment for sure. Dr. John was so embarrassed though and he said to me “I was a little surprised that you married someone so much older!” haha!!! 

We got home at almost 10 and I put Kye down for his nap. Thankfully by this point I felt 100% better from my cold.  When you’re a sick mommy it’s practically impossible to be a good mommy. My best while sick just wasn’t up to par with my best when I’m well and I’m SO thankful that I was BACK in time to care for my baby!!! Here’s what he looked like after he got up from his nap:

When he got up I decided to call the dr. again. NO, not because I was more worried about the rash but because I forgot to ask him if Kye’s allowed outside. When you see something like this you assume he shouldn’t be out in the sun but my child LOVES it outside and I didn’t want to keep him cooped up if I didn’t need to. I called the office and once I got through they said they’d ask him and call me back…about 5 min later HE called me back! He said he’d been looking up things since we’d left and that if the rash spots start to connect, especially on the neck, then he does think it may be roseola, just a strange case of it (since roseola is usually mostly on the trunk area and starts with a VERY high fever). He said that going outside is fine with him but that it’s best not to take him in public since people will have reactions to how he looks and will be worried that it’s contagious. He mentioned again that it was great that I took so many pictures and I thanked him for saying that in front of my father-in-law and he said he felt even more embarrassed that he called him my husband knowing that he’s my father-in-law haha. Mrs. Charlotte thinks good ‘ole Dr. John may have a little crush on me. When I finally got to talk to Zach I told him this and told him that he has to flirt a little sometimes when selling insurance so I’ll gladly flirt a little if it helps my kid get better care hahaha!!!

Zach, of course, feels HORRIBLE that he hasn’t been able to be here to help me and it’s awful because he’s working a prison (he offers benefits to the prison workers…not prisoners!!!) so he can’t have his phone AT ALL and he’s in there for like 15 hours at a time! He is SO out of the loop on everything and I know it must be killing him, especially since he’s a little more of a worrier when it comes to Kye than I am. 

After lunch I thought Kye seemed a little uncomfortable as when I touched the spots he kinda cringed and they felt a little warm to the touch (no fever though) so I gave him some of the Atarax before his nap. During his nap Mrs. Charlotte came by the house to keep him for a couple hours because I HAD to go to the dentist and they were nice enough to squeeze me in since I missed my morning scheduled appointment. I’ll tell you what, when you have a sick child you can’t FUNCTION in society! I wasn’t even really that worried I just kept thinking about him and wondering if it looked better or worse etc. I hope he’s better before I’m supposed to leave for Atlanta for my girl’s weekend on Friday or I don’t know how I’ll be able to go!!! When I got home they were outside so I took over and pushed him around our circle for a little walk. Some people passed by in a golf cart and were STARING at him (like mouths open, pointing, type staring). I (probably with a rather rude tone) said to them “it’s just a rash and it’s not contagious” haha!

Here’s how he looked Wednesday afternoon:

small spots on bottom of feet

Mrs. Charlotte said he’d been acting fine but once he saw me he turned into the whiny, clingy, child I’ve seen here recently. That’s probably normal though ya know? We can be our worst for our moms and they still love us! He ate AWESOME at dinner and was so sweet in the bath. Man when the kid is naked you can REALLY tell how awful it is:

he’s a model for rashes…striking a pose

sweet boy still clapping

even though he may not look so great, he’s still my cutie!

When I put him down for the night I was looking forward to getting to bed myself as I did not sleep well Tuesday night. Well, I didn’t exactly get my wish!!! He really fought sleep which is SO rare for him and I ended up leaving his room at 7:45 with him standing up and clapping haha. He did fall asleep but woke up again at 9:30 and again at 10. At 10:00 I decided to change his clothes. I had put him down in a cotton sleeper thinking that cotton would be a better material than fleece but Kye has always preferred sleeping in fleece (He LOVED the fleece swaddle!). I had washed his sheets, fleece sleeper, and original monkey so I got those things out the dryer and thought maybe having all his “normal” stuff would make him sleep better. Of course changing him wound him up so I held him (which we NEVER do!) and just sang to him (I sang “As The Deer” which was mine and Zach’s wedding song.) Levi was SO sweet. He was worried about us because he came in and sat on my lap with Kye and licked both of us over and over. So precious. 

Kye finally got sleepy and I laid him down (awake of course!). Thankfully this time he slept until about 5:00 and I had to go in again. I just rubbed his face in the dark over and over until he went back to sleep. I could tell when I was rubbing that the rash spots felt smoother and more just like his skin. I was SO hopeful and couldn’t wait to get him up! I had to go back in at 6:15 and then again at 6:45 but at 6:50 I couldn’t stand it anymore so I went ahead and got him up early! I was dying to see if he was better. To me…he looks better!!! I mean he may look worse in pictures to all of you but for me seeing “continent” type shapes rather than so many “islands” makes me feel like that’s a good sign?!? They also look less red to me too!

I decided before his nap to just give him Tylenol. I feel like that Atarax may be causing him to not sleep rather than helping and Tylenol has always been a good friend to me 🙂 Plus all morning he was SUPER fussy and clingy again. I swear I’m building up some MEGA arm muscles this week as I’ve had to carry him around the house non-stop!!! He struggled to get to sleep and only slept until 10:30. I slept while he slept but Dr. John called while I was sleeping and talking to him comes first 😉 He said that it’s a good sign that the “continents” are forming and that he is sure by Monday Kye should be back to being Kye. He does not want him to go to church Sunday or anywhere in public at all actually (I think more because he’s scary looking than because someone could “catch” it). He said that a lot of children have strange reactions to that Atarax and that it can make them very hyper and when it wears off can make them act differently. He said Tylenol was fine but that Motrin would work even better. I mentioned the one spot that is worrying me:

It looks like it’s just from his diaper rubbing but I still don’t like that it’s scabby. He said to put diaper rash cream on it and just watch it. He said he will look worse in the tub than any other time and that he doesn’t really think its Roseola but that it’s just a viral rash or it could be a delayed reaction to the amoxicillin but that either way there isn’t anything we can do to treat it so we just have to wait it out and watch it. He said it may still get worse but that by Monday it should turn a salmon color (which I think it already kinda is don’t you???) and start to fade. He said to still be on the look out for the other worry-signs mentioned earlier as well as any swelling, blistering, puss, change in behavior, and anything in his mouth.

In the meantime I just trying to make him as comfortable as I can. He is EXTREMELY clingy and whiny and I hope Zach doesn’t get frustrated by that over the weekend. Us women are more lovey-dovey and “babying” than the men! I guess I’ve been kinda spoiling him by carrying him everywhere and sitting and playing with him non-stop but I’m proud that I’ve stuck to the schedule (everything but independent playtime) and that I’ve still enforced ALL of his rules. He’s being very testy with me and trying to see what I’ll allow him to get away with (he REALLY wants the remote) but I keep being firm even though it’s hard when he looks so pitiful.

Before his 1:00 nap I gave him the motrin and he did fight sleep again but once he was out he only woke up ONCE between 1 and 3:50! I decided to let him sleep past his usual 3:00 wake-up time because this poor kid NEEDS it. He’s looking even better when he woke up so I’m hopeful that the rest of the day may be a little more fun and tonight may go a little smoother…we’ll see!

Thank you SO much for all the prayers…I know we most likely may never know what caused all of this or even exactly what it is but all I care about is that it goes away and that I get my sweet, HAPPY child back SOON!!! I, of course, will update on his status and such. As of right now I still plan on going to Atlanta tomorrow. It’s a trip I’ve really been looking forward to (getting to know Robyn better, seeing Beth Moore, meeting Kelly, spending quality time with Danielle while talking WEDDING, eating Cheesecake Factory with Casey, etc etc) and I don’t want to cancel it seeing as there isn’t really any reason to! Please keep the prayers coming and especially for Zach that he is somehow able to enjoy the “guys weekend” he was so looking forward to with his son!!! 

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Emily Parker

Hey Y'all, I'm Emily! I'm a stay at home mom and consider parenting to be my passion. Disney is my happiest place and I love making memories as a family together. I'm a big believer in transparency and share all of my real-life moments as a mother of four.

My work has been featured on Love What Matters, Today Parenting and Babywise.Life. I'm also honored to be a member of the Babywise Friendly Blog Network.

You can read more about our family on my About Me page. Also be sure to follow along with me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest!

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