It has been a crazy month for our family health-wise. Mitchell had to take Joseph to the ER at the beginning of the month while I was out of town, and Joseph had some pretty bad bronchitis. He had to take antibiotics, use an inhaler and a nebulizer, and it was all pretty crazy. He is still coughing regularly, so we have to use the inhaler sometimes before school.
Annabelle and Mitchell had the same respiratory infection that started Joseph's bronchitis. And Charlie and I caught it once we were back in town. There was lots of coughing and a bit of misery for the first part of the month. Charlie is still coughing pretty badly and I'm still coughing a bit.
On Thursday, I noticed Charlie's eye looked pink and there was a lot of goop in the corners. Annabelle's 4 year well-check was the next morning, so I just had him seen at the same time. The doctor checked his lungs and his eye, but he seemed to be just fine.
Friday evening, while I was making dinner, Charlie threw up all over the little, neighbor girl, Janina, while she was playing at our house. I stripped him down and took his temperature, but he was asleep before I even finished. His temp was just around 100 degrees, so I didn't think it was a big deal. He slept on my bed for about an hour and a half. When he woke up, he was burning up, so I took his temp again and it had risen to 102.5 degrees. He seemed pretty lethargic and delirious, so I was initially very worried. I was about to take him to the ER, but I felt like I should clean him up first and try to cool him down a bit. We spent about 40 minutes in the shower, just sitting in the water, until we ran out of hot water. I kept asking him if he wanted to get out and lay in the bed, but he would just say, "uh-uh." He just laid in my lap with his eyes closed and swished his hand in the water. When we were finally out of hot water, I got him out, dried him off, and dressed him. And his fever was WAY down. He was also talking to me normally, telling me he was hungry and asking for drinks. He had apple juice and watched PBS with the kids until really late. Annabelle came into the room crying shortly after the shower because her ear was hurting. I gave her ibuprofen and a heating pad to rest on. Sometime while watching PBS, and I was washing the dishes from dinner, Charlie threw up just a little bit on the floor next to my bed. But by the time Mitchell got home from work, around 10:30, Charlie was jumping on the bed and playing as if nothing had happened. He slept on the floor next to me that night, and kept me up with his coughing. I kept thinking he was going to throw up again, but he just had so much drainage running down his throat that he was trying to cough up. He didn't even wake up for any of his coughing fits!
I had planned on taking the kids to Boo at the Zoo Saturday morning, but after the evening's ordeal, I figured that wasn't a good idea. But then all the kids seemed just fine! They played and did all their normal stuff. I figured they were all feeling better, so I started trying to get everything ready for church the next day. I let Charlie sleep next to me again, and he was coughing most of the night again. Joseph was also coughing a lot during the night, and Annabelle needed more ibuprofen for her ear.
By morning, I just felt like I should give them a little longer to get better, so Mitchell went to church without us. When Charlie got up, I noticed a patch of red bug bites on his ankle. I figured he'd rolled on a spider or something on my floor because our house is full of bugs. When Annabelle woke up, we noticed one of her eyes was pink looking. And she had a runny nose and cough. When I went to change Charlie's diaper, I found patches of the "bug bites" all over his body, and that's when I realized they were hives. He had them all over and was scratching a lot, so I gave him some Benadryl. He was also getting warm again, so Mitchell had me give him some Tylenol. About 2 hours after the Tylenol, his temp was around 100.2 degrees, so I wonder what it would have been if we hadn't given him the Tylenol. The rest of the day went fine, but at bedtime, Joseph kept saying he was itchy. I checked and he was covered with patches of hives, too! I gave him Benadryl before bed, and Annabelle needed ibuprofen again.
This morning, Joseph's hives were gone, but Charlie still had his and Annabelle had some. At 9 am, I called the doctor's office and made an appointment for all three of them. I was worried about Joseph being contagious because of the hives/rash being on all three kids, so I had him pulled out of class to wait in the nurse's office until I could get there.
They were extremely ill-behaved at the doctor's office. I couldn't believe how rowdy, loud, and disrespectful they were being! I spent the whole appointment trying to keep them under control (and failing) while trying to answer all the doctor's and nurse's questions. After looking at them, the doctor told me they all had ear infections, and Joseph had fluid in BOTH of his ears. That would also explain a lot of the other stuff going on. It's possible to get hives from viruses, so we are thinking that is what is causing their hives. They are going to all be on antibiotics, plus we are getting eye drops for the pink eye. I was instructed to continue with the inhaler for Joseph as needed, and to use Benadryl for the hives, as needed.
Right now, Joseph and Charlie are playing out on the front porch --it's 85 degrees today!-- and Annabelle is sleeping after a dose of Benadryl. I just wish all three of them were sleeping so that I could, too! The past few days have been exhausting!
Showing posts with label Annabelle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Annabelle. Show all posts
Monday, October 27, 2014
Sunday, October 26, 2014
4th Birthday Interview
I'm trying to start a tradition where I interview the kids each year when they have their birthday. I've only done it with Annabelle so far, and this is her second year. I made these videos the day after her birthday. Once we are able to get some printer ink, I'll print out a cute form to put her answers on as well as her hand print and a picture.
Friday, October 24, 2014
Annabelle is 4!
Annabelle's birthday was this Wednesday. She had a pretty fun and special day. She received generous amounts of money from some family members, which we were able to use to get her presents and things. She started out the day nice and early, opening her the presents we'd gotten her before Joseph got on the bus. She got the Little People Disney Princess Klip Klop Stable and Klip Klop Ariel.
She and Charlie played with the Little People set for a long time. We finally got them dressed and ready, and we headed out for the day. We went to Walmart where she bought an Elsa dress, which she'd been wanting for quite a while. Then we drove up to the mall. We browsed the Disney Store for a long time before she settled on Elsa and Anna dolls. We found her an Olaf at this awesome store called 2nd and Charles, it's like FYE on crack. We went to McDonald's for lunch, her pick, and Amber came to meet us there. She and Charlie spent a long time playing on the playground, and she got a nice cream to finish off her Happy Meal. We finally went home and she got to watch Frozen with her new dolls.
Soon, we got 3 boxes in the mail, 2 of which were for her! She opened her box from Grammy Ellis while Grammy was on FaceTime. She got lots of beautiful clothes and a pair of pretty Sunday shoes that she says are Elsa shoes. She put the polka-dotted pajamas on and wore them for over 24 hours.
After Joseph was home, we opened the other box from Grandpa and Grandma Brugger. She got Elsa slippers, two more Klip Klop Princesses, and lots of Color Wonder drawing stuff. She also got a much needed pack of panties. She spent almost the rest of the evening coloring with her new stuff. I was so tired from all the activity, plus I caught a respiratory virus, so I went to lay down. Her neighbor friend, Janina, came to play, and they colored, watched Frozen twice more, and just had too much fun while I was resting. Her dinner request was pizza, so we got a Papa John's pizza and breadsticks.she barely ate half her dinner before passing out in bed with her new dolls.
Monday, October 20, 2014
Annabelle's 4th Birthday Party
We had Annabelle's birthday party on Saturday. Mitchell had to work, so he wasn't able to be there, but we had a few guests there. Annabelle's friend, Alaina, the neighbor girl, Janina, Grandpa Ellis, Grandma Sally, and Aunt Cami were all at the party. Sadly, I was so busy wrangling kids that I didn't get very many pictures.


This is her opening her present from Grandpa, Sally, and Cami. It was the DVD of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.
This is the dessert table. I made candied apples with white chocolate dyed green to look like the poison apple from the movie. There were miniature berry and cherry pies. And the apple cake. I wish I'd had the chance to get a better picture of the cake because it was really cute.
This was the food table. We had chicken and dumplings, which was Annabelle's request, as well as an apple-walnut salad with a red wine vinaigrette, mini baguettes, and fruit.
This was the drink table, with water, apple Izze, and apple juice for the kids.
Annabelle, Janina, and Charlie loved watching Snow White. You can see Annabelle's huge smile because she enjoyed the movie so much.
I'm glad everything went pretty well. I was a little too ambitious (again...) and had planned to do way more stuff, but I ran out of time. It was fun for Annabelle, though. and that's what was most important.
Sunday, August 3, 2014
Annabelle's Prayer
I helped Annabelle say a personal prayer before she went to bed. She asked for help, but she didn't need too much prompting. It went something like this:
"Father in Heaven...."
"Thank..."
"Thank you for the day. Thank you for cleaning our room. Thank you that I can be with my mom and dad forever. Thank you for the missionaries coming over two days."
"Please..."
"Please bless it."
"Please help.."
"Please help me to be a good girl to my mom. Please help Charlie to be good to mom, too. Please help Joseph to play his video games when he cleans his room. Please........................... okay, that's all. Amen."
"You have to say 'In the name of Jesus Christ.'"
"In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen."
I might have forgotten a few things she said because it was a pretty long prayer. But it was just so cute! And I'm glad she's learning things in Primary and Family Home Evening.
"Father in Heaven...."
"Thank..."
"Thank you for the day. Thank you for cleaning our room. Thank you that I can be with my mom and dad forever. Thank you for the missionaries coming over two days."
"Please..."
"Please bless it."
"Please help.."
"Please help me to be a good girl to my mom. Please help Charlie to be good to mom, too. Please help Joseph to play his video games when he cleans his room. Please........................... okay, that's all. Amen."
"You have to say 'In the name of Jesus Christ.'"
"In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen."
I might have forgotten a few things she said because it was a pretty long prayer. But it was just so cute! And I'm glad she's learning things in Primary and Family Home Evening.
Saturday, July 5, 2014
Vacation
Yesterday, we got home from a week-and-a-half in Virginia visiting Mitchell's family. The main reason we went up was so Mitchell could attend his grandfather's funeral with his mom. We ended up staying longer than we originally planned and enjoyed some nice time relaxing and hanging out with family. The kids and I stayed with Mitchell's brother, Sam, and his family, while Mitchell, his mom, and his brother, Grant, were in Indiana for the funeral. Joseph and Annabelle got to meet and spend time with all of their Ellis cousins for the first time ever. And they loved it! Joseph loved playing with Sam's two boys, who are both older than him. And Annabelle enjoyed playing girly things with her only girl Ellis cousin, Celina, who is only 2 months younger than her. Mitchell and I took advantage of the time to relax, enjoy ourselves, and not worry about the future too much. We were able to go to Busch Gardens and watch the show London Rocks, which Mitchell's brother, Ross, is the lead guitarist in. I also rode a roller coaster for the first time in about 7 years. I was so anxious right before getting on, but I loved it just as much as I used to. I'm really grateful that we had that time to rejuvenate before getting into the stress of trying to figure out what's going to happen next.
Front Row - Zeke, Annabelle, Charlie, Julian, Celena, Ben.
Saturday, May 31, 2014
A Mostly Good Day
It's so late! So I'm going to do a pretty short post tonight.
The Downside:
I was feeling sick today, but it's the kind that's a limbo between mostly healthy and really sick. It just made me even more tired, sometimes I would get dizzy, and my throat is still sore and scratchy.
The Fun:
The kids went to bed without a fuss, so Mitchell and I were able to watch Secondhand Lions, which I had never seen before. I really enjoyed the movie, and it was a nice boost.
The Work:
With the help of the kids, I got the living room, dining room, and front hall straightened and vacuumed. They didn't stay completely clean, but they aren't too messy either.
A Silly Story:
I think Annabelle may be getting sick as well because she has been extra moody the past couple days. This story is evidence:
In order to get the kids to help me clean, I turned it into a game. The kids had eaten graham crackers in the room and there were crumbs everywhere, so I told them the crumbs were Kryptonite. And they would turn the whole room into Kryptonite if we didn't clean them up before the timer went off. So we got busy cleaning. When we were nearly to the point of vacuuming, Annabelle walked in with graham crackers in her hand and sat down to eat them. In my mock distressed voice I said, "Oh, no! Annabelle that's Kryptonite!" And then she burst into tears and just started sobbing. I apologized for upsetting her and had her go to the kitchen with her graham crackers, where she continued to making blubbering sounds for about 10-15 minutes. Eventually she joined back in the game as if nothing had ever happened.
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
The Square
So we live about half a mile from downtown Marietta, which is called The Square. There's a big park in the middle and it's surrounded by little shops and restaurants. It's such an awesome place!
The kids and I walked there yesterday afternoon to play and look around. There is a little playground with a train and little ticket house. The kids love playing there.
I love Joseph in this one; he looks like Superman about to take off in flight
(which is what he was pretending).
I love her smile in this one!
This one just cracks me up.
Isn't he beautiful?! He learned how to climb up and go down the slide all by himself. He would turn around at the top so he could slide feet-first on his belly. Because it's a metal slide, it's pretty fast; so he'd always get a little shock at the bottom, but he'd just stand up with a huge smile and clap his hands.
We had so much fun playing at the Train Park, and I'm excited that we live so close to it.
Monday, November 4, 2013
Annabelle's Princess Party - Arrival and First Presents
When the kids arrived, they each had a crown to decorate. With the help of one of the moms the night before, we made a Sleeping Beauty crown for each girl. Joseph and the other little boy had crowns to decorate that I got at Dollar Tree.
Here she is modeling the crown her crown after decorating it. Doesn't she look so happy? ;) She was so distracted by everything going on.
Each of the girls also had a paper "berry basket" with jewelry, tattoos, and a princess toy in it. We kept the tattoos out of reach for the party, but they were able to get dressed in their jewelry.
I didn't have a basked for Joseph, but he had a sword and shield instead. He was very precise in decorating his crown and only put jewels in the obvious jewel spots at the top.
He was so excited to be a prince.
Before we could start the tea party, Annabelle needed to open two of her presents. We had bought her a tea and dinner set from IKEA.
Isn't she so pretty?! And I love the Sleeping Beauty dress she picked out at Kid-to-Kid.
I was so worried about her dropping the tea set on the ground.
She was better at letting me support the dinner set.
Annabelle's Princess Party - The Decorations & Food
Annabelle's 3rd birthday was the 22nd of October and I threw her a Sleeping Beauty Princess Tea Party. I stayed up too late too many nights making decorations for her party, but it looked so great!

I made the Happy Birthday out of glitter foam sheets and her name out of felt. When she woke up in the morning, one of the first things she pointed out was this and she said, "Look, Mom! It says "Happy Birthday, Annabelle!"

I wanted the house to look like a castle and I came up with a fun idea to hang the streamers like a roof. I just loved the way it looked.
Also in the upper left corner, you can sort of see her Birthday balloons. One was a foil Princess Crown and then two pink balloons. She was so excited when I brought them to her and she played with them until they couldn't say up on their own anymore.
We used Mitchell's art desk as the food table. I made the stained glass window hanging over it.
We had Hot Chocolate with toppings, pink lemonade, strawberry cupcakes, tea cakes (pound cake with icing), cucumber sandwiches and cream cheese & jelly sandwiches cut into crowns, lemon cookies, dipped pretzel rods, dipped marshmallows, and berries.
One of the moms brought fresh roses from her garden, and they were so beautiful!
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Making Friends
Joseph and Annabelle have finally made friends in the neighborhood. It took longer here than at Wymount; probably because we never went outside when we first moved here because I was uncomfortably pregnant,and then it was winter. Now, the kids beg to go outside as soon as they wake up. I think it's because they think their friends will be out there all the time, or something like that. So we go outside a lot, and, when their friends actually are out there, they get so excited. Today, when Joseph saw his friend, Daniel, he ran up to him saying, "Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!"
Last week, Joseph And Annabelle had a play date with their friends at the new splash pad. They had so much fun playing, and it was great for me to get a chance to hang out with other moms.
From left to right: Annabelle, Oliver, Joseph, Leah, Daniel, and Aislin.
We were really trying to get some cute photos, but my camera is just too slow at taking pictures and the kids were too restless. It's hilarious that Joseph looks so bored, too. They are such a fun bunch of kids, and I'm excited for the fun they will have together this summer.
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Splash Pad
We went to the new splash pad at Pioneer Park this evening. There was a ribbon cutting ceremony at 4:30, but we had to go find Annabelle's hat that we'd left at another park earlier in the day, so we didn't go to that part. By the time we got the hat, it was dinnertime, then Mitchell had to go to work, so the kids and I walked to the park by ourselves. It was a bit after 7 when we got there. Joseph and Annabelle were so excited to get into the water. Joseph thought it was awesome, but he's sort of afraid of water, so he mostly stayed around the perimeter.
Annabelle wasn't afraid at all and got completely soaked almost immediately. She was running around and screaming; sometimes she'd slip because it was so wet and slippery, but she didn't care because she was having so much fun.
After running around and playing for a while, Annabelle realized she was super cold and she started crying. I had to wrap her in her towel and Charlie's blanket to warm her up. I was going to take her home because I was a little worried about hypothermia, but she was ready to go back and play after a few quiet minutes in my lap.
I finally convinced them it was time to go home just before 8 when they were both drenched and shivering. We started walking home, but Joseph's little feet hurt because we did A LOT of walking yesterday and he was too cold to move quickly. So I carried Charlie and let Joseph ride. Pushing the stroller one-handed is really difficult, especially with the two heavier kids in it. I have a tendency to complain and get annoyed about things, but I wanted to be a good mom, so I let my little boy ride. He had to get out and walk right before the tracks because I couldn't push the stroller one-handed over them, but he got to ride most of the way. My arms were dead tired when I got home, but it was worth it to take care of my babies. Sometimes I forget that Joseph and Annabelle are my babies, too, and I think they are bigger/older than they really are. It's good for me to remember and let them be babies, though.
Labels:
Annabelle,
Fun Stuff,
Joseph,
Photos,
progress report
Friday, April 26, 2013
Having Fun
Today we got our tax return. It was kind of exciting to check our balance in the bank and find an extra thousand dollars that I wasn't expecting. We set about making sure that our various bills were payed and talking about what this money needed to be used for. But the best part of the day was when we went on a bit of a treasure hunt to pick out the perfect toys for the kids. Joseph has been asking, "Do we have money yet?" nearly every day for a week or two because he's had his mind on some toys he wants, so it was exciting to tell him that we do have money.
We were gone a long time today and did a lot of driving to find him something he really loved. We went to Toys R Us and searched the whole store. Then we drove to Walmart and searched that whole store. And we finally found the right thing. He got his very first LEGO set and it has "Luke with the green lightsaber" as well as Boba Fett and the Sarlac. Annabelle picked out a My Little Pony set. And we bought Charlie a Bouncy play center thing.
It's been awesome watching Joseph so fascinated with something that isn't a video game. He's been playing with the legos almost none stop since we brought them home. He even took Luke and Boba Fett to bed with him. And it's been fun to watch Mitchell and Joseph playing together. I never knew that legos were such a great father-son bonding activity. Annabelle and I were able to play ponies together, too.
I think that something I learned from today is how important it is to play with your kids, but to also try to find the things that they have a passion for. It's important to find those passions and nourish them now, so that they can grow and learn from those passions throughout their lives.
We were gone a long time today and did a lot of driving to find him something he really loved. We went to Toys R Us and searched the whole store. Then we drove to Walmart and searched that whole store. And we finally found the right thing. He got his very first LEGO set and it has "Luke with the green lightsaber" as well as Boba Fett and the Sarlac. Annabelle picked out a My Little Pony set. And we bought Charlie a Bouncy play center thing.
It's been awesome watching Joseph so fascinated with something that isn't a video game. He's been playing with the legos almost none stop since we brought them home. He even took Luke and Boba Fett to bed with him. And it's been fun to watch Mitchell and Joseph playing together. I never knew that legos were such a great father-son bonding activity. Annabelle and I were able to play ponies together, too.
I think that something I learned from today is how important it is to play with your kids, but to also try to find the things that they have a passion for. It's important to find those passions and nourish them now, so that they can grow and learn from those passions throughout their lives.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Happy Birthday, Annabelle!
Today was Annabelle's 2nd birthday. I can't believe that she was born 2 years ago. In many ways, it seems like she has been with us much longer than that, but it also seems like the time has gone too quickly. She is such a joy in our family and I can't imagine what things would be like without her. She and Joseph are best friends and do everything together. And she has her daddy under her complete control; yesterday, she got 5 cinnamon bears from him because she just kept asking him with such cute faces that he couldn't resist.
We had her birthday party on Saturday so that a lot of family could come. Jason had been staying with us for a couple weeks, my mom drove down, and Samantha and Athena were there. My cousin Emily and her fiancee, Josh, came. Aunt Marianne and Annemarie were able to make it. And we were really excited because Popi and Doreen came up for the party. It was so wonderful to have so many family members with us.
Jason, Joseph, Popi, Annabelle, Doreen, Samantha, and Athena
It took her a few tries, but she was able to blow out her candles all by herself.
Opening presents this morning. She was so excited to open everything.
We went to lunch at California Pizza Kitchen, where she got a free birthday meal. This red balloon was just floating by one of the tables across the way when we got there. It eventually floated right over to us all on it's own, and it became her birthday balloon.
Eating her birthday brownie. The whipped cream was her favorite part.
Even though she had some very cranky 2-year-old moments, she had a good birthday. We are all so grateful that she is a part of our family.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Labor Day
We had a good Labor Day weekend. We did a few fun things today since Mitchell didn't have to go to work. The kids let us sleep in pretty late, which was nice since we usually have early mornings with Mitchell working and going to school. We went and browsed around the mall for a bit and had some lunch in the food court there. We went to a park in the afternoon. The kids had fun playing while Mitchell drew for some assignments and I worked out homeschool lesson plans. We had a nice quiet time and I read a Sherlock Holmes story in my book. We were excited about getting some awesome new Star Wars shirts from Baby Gap with a 30% off code we had, but after not getting the code to apply, we realized that line is excluded from coupons. :( Later, we took the kids to another park and they had fun playing there. We also did a mini photo shoot to get some pictures for the invitations I want to make for Annabelle's birthday party. That was pretty fun. The kids are so hard to get pictures of because they are either moving around like crazy or they are making really stupid smiley faces. It doesn't help that our camera is TERRIBLE at taking pictures. I was surprised at how many I got. We ended the day by watching new episodes of 2 of our favorites shows, which happen to be cartoons on Cartoon Network. They are Adventure Time and Regular Show; we love watching them together.
Here are a few photos that I really liked:
Here are a few photos that I really liked:
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Fun on the Playground
We've been having fun playing on the playground lately. It's been nice to have a place to play outside.
The kids like sticking their faces in the little windows on the tube of the playground.
Joseph has finally learned to push the peddles on the tricycle. We will probably be getting him his own bike this fall.
They got so tired out and just look so cute when they are sleeping.
.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Hand, Foot, and Mouth
On a Thursday, couple weeks ago, Annabelle got a funny rash that spread from her diaper area to the rest of her body. I decided to take her in to the doctor the next morning.
That morning, she had a very low fever and Joseph suddenly had one that was a bit higher. So I took them both in. While waiting for our turn with the doctor, Joseph threw up. After being examined, the doctor felt for sure that this was strep throat. He could see sore spots in their mouths and Annabelle's rash looks like the one that comes with Scarlet Fever, although he didn't think she had that. He did rapid strep tests on them both (Joseph threw up again because of his) and those were negative. So he sent us home and told us they would do cultures to re-check.
On Saturday morning, Joseph seemed entirely better. Annabelle seemed to be doing better as well; her rash was almost gone, too. We just figured it was a quick virus and we were glad because we didn't want to miss church.
On Sunday, we let them sleep in and only went for the last hour of church, which is Sacrament Meeting for us. They seemed like they were doing way better, so we also went to the ward Father's Day barbecue. However, after the barbecue, I found blisters all over Annabelle's diaper area. And you could tell they were hurting her a lot. This seemed really weird to me, so I called and talked to the on-call nurse at the doctor's office. She told us that Annabelle had Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease! When I got off the phone, I looked at Annabelle's hands and feet and saw little red spots on them. Then I checked Joseph and found the same thing, but he seemed to have more. As the evening progressed, we noticed the kids scratching a lot, so we put hydrocortisone and socks on their hands and feet. They looked pretty cute with sock hands.
The next day, Joseph's spots seemed mostly better. A few had blistered, but most had just disappeared. But Annabelle was an entirely different case. Her hands and feet were covered in blisters and the blisters were spreading up her legs and on her arms. She also had a pretty high fever and was just completely miserable that whole day. So in the evening we took her to the doctor. She met with a PA first, who said that she looked like some really bad cases of HFM that he had seen. But he wanted to get a second opinion just in case, so he brought the doctor in (a different one than the one that diagnosed strep). This doctor took a look at her and determined it was a herpetic virus, similar to the one that causes cold sores. He explained that sometimes kids will get the virus from someone who has a cold sore and, instead of just getting a cold sore, the virus breaks out on their whole body. They prescribed an anti-viral to stop the reproduction of the virus so that she wouldn't get any more blisters.
Annabelle decided with this illness that she hates taking medicine (she used to take it like candy), so we battled over tylenol and benadryl a lot over that week. Luckily, we could put the antiviral in her milk and she couldn't tell the difference (she had to take it 4 times a day for 3 days). She stopped getting spots and the ones she had started to heal. She finally seemed to be doing better.
However, a few days ago, she started a process of peeling that I thought was a part of HFM, so I really have no idea what she had. Her hands and feet are peeling where ever there were blisters; Joseph's are doing the same. But since the ENTIRE bottom of her feet were cover in blisters she is losing all of the skin there. We've had to hold her down every evening so that we can clip some of the dead skin off so that it doesn't catch and pull on things. She hates it, but it seems like the process is almost over. I finally found my camera a couple days ago, so I was able to get some pictures of her poor little feet.
That morning, she had a very low fever and Joseph suddenly had one that was a bit higher. So I took them both in. While waiting for our turn with the doctor, Joseph threw up. After being examined, the doctor felt for sure that this was strep throat. He could see sore spots in their mouths and Annabelle's rash looks like the one that comes with Scarlet Fever, although he didn't think she had that. He did rapid strep tests on them both (Joseph threw up again because of his) and those were negative. So he sent us home and told us they would do cultures to re-check.
On Saturday morning, Joseph seemed entirely better. Annabelle seemed to be doing better as well; her rash was almost gone, too. We just figured it was a quick virus and we were glad because we didn't want to miss church.
On Sunday, we let them sleep in and only went for the last hour of church, which is Sacrament Meeting for us. They seemed like they were doing way better, so we also went to the ward Father's Day barbecue. However, after the barbecue, I found blisters all over Annabelle's diaper area. And you could tell they were hurting her a lot. This seemed really weird to me, so I called and talked to the on-call nurse at the doctor's office. She told us that Annabelle had Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease! When I got off the phone, I looked at Annabelle's hands and feet and saw little red spots on them. Then I checked Joseph and found the same thing, but he seemed to have more. As the evening progressed, we noticed the kids scratching a lot, so we put hydrocortisone and socks on their hands and feet. They looked pretty cute with sock hands.
The next day, Joseph's spots seemed mostly better. A few had blistered, but most had just disappeared. But Annabelle was an entirely different case. Her hands and feet were covered in blisters and the blisters were spreading up her legs and on her arms. She also had a pretty high fever and was just completely miserable that whole day. So in the evening we took her to the doctor. She met with a PA first, who said that she looked like some really bad cases of HFM that he had seen. But he wanted to get a second opinion just in case, so he brought the doctor in (a different one than the one that diagnosed strep). This doctor took a look at her and determined it was a herpetic virus, similar to the one that causes cold sores. He explained that sometimes kids will get the virus from someone who has a cold sore and, instead of just getting a cold sore, the virus breaks out on their whole body. They prescribed an anti-viral to stop the reproduction of the virus so that she wouldn't get any more blisters.
Annabelle decided with this illness that she hates taking medicine (she used to take it like candy), so we battled over tylenol and benadryl a lot over that week. Luckily, we could put the antiviral in her milk and she couldn't tell the difference (she had to take it 4 times a day for 3 days). She stopped getting spots and the ones she had started to heal. She finally seemed to be doing better.
However, a few days ago, she started a process of peeling that I thought was a part of HFM, so I really have no idea what she had. Her hands and feet are peeling where ever there were blisters; Joseph's are doing the same. But since the ENTIRE bottom of her feet were cover in blisters she is losing all of the skin there. We've had to hold her down every evening so that we can clip some of the dead skin off so that it doesn't catch and pull on things. She hates it, but it seems like the process is almost over. I finally found my camera a couple days ago, so I was able to get some pictures of her poor little feet.
This foot still has most of the dead skin on it, only the toes had been peeled so far.
This foot had peeled the entire bottom off. It's all red and wrinkly and feels just like a newborn babies foot. She also has a band-aid on her second toe where she lost the toe nail. :(
This is just a comparison of the two feet together. Since the picture was taken, almost all of the left foot has peeled as well.
This is a side view. You can sort of see where the old skin is and the new skin starts.
The peeling process seems to be almost over, but her feet and hands are very tender and she doesn't like them getting wet or being touched a lot. She walks on her tiptoes a lot because she doesn't like how her feet feel on the ground, but she doesn't like wearing shoes either. I'm just glad that the process is almost over and that she is finally getting back to normal.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
5 Words
Annabelle can now say 5 words:
- Mommy
- Daddy
- Baby (which has finally been narrowed down to mean anything living that isn't me or Mitchell, it used to be everything that wasn't me)
- Bye-Bye
- Mine
It is so cute hearing her talk and she is just so funny. I can't wait to watch her learn more words.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Baby Annabelle
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