Not Quite the Vacation....

 

It's no secret that I love the sun. Since I was 5 months old I've been going to the beach. And my love really never stopped. Every summer I can be found by the pool for countless hours. I used to read on average 20 books a summer. That, my friends, has changed. However, thank the Lord I have a baby who loves outside as much as me :)

We took our first ever family of 3 trip to the beach by ourselves last week. Don't worry, this was Ady's third trip to the beach. But, the first time Joseph and I have ever taken her just ourselves. It was quite interesting :)

Ady had not been herself for several days before we left. I thought initially she had an upset stomach, then maybe teeth, and then when she had screaming fits when I'd hand her the juice she had asked for and then hold her mouth, I knew something was up. I took her in the day before we left. The dr swabbed her for strep and it came back negative. She told us to just monitor her while we were gone, but more than likely it was just a virus.

My bright idea to leave at 4 AM so Ady could sleep a good amount in the car ended up being a disaster. She did not fall back asleep. Instead, it made her more mad that she was awake. Let me reiterate the fact that I do believe I have one of the happiest babies ever. She has the greatest personality. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that from 4AM Saturday morning until our car pulled in to South Carolina early that afternoon, 75% of the time she was screaming at the top of her lungs. And she slept 45 minutes total. From 4AM. Sheesh. I just kept thinking it was from her "virus" and that she didn't want to be in the car (have you met her? She is busy!) Once we got all settled she was happy on the beach (as any Elrod or Kimbrough would be!), but her "spark" was still not there. She wouldn't sleep in her bed we made for her, but that night I let her sleep with me. She screamed out a lot in the night.

Sunday morning she seemed a little better. She laid down for a little nap and I headed out to the beach while my "non sun loving" husband stayed in with her. I was in the middle of reading my book, when I got his text that couldn't have been 25 minutes later saying, "She's up. Screaming". I ran up to get her. And that's when I knew I'd seen enough. She was screaming inconsolably. I have never, ever, ever seen her like that. She didn't want me or Joseph. She didn't want anything we were trying to do. Just screaming. I knew this was no virus. I found a place open on a Sunday and took her in. She continued to scream as the nurse tried to get her vital signs. She was actually so inconsolable that she was unable to do anything. Ady was so scared and in so much pain. When the dr came in he opened her mouth and immediately said,"She's got strep!" He then proceeded to check her ears and found they were both severely imflammed and infected. He sent us on our way with a prescription. We went down the road to Kroger and the bad news followed us. 

They were out of it. "Ok. Can you call another one?" The pharmacist called 4 different pharmacies, all of which were "out" of it. How can you be out of an important antibiotic? But, whatever. She then calls the doctor back and explains the situation and asks if he wants to change her to a different one altogether. He prescribes her a word I can't even pronounce. All I know is that it had Sulfa in it. Or at least, now I know this. I thought nothing of it, just paid for the medicine and headed back. 

Ady pitched absolute fits each time I'd give her the medicine. She is usually an excellent medicine taker so I couldn't quite figure out what the deal was. I now discovered it must be a very "chalky" like medicine with very little flavor. So I continue to give her this medicine that is supposedly helping her. This was Sunday. Monday evening I noticed at dinner she was breaking out on the back of her neck, ear, and shoulders. I initially thought it was from the dress she had on. Prior to leaving, my mom had given me her "Kohl's Cash" to use and I had found her a couple sundresses. I didn't have time to wash them. But, as the night progressed and I changed her I then realized that couldn't be it. Ady doesn't have sensitive skin. I can use the same detergent for her clothes on ours, so it just didn't make sense. 

After a call to my mom, her doctor, the pharmacist, and anyone else I could think of who would listen to me, we decided to wait it out and just see. The next morning it didn't seem any worse, but it wasn't gone. Then I got to thinking it was a reaction to the sun. The bottle did say something on it about avoiding prolonged exposures to the sun. And I remember reading it and thinking, "yeah right" :) So, I assumed that was it. That day we tried (as best we could) to keep her shaded, but with a toddler who only knows one mode of transportation-running-it was quite a task. 

She didn't rest any that day and mommy and daddy were on day "I've lost count" of her being up most the night. We went out to a restaurant and within 20 minutes we were in and out the door. On a side note, restaurants are becoming trickier with her. Anything for that matter where she has to sit still is. I know I can't be in the minority here :) Anyways, while we were sitting at dinner and I was trying to contain my wild monkey I noticed her bumps had gone from flat to raised, and were very bumpy. Then, I noticed they were also on her tummy, back, and her legs were becoming swollen. This was looking more like "hives". I started to cry. I was so tired, so sick of talking to nurses, pharmacists, doctors, you name it. I told Joseph I wanted to go take her to a pharmacy and see if they could tell me what to do until at least morning came and I could take her back to Urgent Care. I can remember as he was boxing up our dinner, just praying that they would hear me and that they would cut through any 'red tape' they might need to help. I had remembered passing a Walgreens on the way down, but as soon as we pulled out on the other side of the street I saw a CVS. I literally felt a strong urge to pull across traffic and go there. I walked in looking for the pharmacy and then walked right past a door wide open with a sign above that read "Walk in Clinic". I walked past it at first, then turned, saw the doctor, and said, "I need to speak with you." She sat up from her chair, and came towards me. Little did she know she met a momma who was ready to fight for an answer. 

I explain the situation and I was sobbing. I mean, sobbing. I didn't even tell her I was pregnant. She probably thought I was a blubbering idiot. I didn't care. I just let the tears fall. She looked at her shoulder and said it was a heat rash. She even had Joseph agreeing with her. I gave him the "look". Haha :) I then explained that it was spreading and it was increasing. She then said, "Well she's been in the sand, heat all over her, etc, etc." I said very, very strongly, "No. I am not leaving until you look at her. I have talked to so many people I can't even think straight. Something is not right. I am her mother. I know. Please." She happened to look at her leg when Ady turned her body and said, "Wait a second, this is swollen, and this is not looking like a rash." I wanted to say "Duh". But, I didn't. She said, "Sign her in!" The quick sign in process was painless and easy and when we went in to talk with her she did a thorough exam. All of the time, which, Ady screamed. Can you blame her? The poor thing had been put through it. She determines that she has had an allergic reaction. Her exact words were "Throw that bottle away now. I would be scared to ever give it to her again." My mental thoughts are, "Yes, Exactly, what her mother thought when this conversation began..." But the story doesn't stop there. 

She then checks her ears to see that they are still infected. Her throat is still inflammed, but Ady is so inconsolable that she doesn't even bother to swab her for strep again. She then says, "You know, it just dawned on me that Sulfa doesn't even kill the strep or ear infection. It is a bactrum used to treat urinary tract infections." How nice. You better believe Beach Urgent Care will be getting a letter from me. To say "irate" to describe my emotions doesn't even come close. This doctor prescribes her Augmentin, which she has had before. She sends us on our merry way. I thank her, and cry again, and she turns to Joseph and says, "Any questions?" She didn't have the softest heart, to say the least :) 

I start her on the new antibiotic Wednesday morning. This is the part where if you're still following me (and congratulations on making it this far, my faithful readers), but if you are not a parent, please don't read on. It's graphic and a lot of information that you will roll your eyes at and be disguisted with. She begins having diarrhea quite frequently, but I think nothing of it. By Thursday she had had so much again that I was just thinking it was medicine. We were traveling that day. On Friday, I counted, and 13 times she did. She had the most awful, painful, sad, looking diaper rash that words can not even begin to describe. It encompassed such a vast area that you can't even imagine. And, on top of it it was so raw, it was bleeding. At 4:45 Friday, I called her pediatrician's office. They prescribed her an ointment to give her every 4 hours as well as Maalox dabbed on a cotton swab and then coating that with A&D ointment (in case you mommy's out there ever need to know). She cried a cry I've never heard before. I've heard her pain cry before, but this was the "excruciating, burning, mommy make it stop cry." I had tears in my eyes as I was dabbing her sweet little bottom. (Let me also tell you we were told to take her diaper off. I'll spare you the details. Just imagine a puppy running through your home with a stomach bug. Joseph and I were running like wild banches cleaning up all types of things on our floor. It was so funny. The things we do for those we love). :) 

Her dr wanted to see her this morning. I was given instructions to stop the antibiotic, so as of this morning she had not had a dose in 24 hours. However, since the Sulfa did nothing to treat the infections, she had technically only been on medicine for 2.5 days. So lovely. The dr checked her rash and said, "This is better?" Again, you can not even imagine how bad it was. It looked much better today, but it still looks awful. He then explained that if we don't continue to treat the strep with antibiotics, it could turn into rheumatic heart failure, so he prescribed her Amoxicillian to take. (Are you with me here? That's 3 prescriptions in  6 days. And 4 doctor visits.) He said the amount of diarrhea she was having was grounds for concern. Also, I was confused since she had been on Augmentin before. Apparently there is on "old" kind still prescribed, the one that she was in fact given, and it has a stronger dose of one of the ingredients in it that is very damaging to the GI tract. He assured me that when they prescribe Augmentin, it's the "new" (which he said is only 5 years "new") medicine, so any fears about the future were dismissed. I was concerned, however because Ady has had strep 4 times. 2 more times and he says the tonsils come out and we go to the ENT. I had a lot of problems with my ears as a young child, as well as numerous surgeries. I even had a tumor growing that was removed when I was in 7th grade, I had my eardrum "rebuilt", both eardrums ruptured twice, etc, etc. I so hope that Ady doesn't have to walk this road. But, we'll cross that if we get to it. Until then, I'll just pray her sweet little throat stays well. 

This vacation wasn't exactly a "vacation". But, what I learned is, it's life. We were by ourselves in a strange town and things were just wild. I learned more things in the last 7 days than I even knew possible. Ady is such a good baby. I mean, such a good baby. To have experienced all the trauma the last week (and trauma is a nice word for what she went through last night), and to still be able to smile and laugh just makes me so proud. 

She had a great time on the trip. She learned to count to 7 :) She can now sing all of Twinkle, Twinkle and knows her ABC's. When we were leaving the doctor's office this morning she said, "TWO!!" And there was a door with the number 2 on it :) Makes this teacher proud. I love watching her learn and explore. Each day she says new words. She is very expressive. There is never a question of what she is trying to tell me she wants. I am savoring each second because time is just passing too quickly. I'll leave you with some pictures highlighting our trip:

 It really was a great time because no matter how bad situations  are, I have some wonderful people to call family that make life so worth living :)