Allergic Reaction

We are beyond ready to say goodbye to cold and flu season around here. It's been brutal and we are completely bleary-eyed; sleep has been challenging to say the least. We are hoping to turn the corner in the next couple of weeks and enjoy a healthy spring and summer and weather things a little bit better next year with older kiddos.

The girls have both struggled on and off with colds and minor infections when they can't clear out the junk by themselves and it becomes "septic" -- two ear infections for Aine and a sinus infection for each girl.

When Aine was on antibiotics for the second time, about 7 days into treatment, she awoke to a right ear that was swollen to about 3 times its normal size. She was also starting to get large, angry-red hives. (I didn't get a picture of that because I was more concerned about getting the reaction under control and getting her to the doctor.) We got some benadryl in her and things seemed to come under control. The doctor gave us the all clear on the infection and thought it was safe to forgo further antibiotic treatment at the time given that penicillin is the main suspect (we'll order skin tests down the road).

It turned out that our roller-coaster ride with hives was only just beginning, the pictures below document some of experience with our little trooper.

She had larges blotches all over her torso, too. They caused severe swelling to the point that she didn't fit in any of her clothes and eventually we just put her in Aoife's. (She actually had hives and angioedema - severe swelling of the face and limbs.)
Swelling a little more evident. Those angry red marks gave off enough heat that she ran a fever of between 101-102 the entire time.
The facial swelling was a little scary.
Through it all she was our sweet, easy-going girl.

The large hives themselves became huge bruises that took about 2 weeks to heal completely. When they started to "break-up" and turn into more classical hives -- large red bumps -- the itching set it. We didn't sleep for about 24 hours for more than half an hour at a stretch. Three weeks later, she still has scratch marks all over her little legs and on the back of her neck that continue to heal. All we could do was keep the benadryl in her, give her baths in cornstarch and slather it all over her body, and snuggle-snuggle-snuggle her.

We now have a new understanding and appreciation for "severe allergies." Yikes!

Here's to hoping this can be avoided in the future.