Like Botox for the preschool set...

Monday, right after posting my little list of miracles, KayTar woke up with a nasty cough and trouble breathing. What cold is complete with a little asthmatic bronchial involvement? I kept her home Monday because I couldn't control the cough even with the cough suppressant and her inhaler. Tuesday she seemed a bit better, so we went to therapy and school. Yesterday, she spiked a fever. The pediatrician wanted to see her, so we went in. After talking the pediatrician's ear off (she loves a captive audience), she was given a mostly clean bill of health. Clear lungs, ears, throat. Just remnants of the nasty cold.

The rest of the evening was fairly normal. Dinner. KayTar's feed. Cough medication. Playing. BubTar's bath. Same old, same old. Josh went out to run an errand and on his way back his picked up treats from Dairy Queen. I had a cookie dough Blizzard, but it was way too doughy for me and I only ate a few bites of it. KayTar was interested in it, so I gave her a few bites of the ice cream portion. A little while later, Josh, KayTar, and I were all in the bedroom. I was about to pull her up onto the bed to cuddle with us when she gagged once. Then she vomited. Projectile vomited, EVERYWHERE. We waited for her to finish, then stripped her down. I dunked her in the tub, Josh cleaned the mess. I dosed her with Zofran. (I actually thought maybe the puking was a sign that maybe she had a GI bug which was causing the new-onset fever) We jammied her and tucked her into bed with us to watch TV. I looked over and saw her rubbing her lip and got her some Chapstick (the same kind she's been using for months now) and handed it to her. She put it on and handed it back. I noticed she was still messing with her lip. Then she sat up and I saw it.





I sent the pediatrician a quick email. I wanted to make sure I could give Benadryl in conjunction with the meds she had already taken (dextromethorphan, Zofran), but it was late and she understandably didn't answer. I found a drug interaction checker online and put her meds in and got the virtual green light. It was still swelling, so I went ahead and gave it. Then I waited. About an hour later, her top lip swelled up, too!



Then, I was freaked out. I'd given Benadryl and she was still swelling up and it was QUITE close to her airway. I kept making her show me her tongue to make sure it wasn't swelling, but after she fell asleep, I couldn't check it any longer. I called the pediatrician's on call service. They tried to wake the nurse and couldn't. They connected me to a different nurse instead. She wasn't very helpful. She told me exactly what I was already thinking. We could stay put, wait it out, and possibly get into a bad position if the swelling affected her airway...or we could go in, possibly unnecessarily, and be in the ER for hours. After hemming and hawing, I decided to go in. I usually try to stay home at all costs, but this has never happened and I was too concerned about her airway to get any sleep anyway. I sent the pediatrician another email to let her know we were going to go in as I was getting ready and she replied. (Yes, my pediatrician is awesome and returns emails at 2 in the morning.) She said we could stay home, give more Benadryl in a little while, and if she wasn't actively swelling and her airway was okay, I could get some rest. If the swelling didn't stop progressing, we needed to go in.

After the Benadryl, I watched her for a bit and the swelling didn't seem to be increasing, so I tucked her in with me. (Sorry Josh, back to the land of fairies and flowers for you, sir.) I checked her periodically through the night and she made it through just fine. This morning there is some residual swelling, but not like last night.

The only new thing she was exposed to yesterday was the Blizzard from Dairy Queen, so that must have triggered it. Maybe the vomiting was actually the beginning of the allergic reaction, rather than a separate illness-related event. Maybe the Blizzard had peanut traces in it that she reacted to, though, she's never reacted to peanuts/peanut butter before. I really have no idea, but I definitely do not want to expose her to whatever caused it again. The pediatrician wants to test her for a peanut allergy, but in the meantime we will steer clear just in case and keep the Benadryl on hand. That is not an experience I want to duplicate!

Angelina Jolie called, she wants her lips back.