Allergic

Kingston woke up this morning with these huge welts all over his body. I don't know exactly what they are from, but we are guessing that he is allergic to dogs. We went over to Stephen's brother's house yesterday and they have a little dog. He licked his face and his hands, so I am thinking that's what it has to be. The only other new thing was butternut squash, but I have never heard of that causing an allergy, especially to turn into these crazy welts. They have been going away in one spot and coming back in another. Poor little guy, it hurts just to look at him. I gave him some Benadryl, but he every time I give him medicine he raspberries it right back out. If it is a dog allergy, I am not upset about it... no pet dogs for us :) too bad!!! When Taelee saw his welts she said, "If I give his quilts hugs and kisses that will make them all better right?!" I hope that lots of hugs and kisses make them all better!!!

VCUG for Taelee

Last Monday November 22 we took Taelee to Plano Children's Imaging Center to have an ultrasound and VCUG (voiding cysto-urethrogram). This is a test where they insert a catheter and inject fluid, take xrays, and check if any fluid is going back up into the kidneys instead of draining as they should. Taelee has had 3 UTIs in the last three months, so her doctor wanted this test done to check if she had a voiding reflux. I was just reading and 50% of children between the ages of 2-5 end up having reflux...thankfully Taelee is not one of those. I'm not sure at times if that is a good thing, because then we don't know what is causing her UTIs especially if she gets another one! We are grateful though because she won't have to be on a constant antibiotic or have any type of surgery in the future.

She did so well throughout the whole thing! They first did an ultrasound to check the size and shape of her kidneys and bladder. She thought for sure they were checking for Baby Goofy!

Next she went in to have the VCUG done. She was excited because she got to wear a night gown and have a princess mask. We opted to have her sedated (I think it would have been far too traumatic if she were awake). She did so well! They told her to breath ten times, but ten breaths later she was still awake, ten more times and she was in a deep sleep. They did the procedure, and everything went well. I didn't like seeing her have to go through that, it's hard stepping back and letting someone take over your child like that. I felt so helpless...I am so happy that everything went ok. 

After the VCUG was done they took her to a little recovery room. She slept for another ten minutes and then they propped her bed up and she woke right up. She was so happy when she was awake. She kept saying I just took a little nap that's all! We are so lucky and blessed to have this little girl in our lives! I am so happy that she is ok, and hopefully we won't have to worry about this in the future!

The Verdict is...

EXCEMA
We took Taelee to the doctor today to have her rash checked out. She now has it on her chest/neck. The doctor told us that the patches are excema, and that the bumps are clogged pores. I still think it is crazy that she has excema because she has had such amazing skin since she was a baby, but it sure looks like it. I have been trying all sorts of things, so hopefully we will start to see it get better soon. Thankfully we haven't noticed it bothering her! Thank you for all of your comments and advise, keep them coming!

Milk Allergy?

We switched Taelee over to Whole Milk on her 1st Birthday. She did great and took it really well, but now we are wondering if she may have an allergy to cow's milk. A few weeks ago she started getting this really strange rash on her back. It started in three little spots that looked like dry patches. I put Vaseline on them every night and watched them for a while. After a few days her back started to get splotchier and more dry patches would show up. Now they cover her back and I have noticed some under her armpits, chest, chin, and legs. She hasn't had any other symptoms, and hasn't been itching at her skin or fussing to make me think that it is bothering her. I have been trying to think what it could be and the two things I have come up with are a milk allergy, or eczema. I have been reading up on milk allergies and the most common side effect is diarrhea and/or congestion, she has neither. But the rash started right after we gave her cow's milk. She hasn't had a problem with formula, yogurt, or cheese so I am baffled. She has never had a problem with her skin either; it has always been very soft and well moisturized. So it makes me doubt that it could be eczema. But who knows with this awful air floating around. I called her doctor the other day to see what they recommend I do, and they said to try Eucerin Cream because they thought it could be eczema. They said if it doesn't get better or gets worse to bring her in. To be honest I don't like the doctor we are having to take her to. Every time I have taken her there it hasn't been a very pleasant experience, and I was hoping I would never have to take her there again, but with the looks of this rash I may have to. We're are not sure what else it could be and haven't introduced any other new things into her diet or environment, so we are pretty much stumped. If anyone has ever seen anything like this or knows what it is please let me know! If it's not better by Monday it's off to the doctor!

These pictures don't do it much justice, it looks worse in person.

'Tis the Season...

...for INJURIES and MALADIES

It seems that many children I know have been getting injured lately. My 2 year old niece fell against a wall and knocked her front tooth out. My 11 month old nephew fell and fractured his skull. My 7 year old niece smacked her mouth against their granite counter and chipped her tooth. My other 2 year old niece shocked herself with a vacuum cord. Taelee decided she wanted to be part of the mix. She was walking with her walker today and walked into her piano. The walker toppled over sending Taelee over the top, face first onto her piano. I was standing right there watching her, but wasn't fast enough! She cried for a minute, but was fine. She then went down for a nap, and after she woke up I was changing her diaper when I realized that her top two teeth looked different. She chipped her tooth! I went to the piano and found the chipped tooth and a tooth mark indent in the plastic key. The chip was about the size of a flax seed. I thought to myself..."what did I get myself into?!" I can't handle my children getting hurt! I guess it is a part of growth and learning, but I don't like it one bit!

Taelee doesn't like me to touch inside her mouth, and wont open it for the camera so getting a picture was difficult. This was the best I could do...You can't really tell from the picture, but it is the inner part of the tooth on the left. We are hoping that after she gets all of her teeth it will blend in. Poor thing!