And the Winner Is.... Roseola! Plus...

a secondary ear infection!

Okay, so Leah has been sick for about 10 days now. It started off with the world's snottiest nose for a few days, then on Wednesday she developed a fever. I typically let fevers run their course since the heat helps kill off the virus. Well, 24 hours later, Leah's fever hadn't broken, so I gave her a dose of Motrin. Apparently, Leah was under the impression that I was trying to poison her because she spit most of it out and gagged on the rest. It didn't do much either. I think she was fever-free for about an hour... Motrin typically lasts a good 6-8 hours. Friday morning Leah seemed a bit more chipper and less feverish, so I packed the kids up and took them to the Fall Festival as promised. However, by Friday night she had relapsed and even started throwing up! Saturday I got another dose of Motrin in her, and it lasted about 10 hours... but she still wasn't really her normal chipper (destroying) self. The fever came back overnight, along with a nice rash. I was happy to see the rash because normally once you see the rash, the kiddo is a) no longer contagious and b) back on the mend. I went ahead and took the kids to church on Sunday after another dose of Motrin. Since Leah stays with me, I wasn't too worried about her infecting anyone else and she had the rash so should be contagious anyway. Only she was crabbier than I've ever seen her! Her fever didn't return when the medicine wore off, so I was sure that today (Monday) was going to be the day that she perked back up. BUT as I was on the internet trying to identify her rash, I came across scarlet fever (caused by the strep bacteria), and it was a definite possibility since we've been battling strep throat in the past month. So, I called the doctor, and got her in this morning. We went through all the symptoms, but once he saw the rash, he pronounced "ROSEOLA!" So, I countered with, "So, why isn't she better? Shouldn't she be better now that the rash has appeared?" He looked in her right ear and said, "Ew! I think the red, bulging ear drum could be the problem!!" Thankfully, her left ear was fine. A round of antibiotics was ordered and I requested a shot of rocephin (a miracle drug in my opinion) since my little baby thinks that oral medicine is akin to poison. I've had the shot and it HURTS!!!! However, it's usually effective in 12-24 hours, and well worth the pain.

So, now you know why I haven't blogged in a while.... I've been holding a crabby, sick, clingy baby.