ER on Mother's Day

What a wonderful week we are having! First jury duty and now this! Today was supposed to be relaxing. I was planning on taking a nap as soon as the babies were down after lunch.

We got home from church and I was cutting strawberries, while Steve made lunch. Nathanial somehow got a hold of one of the little core pieces, put it in his mouth, and then spit it out and handed it to me.

Not five minutes later, his face got a few little splotches on it. I hadn't really thought of the strawberry and thought he was getting a rash with his cold. Then it started to spread and spread and spread...quickly. I wolfed down my lunch and rushed him to the ER. By the time we got there, the little "rash" had turned into a welt and spread all along one side of his face. While we sat there, it moved to the back of his neck, the other side of his face, and his ear. I was trying to figure out what had happened and honestly did not remember the strawberry at all at that point. Thankfully, the doctor knew immediately that it was an allergic reaction to something and gave him a huge dose of prednisone and benedryl. Poor little guy gagged on the prednisone and the benedryl wasn't a whole lot better.

He now has to take Benedryl for the rest of today (plus yesterday) and Prednisone for the next four days. Within minutes of getting that into him, though, he was fine and his rash disappeared. By the time we got home, you couldn't even tell anything had been wrong with him to start with - other than the left over scratch marks!

Two things could have caused this, as Steve and I later recalled. The strawberry, which is what we really think it is. Or he was held by two different people at church (who are married) and it could have been their laundry detergent. But with how fast it happened after the strawberry incident, we are thinking that was it. I am so mad at myself for being so careless as I was cutting them. I have been really diligent and said that they could not have any berries until they were three and I haven't given them any. This, however, fell on the floor. And if it was that and his first reaction to it was this bad, then we have to be extra careful. We have warned Austin and Aidan to be positive they never get anywhere near all three of the babies with anything remotely resembling strawberries from here on out, but especially Nathanial and Ethan. I will never be giving them that again!

I hope that all mother's had a fantastic, and uneventful, Mother's Day yesterday!!!