Emily's Health, or lack thereof

We are waiting for Emily's doctor's office to start offering a frequent visitors card. We would be high on that list right now! At her check up on Thursday, November 30, her pediatrician said that Emily's eczema on her cheek had become infected and prescribed an antibiotic. We debated over the weekend if it was actually getting any better, but decided that we needed to give the antibiotic time to get in. On Monday morning we got her up and she looked awful. The eczema/infection was all over both cheeks, her chin, and underneath her chin and face. She looked awful. We weren't even sure if daycare would take her, but they did. I called her pediatrician's office again and they prescribed bactrim instead of whatever she was on before and a topical antibiotic cream. By Tuesday, she didn't look any better so we decided that I would stay home with her on Wednesday and get her to a dermatologist. The dermatologist said it was impetigo or staph that was infecting the eczema and gave us prescriptions for a special face wash/soak to do twice a day, then the topical antibiotic, then a steroid cream. She also kept taking the oral antibiotic. Twice a day, our almost 10 month old daughter got a mini-facial. Unfortunately, she didn't feel lucky to be getting her facial and usually whined through it. And she needed to be kept home from daycare till he saw her again on Monday. Greg and I were able to juggle our schedules and enjoy some time at home with Emily who was fortunately feeling relatively good, so we could enjoy our time at home with her. She got a clear bill of health from the dermatologist so now we only have to put the steroid on her face and a stronger one on one hand that isn't quite as good. So far, so good. She goes back to see the dermatologist again on Monday afternoon. He also said that she has sensitive skin so nothing used in her laundry or put on her skin should have any fragrances. The 2 pictures that I've posted are of Emily as she was getting better, she actually looked a lot worse than the first picture. This weekend she looks great, a little on the rosy side, but you can't tell there was something wrong.

She finally stopped taking the Bactrim on Monday morning. Over the weekend (while on it) she started with a bit of a cough and a little bit of a cold. Wouldn't you know, Thursday morning she wakes up with a fever. Greg stayed home with her since we expected her to be out for 2 days and he couldn't be home on Friday. He took her to the pediatrician's office and Emily has a viral infection (cough) with an ear infection on top of it. What fun. Now she is on Augmentin to treat the ear infection. Augmentin is the third antibiotic that they use when it looks like they are dealing with a tough infection. I guess since Emily got it just after coming off the Bactrim, they were concerned about drug resistance. We don't like that Emily has been on antibiotics so much recently, but I guess that is the way of life when you have a baby in daycare. Hopefully with the holidays she will get a break from daycare and all of her sicknesses. She was able to go back to daycare on Friday and seems to be feeling good this weekend.

By Monday, in just over 2 weeks, Emily will have had 5 doctor's visits. Fortunately everything is relatively minor.