I Don’t Like the Letters E & R together…

So tonight we ended up in the ER because Gavin had an allergic reaction to something (who knows what) and it really freaked me out. It started after he had a little nap late this afternoon with one little white welt and redness near his ear. By the time we got to the hospital the entire right side of his face was beet red and it was on one of his legs and his torso. Of course when we finally saw a doctor it was starting to clear up a little and Gavin was laughing at Ben’s in ER antics! But after 3 1/2 hours (gosh I hate that it takes that long), a few interesting other patient sightings (one guy with a NASTY cut above his eye), some benadryl and baby steriods and $100 we were on our way!

The doctor listed a ton of things that can cause such a reaction so I have been wracking my brain trying to figure out what may have caused it and the only thing I can come up with is…. nothing! He did have vaccinations 2 days ago but it was the same ones he’s had before and it’s been 48 hours plus since he had those so the dr. didn’t seem to think that had anything to do with it either.

Anyway, it has cleared up now and he’s passed out asleep (I am sure mostly due to his first EVER dose of benadryl). I have to say that it is quite frustrating to not be able to figure out what caused my baby to turn colors. And, since nothing like this ever happened when Ben was a baby it was my first time out with an allergic reaction of this sort. We came home with a prescription for a lose dose steroid and a couple of tired boys.

By the grace of God Ben was quite good about it all (Tim met us there but only after we’d been there for an hour) and behaved pretty well (well, until he hit a nurse in the leg with a wheely chair…) Anyway, let’s keep our fingers crossed that this was a one time thing and that it doesn’t reoccur. I really DO NOT like the ER but I especially don’t like my baby being sick.

On the bright side, Gavin was the “hit” of the ER – but he’s a cute little baby so why wouldn’t he be? Ben and I left for a little bit after Gavin was first assessed b/c it was now 7:30 and we hadn’t had anything to eat for dinner. While we were on a mad run to Wendy’s he was apparently quite fussy. When we arrived back at the hospital I found my baby son completely passed out on a stranger and my husband engrossed in the Cowboy game that was on in the waiting room. I have to say she seemed to have the magic touch! She held him until we had to go back again to get the prescription and check out (talk about a grueling process – oh the paperwork!!). Anyway, there was also a grandmother in there who was quite enamored with Gavin and when she saw this other woman holding him she told Tim “I didn’t know other people could hold him – I would have!” She saw me with him later and continued to go on about how her youngest grandchild is now 8 and she has a “yearning” to hold the babies again. But, I decided that I was going to keep him to myself this time! HA! It just goes to show, people do LOVE the babies and I am grateful to the woman who was able to calm him down for Tim so that Ben and I could eat. She was an ER angel. If there is such a thing. Ok, maybe it’s not such a bad place but I really do not want to be a frequent visitor no matter how nice the other patients and their familes are!