July 20, 2007

Week of Rashes

This week all of my kids have had something called impetigo. At first they appeared to have mosquito bites, and then the bites turned into open sores. I thought they had just been scratching at them. Finally Sarah's got really nasty, and my mom took one look at them and said, 'Oh that's impetigo." What's that?

Apparently impetigo is caused by a bacteria (staph or strep) that infects the skin when you scratch the insect bites. Mostly kids get it in the summer. The treatment: bathe daily with soap and water, try to remove any yellow crust (doesn't that make you gag?) from the sores, and apply antibiotic ointment. I used a cream the doctor prescribed and they are healing well. Thankfully they only had a few spots on their body- our friend that we caught it from had them ALL OVER! It was awful looking.

Well that was Monday, and this morning when I went to get baby Sarah out of her crib, she was covered in a red, splotchy, lacy rash. Her trunk area was red like a sunburn, and everywhere else were the splotchy bumps. Her skin also felt hot. I really thought it was an allergic reaction and gave her some benadryl. I talked her pediatrician's nurse and she said it was Fifth's Disease. duh! My other two had it at this age, but it's been so long I forgot what it looked like. They are contagious until they break out-lovely.

I was supposed to keep my 4 month old niece today, but I'm glad I didn't just in case. The fun of childhood ills :)

1 comment:

Thirdtimemomma said...

Hey mama,
I love your road to homemaking story. Pretty similar to mine. The Husband and I were married right out of highschool, I graduated in May we were married in October. I also played with my dolls (Barbies until 12 or so!) and colored (heck i still color!) and played school, of course my dolls were my students. Hmmmm, can you say early homeschooler?

You know, I NEVER recognize rashes. I always think they are heat rash or a bug bite. :( Oh well. I guess we just dont over react. :)

Hope your Having a Blessed Day!
Vicki