It seems that since Sarah moved to three months between regular doctor visits, we just can't stay away. Last Wednesday, Sarah was in the church nursery while Dave taught and I participated in child dedication classes. When the class was over we both had messages from the parents who were watching the kids asking about a rash on Sarah's belly.
Rewind to two or three months ago. Sarah developed a small red circle on the lower left part of her tummy, above the diaper line. It seemed fairly normal in the dry winter air and we just lathered her up with lotion like we did all of her dry places. Strangely, this red spot didn't go away, but it didn't change either.
Back to last Thursday. The parents spooked me a bit Wednesday night. By this time Sarah's rash covered her whole tummy and was bright red. I called the nurses at her doctor's office and we talked it through and determined that we could wait for her one year well visit in July. Friday morning when she woke up it seemed even more red and was starting to break the skin. I called the doctor again and they said to bring her right in.
The nurse practitioner took one look and pronounced a cause- eczema. She said some babies have it in the winter and others the summer, we have a good summer case on our hands. She prescribed a steroid cream and gave us a detailed list of lotions and washes to regularly use. Thankfully, Sarah's tummy is already significantly better and it never seemed to bother her.
While I was telling the doctor about the redness, she also solved another mystery. While we were in MS Sarah woke up after one morning nap with a bit of a fever. The next afternoon that fever was 105.4 and we somewhat frantically called the pediatrician and in the meantime a family friend who is a doctor. The both said to alternately giving her Tylenol and Motrin and the fever should pass, only worry if she starts to act significantly different.
Two days later her fever was nearly gone, but she had the beginnings of what looked like a heat rash around her hair line. It would come and go, but didn't seem to be related to heat- we were inside all day. The next day we were flying home and the rash spread over her whole body, with the exception of her legs and feet. As soon as we landed in RI Dave and I were ready to call the doctor, and it seemed to clear up. Monday it was still there, but by Tuesday her skin was completely clear (other than the different stomach rash). All very mysterious. The doctor left and came back with a medical book opened to some pictures and ask if the "heat rash" looked like the photos. It absolutely did, which confirmed that Sarah had the Roseola virus. Mystery solved!
Like it or not, we are getting to know our pediatricians!
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