That Mom

Today the kids and I went to the park for Clara's first birthday party (it was a cute, cute party--well done, Clara's Mommy!).  About an hour after we got there, Noble complained about mosquito bites.  Sure enough, there were some little spots on his leg.  It was hot and I figured that was making the itching worse, so I put cool water on his leg, held his cold Sprite can against it--you know, the silly things you do while you berate yourself for not carrying your bag which holds every kind of on-the-spot remedy known to man.  Anyway, it didn't help.  And new spots kept popping up.  By the time we left 30 minutes later, he had a very dark rash covering most of his body, with blister-y looking welts coming up in huge patches.  It was scary how fast it all came on, so I called the clinic to see about getting him in.  They were closing, and in their defense, they're not an emergency clinic, so I hung up very frustrated.  And a little freaked out--I imagined the worst of course, taking him home, giving him a dose of Benadryl, laying him down for a nap and not realizing he was having trouble breathing...
...so I called James to determine if I was freaking out or behaving rationally.  Without even seeing Noble, he could tell it was serious and agreed that we should go on to St. Joseph's, the new express care clinic in town.  (We'd heard great things about them from a friend, and I really wanted a doctor's opinion about my Bubby.)

I'm glad we went.  The pictures don't really capture the severity of the rash, but in the top one you can see how dark his legs are.  The bottom picture is after the first dose of Benadryl, when things started clearing up immediately.  He's completely clear now (and sleeping well and safely!), but the doctor says it will most likely come back in a few hours.  If it doesn't go away by tomorrow, he'll start Prednasone (sp?), so I hope it doesn't go that far.

Why am I posting such a random thing?  It's hard as a Mom to know when we're overreacting (man, did I want to lay into the clinic nurse who helpfully suggested I take my baby to the ER if, you know, he started having trouble breathing) and when we're looking out for our children.  I don't have any answers after seeing the doctor today, but I have fewer questions and I learned a lot.  We left with the peace of mind that it wasn't moving into his throat and an invitation to call tomorrow if things don't improve.  I have to say, I love the local Clinic and our great doctors there, but I'm glad to have this Express Care in town.  Since, you know, I'm obviously now That Mom.  :)