Ben’s baseball schedule is the craziest I have ever seen. Most sports pick a night (or two or three) and have the same schedule for the season. Baseball this season can’t seem to stick with a schedule. One week the games are Monday and Wednesday. The next week the games are Tuesday and Thursday. It makes it almost impossible to play multiple sports or even figure out how to get the other kids to their sports easily. We are making it work, but it’s crazy.
Amazingly, Ben seems completely better. The joint swelling and fever have disappeared. The hives have mostly disappeared but every once in a while I see a hint of one so I’ve been giving him a dose of Benadryl a day. It’s crazy the change a day can make. (Also, I don’t think I have ever owned three children’s medicines at the same time before…)
Ben woke up feeling much better. He decided “no” to soccer (which I was glad to hear), but he did want to attend “opening day” for baseball. This usually involves a mini-parade, a ceremony, team pictures, pizza and hotdogs, and bounce houses. We went, ran into some friends, and stayed for most of the events. Ben seemed ready for the couch, but didn’t appear to be in any pain or severely itchy.
Then we got home just in time to rush off to Kaitlyn’s soccer game. This is one of the first game’s that Kaitlyn hasn’t played goalie, but she had a ton of game time and played great!
Kaitlyn and I were almost home when Wade called asking about Ben’s medication status. Evidently he was quite uncomfortable and warm. I had Wade give him a dose of Motrin and when I got home I was shocked at how his wrists were swollen in addition to his ankles and feet. In a few hours, he still had a fever, his back was completely covered in hives, and his bottom lip was quite swollen. I decided a trip to the ER was necessary. Things just seemed to be continually getting worse instead of improving.
Ben and I were at the hospital for eight hours. We did eventually get some answers. It turns out that Zyrtec takes 10 days to become effective. The doctor gave Ben a dose of Benadryl and we saw some pretty quick improvement. He recommended using that for the next few days. He also said it was normal to see symptoms worsening for the first 48 hours after the last dose of the antibiotic but then things should begin to improve. (That would be tomorrow morning for us.)
When Ben came home from school yesterday, his arms, legs, back, and stomach were covered in what I thought were bug bites. Although they didn’t look like mosquito bites, he was scratching them. I put anti-itch cream on them and sent him to bed early last night because he was so grumpy.
This morning, some of the bumps were gone and new ones had appeared. He also had pinpoint red ones on his face. I then thought maybe it was Hand, Foot, Mouth. I called the pediatrician and they asked me to send some pictures. They evaluated the pictures and told me it was definitely not HFT, but probably a rash caused by a virus. They assured me it was fine to send him to school. Two hours later I got a phone call because his knees were so swollen he couldn’t walk. The nurse suggested I take him to the pediatrician. I made an appointment and we went right in.
He was diagnosed with serum sickness (caused by an allergic reaction to the antibiotic he was taking for an ear infection). I was told we could treat the bumps (which were actually hives) with Zyrtec and the joint swelling with Motrin. They gave him a dose of Motrin and we left to get something that always makes him happy – sushi!
By bedtime, I wasn’t sure what to think. Ben had spiked a fever, the bumps were spreading, and his wrists were swelling in addition to his knees. I called the pediatrician after-hours line, and after much consulting with someone else, the woman told me to keep giving him the medicine. I was to take him to the ER if his fever went up, breathing became difficult, or his mouth, lips, or tongue swelled.
I normally do laundry twice a week. Once a week I do a single load (or maybe two), and then at the end of the week, I do 4-5 loads. If I plan ahead, I have everyone bring down their own laundry. Sometimes in the rush of getting everyone out the door, I forget. On those days, Ben (who is last to leave) usually helps out by bringing down everyone’s baskets while I sort.
Today everyone brought down their own baskets and I was sorting the laundry into piles. Ben really wanted to help so I happily gave him the job.
Ben and I spent another evening at the ballpark. This age is always fun to watch.
Alex has been working on his modded computer case for a long time. He finally finished these side panels and asked me to take pictures. They look awesome!
I keep thinking we’ll find the time to practice Ben’s hitting and catching, but here we are on another baseball night and we’ve done nothing at home. Thankfully Ben still seems to really enjoy the sport! (And I am getting a ton of practice at removing grass stains.)
Wade and I had been worked with some of our church leaders to figure out a time a group of us to get together for some planning. We finally settled on today. The plan was to have everyone over to our house after church for lunch, some video sessions, and then discussion. We had about an hour or so between church and when everyone was supposed to show up. I had things almost all ready and decided we needed some cookies. I sent a message through the house asking someone to make cookie dough (thinking I might get one taker that wasn’t consumed by video games). Suddenly I heard a stampede on the stairs and both boys are trying to race each other to the kitchen. We ended up with cookies and brownies to make everyone happy.
We were able to watch two of the video sessions and then had some great discussion.
Our lazy Saturday mornings have disappeared but Ben seems to really be enjoying soccer. I’m sure it doesn’t hurt to have so many familiar faces on his team this year.
I had to miss Kaitlyn’s soccer game because Ben had a playdate. A mother of a little boy in Ben’s class arranged a group playdate. She invited six children over and arranged for us to all stay and have dinner together. The kids could play and the moms could get to know each other. It was a great idea!