Believe it or not, another illness has hit the McRaes--another one for Jackson. Poor little babe! Today was supposed to be a day of merriment and celebration as we had scheduled his first birthday party and all of the food and decorations were in place this morning. The last thing I needed to do was to decorate the cake when I woke up, but sadly, when we got up, we saw that Jackson's face was covered in a severe, red rash with an open sore.
It was all over his lips, cheeks, chin, and spreading down his neck! It was horrific. Also, when we changed his diaper, we saw the worst diaper rash ever. Unsure of its cause, but thinking it might be related to the face rash, we called the 111 service to ask what to do. They had a triage nurse call us back and ask a series of questions which she determined that we needed to take him to A&E (the emergency room) as soon as we could. She also said that if we get stuck in traffic on the way, we had to call 999 for a paramedic. The nearest children's A&E is in Ormskirk, so after we drove there, about 25 minutes had passed. We were so worried on the way there but when we saw that the waiting room was empty, and that we could be seen by a doctor right away, that made us feel a little bit better.
The doctor diagnosed it as impetigo and gave us a cream for that and another one for the diaper rash. He said that it is highly contagious and that Jackson must stay away from nursery for at least 48 hours, but it could last all week depending on the severity and openness of the sores. He also looked at his throat and ears and said they are really red (which is due to his virus that he still has lingering) and to deal with that, we need to keep administering paracetamol (Tylenol). So at the same time he was supposed to be celebrating with his friends, he was dealing with an itchy, uncomfortable slew of issues from head-to-toe. More of his impetigo is now on his knees and stomach, but this has started appearing as tiny red dots instead of a lumpy, dry rash.
I cannot believe the illnesses and bad luck we've had for the past month! Last Saturday night, after I wrote the blog, Lee developed a terrible food poisoning and at 2 o'clock in the morning, I found myself at a clinic in Formby picking up anti-sickness tablets so that his symptoms would finally subside. He had to miss a day of work to recover from that on Monday. Three weeks ago, we were at the Southport A&E for six hours (until 2:30 in the morning) on a school night for a case of conjunctivitis that I had. We have been to the hospital and doctor's office five times and have called 111 seven times in the past month! We really need a break.
Hopefully next Saturday we can try to have his birthday party again with his friends. Please send good thoughts and prayers this way. We're just hoping for one week without a new sickness, that's all. Well, let me rephrase that: We're hoping for at least one week without a new sickness. Because if we could never have another illness, that would be great.
Opening presents on his birthday. Thank you to all of my friends from work and church who sent gifts and cards for Jackson! He loved his presents and you made his birthday even more special.
Exploring his new toy
Getting ready to try the tunnel
We let him have a mini chocolate doughnut for his birthday breakfast
All of the party people (and camerawoman). It was a small celebration, but at least we had plenty of food, cake, and drinks!
Obviously the food won't keep another week, but we're hoping the helium balloons stay afloat for round two of the birthday bash
All of his beautiful cards from near and far
Eating his birthday cake with a tiny bit of frosting! You can see a bit of his rash on his cheeks, but the rest is covered-up by cake-y hands.
Developmental updates: Jackson has learned how to cheer and pounds his fists up and down when he's excited. This week, we heard him squeal with delight when he opened his presents and he was especially really excited to play on his new Little Tikes climbing frame. Jackson didn't cry once this week when I dropped him off at nursery. I think he really likes it there--despite coming home with every illness under the sun!
If you see Sammie Miles Davis, Jr. and Bella, give them my love.
