It all began yesterday when Zane had complained of a tummy ache. I just figured, since he hadn't eaten much, that he was hungry. Dinner was almost ready and we needed to hurry and eat in order to make it to Harrison's soccer practice by 6. We ate dinner, got in the van, and drove to soccer. While we were there, Zane lifted his arms up to stretch and I saw these large, welt-like bumps all over his belly. I lifted up his shirt some more. They were all over his chest, stomache, and back. I arranged for Harrison to get a ride home with Brennan and his dad, Ryan (our neighbors). Ryan said it looked like hives because Brennan had some last week. I rode out to the doctor's office and just missed them.
When I got home, I called our other neighbor, the Cooper's, because Shawn is in medical school and I figured he could verify if it was hives. I had never seen hives be so big before, especially the bump underneath Zane's bellybutton. They were hives. By that point, the on-call doctor had called me back. She suggested Benadryl and to watch if his throat swells up, etc. I was trying to stay calm, but my mind just kept going over what Zane had eaten all day. It was normal food that he had eaten before without a reaction: Cheerios and milk, grapes, blueberry muffins, a bite of pb & j,
grilled asparagus,
cannellini bean burgers, pasta, and some pomegranate juice (we are all getting over colds).
Shortly after I got home,
Sarah showed up with the girls. Andy and Michael were getting drywall for a kitchen we are in the process of remodeling. Sarah stayed with the kids while I ran to the store for some children's Benedryl. I gave him his first dose around 8pm. He seemed to be doing all right. He was a little itchy with an occasional burst of stomache pains. After Michael and Sarah left, we put the boys in the shower quick and they went to bed around 9pm. At 1am Zane woke up crying. Andy and I ran to get him. He was itchy and miserable. We gave him another dose of Benadryl and put him in the bath again. After we got him out and put his jammies back on, he was still miserable. Andy gave him a blessing and Zane fell asleep in my arms midway through. (Talk about an answer to prayers!) I kept Zane in bed with me, so Andy decided to go to the couch. Zane started thrashing around 5am, so I instantly jumped out of bed and gave him another dose, thinking at this rate that he was going to overdose or something.
We all slept in until 8am. It had been a rough night. We hurried and got Harrison ready for school. I checked Zane over and the hives had gotten worse! They were completely covering his belly and back, they were going down his legs and up his neck. They were even on his face. He was definitely having an allergic reaction and I was going crazy trying to figure out what it was! Andy took Harrison to school and left for work.
I called the doctor this morning at 9am and, thankfully, they were able to get him in at 9:30. All the nurses felt sorry for him when they saw his belly and back. The doctor came in, checked Zane out, and said that he knew exactly what the problem was:
Zane was having a reaction to his anti-biotic and was allergice to penicillin. I was SO relieved to finally have an answer! It is so hard for me, as a mom, to see one of my babies suffering. I had wondered about the anti-biotic, but he had been on it for 8 days, so I figured it wasn't causing the reaction. The doctor said that a person could take amoxicillin 100 times, and then one day, their body will just decide to react to it.
So here is my sweet little Zaner-Baner with a swollen face. When he isn't lying down, he kind of reminds me of Will Smith on
Hitched. The doctor said it would take a couple weeks for the hives to all clear up, so he prescribed prednizone to help speed up the process. He said to continue with the Benadryl and to give Zane oatmeal baths to help relieve the itching. Poor little Zane. My heart just aches for him because I know he is miserable. I'm just so glad that we were able to find out what was causing this reaction.
By late evening of New Year's Eve, they seemed to be doing much better. It looks like the uninvited guest decided to leave.
He made a lovely snack of cinnamon sugar toast, crackers, crackers, and more crackers.
Would you like some bread with your butter?
Ewan and Connor are about 10 months apart. They played really well. Except for the normal love-hate relationship that toddlers have with each other depending on who has what toy, they did really well.
The older boys stayed busy (and out of our hair) by playing Legos. Amazingly, they played really well and there weren't any major fights. Ang and I have noticed that the older the boys get, the better they play with each other. We were actually about to scrapbook for a couple hours. We haven't done that in almost a year.
As for my sweet, little Zane. The doctor did say that it would get worse before it got better. Every time I looked at his face, or saw him scratching his itches, I just wanted to hold him and cry. I think he got a little tired of my "hovering" because he did tell me a couple times to, "Stop, Mom!" I couldn't help trying to give him a hug every time I walked by him. He really has been a trooper with this allergic reaction. (I must say that Sunday was probably the worst day of all. He got them all over his underwear-area. . .how do you say it politely?. . . and all over his feet. We must have changed his underwear and pants 4 different times before church. He couldn't even put shoes on. I took him to sacrament, where he fell asleep. When he woke up, I just ended up taking him home. He was miserable.)
One thing I love about my friend Ang is that she is an amazing cook. She served a mission in Italy and she makes great food. She made dinner for all of us on Saturday night.
This is her recipe for a baked eggplant. I really need to get the recipe. She baked the eggplant slices, and then topped them with spinach, tomatoes, and some cheese and herb mixture, then baked it some more. It was so tasty!
Also, Ang stayed home with 4 of the kids while I took Harrison to his soccer game. Hayden came to support him. Here is an action shot of him scoring a goal after a breakaway. 
When I got home, I called our other neighbor, the Cooper's, because Shawn is in medical school and I figured he could verify if it was hives. I had never seen hives be so big before, especially the bump underneath Zane's bellybutton. They were hives. By that point, the on-call doctor had called me back. She suggested Benadryl and to watch if his throat swells up, etc. I was trying to stay calm, but my mind just kept going over what Zane had eaten all day. It was normal food that he had eaten before without a reaction: Cheerios and milk, grapes, blueberry muffins, a bite of pb & j, grilled asparagus, cannellini bean burgers, pasta, and some pomegranate juice (we are all getting over colds). 
Shortly after I got home, Sarah showed up with the girls. Andy and Michael were getting drywall for a kitchen we are in the process of remodeling. Sarah stayed with the kids while I ran to the store for some children's Benedryl. I gave him his first dose around 8pm. He seemed to be doing all right. He was a little itchy with an occasional burst of stomache pains. After Michael and Sarah left, we put the boys in the shower quick and they went to bed around 9pm. At 1am Zane woke up crying. Andy and I ran to get him. He was itchy and miserable. We gave him another dose of Benadryl and put him in the bath again. After we got him out and put his jammies back on, he was still miserable. Andy gave him a blessing and Zane fell asleep in my arms midway through. (Talk about an answer to prayers!) I kept Zane in bed with me, so Andy decided to go to the couch. Zane started thrashing around 5am, so I instantly jumped out of bed and gave him another dose, thinking at this rate that he was going to overdose or something.
I called the doctor this morning at 9am and, thankfully, they were able to get him in at 9:30. All the nurses felt sorry for him when they saw his belly and back. The doctor came in, checked Zane out, and said that he knew exactly what the problem was: Zane was having a reaction to his anti-biotic and was allergice to penicillin. I was SO relieved to finally have an answer! It is so hard for me, as a mom, to see one of my babies suffering. I had wondered about the anti-biotic, but he had been on it for 8 days, so I figured it wasn't causing the reaction. The doctor said that a person could take amoxicillin 100 times, and then one day, their body will just decide to react to it.
So here is my sweet little Zaner-Baner with a swollen face. When he isn't lying down, he kind of reminds me of Will Smith on Hitched. The doctor said it would take a couple weeks for the hives to all clear up, so he prescribed prednizone to help speed up the process. He said to continue with the Benadryl and to give Zane oatmeal baths to help relieve the itching. Poor little Zane. My heart just aches for him because I know he is miserable. I'm just so glad that we were able to find out what was causing this reaction.
My poor baby, Ewan. You can just see it in his eyes that he doesn't feel well. At least he is eating now, seeing the blue-stained lips from the blueberry pancakes I made for breakfast.
