Rosy Cheeks

It started with just a few red dots on Eisley's cheek.  Maybe from the excessive drool that comes with the first tooth.  A few more dots under her chin after being held for a long afternoon nap on turkey day. 

 And then a couple days later...it's was a very odd rash.  You expect it to be bumpy, but it's smooth, the edges seemed to be spreading and migrating and the deep red spots are firey hot to the touch.  We took Little E in on Saturday morning, at first glance the doc thought it was simple eczema, but it's not that at all.  She was stumped.  All we could come up with is a possible reaction to the steroids she took for croup.  Once it crept up towards her eye you could see how swollen it was.  Eisley used to have jowls like a bulldog, but her face has thinned out.

 A couple days more and it was all over the other cheek, skipping over her mouth and nose.

No more pics of rash documentation, but it turned into looking like a bad sunburn - peeling near her mouth and yellow scaly ick closer to her ears.  I sure hope we can make it through cold and flu season without any more steroids or that it was just a fluke and doesn't happen again.

Today we saw the surgeon who put her button in because along the way she's also managed to get an infection around it.  So much that she screams if you look like you might touch it and sheds big tears if you do.  It looks just about like her cheek above.  The surgeon said it's pretty rare to get an infection around the button, but agreed it was pretty angry looking and gave her two weeks worth of antibiotics. 

Doc also noticed the little hernias that have developed between her chest incision and her belly button.  They popped up a couple months ago, just a couple little nickel sized bulges.  If she were a snowman, they would say, "Place buttons here."  Now they are a bit bigger, maybe quarter size, but don't bother her at all.  The surgeon was pretty convinced they needed attention, but not until the infection is gone.  So we go back for a discussion in a couple weeks.  Kind of under his breath the doc muttered that he's never seen anyone with two hernias above the belly button like that.  I just smiled and said, "You met Eisley late in her NICU stay, she doesn't do anything like the textbook says."

I am really not looking forward to more appointments, more hospital time, more time away from "regular life".  This just isn't quite what I had planned.

My plans, however, are not what matter in the grand scheme of things.  So as I work with E on not only picking up, but letting go of her toys, I realize that, I too have to learn to let go.  God is pretty amazing and has brought our family through so much this year, a couple little bumps in the road - or on Eisley's belly - won't derail us.