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Oh, where to even start. Today has been rough, ya’ll. As I shared in my update last night, one of the doctors at our peds office diagnosed Lillie with hives….either due to her amoxicillin or due the COVID. He really didn’t seem very concerned and told me that I shouldn’t be either. I gave her the doses of Benadryl as instructed, but we had a rough night. Up every hour and very cranky.
Well guys, I woke up this morning to this.
Not only were there way more of the hives but they were angry. I sent these pictures to her pediatrician’s office and fed her some breakfast. As we were sitting there eating, I was watching more and more of them pop up before my eyes. To say that as a mama, I was upset, is an understatement. Her eyes were swelling and the Benadryl was not doing anything to stop it. I knew in my gut that something else was going on here.
Thankfully, another doctor at the office agreed to do a Telehealth appointment with us right away. After getting a good look at her, he told me that he felt certain that we were dealing with COVID hives. He said it was pretty much exact for what they are seeing with the COVID rashes (I didn’t even know this was a thing until my child got it) but was the first time he had seen it clinically presented in person.
Thankfully, he agreed that we should start a steroid right away. After some hiccups with the pharmacy taking forever, I finally got a dose into her after her morning nap. About an hour later, they looked a lot less puffy, but still pretty nasty..
He gave me the all clear to do a low dose of Benadryl if needed along side of the steroids, so we have done that at nap and now bedtime. After her second nap, things looked much better still, but I didn’t get a picture. I honestly was feeling really good about it until I noticed she felt super clammy. I checked and sure enough, her fever is back. Super discouraging because I have not had to treat her fever at all for a couple of days now. We had finally kicked that part. Again, so very thankful for the Owlet right now!
My biggest concern from searching around today has been the clinical implications that they are seeing in kids that get hives like this with COVID. Sometimes, it is simply the body’s reaction to the virus, as can happen with any virus. However, they are seeing more and more cases that are developing into what is called MIS-C, which is a life threatening inflammation of the blood vessels (and lots of other medical jargon that I don’t understand). If you want to read more about that, here’re two articles that I have found that explain it pretty well. Just something to research and learn the warning signs of if you have a child that develops these hives in connection to COVID or COVID exposure.
Syndrome resembling Kawasaki disease in COVID-19 asymptomatic children
COVID-19–Associated Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children
Does Lillie have MIS-C? Probably not. I am praying not. I am trying not to worry about it and asking God not to let any of this progress to something that serious. But was this more than just normal hives? My mama gut truly believed so and I was right. I am SO glad that I stuck to my intuition and sought a second opinion. Who knows where we would be right now, had I not pushed for the steroids.
I am sharing all of this to bring awareness to other parents of what this is, since I did not know it was a thing, and what it could be. If you feel unsettled after a doctor gives you an answer, push for second and even third opinions. Doctors are human and this thing is so new and constantly changing. Sometimes a fresh set of eyes is all that it takes. I am hoping that maybe our story could save a life or keep a child from dangerous misdiagnosis.
Please say a little prayer that we are just dealing with a severe histamine reaction to the virus and not something more serious. Please say a prayer that this new fever goes away swiftly and that tomorrow is a much better day. As always, I will keep ya’ll updated!
Here is a progression of less than 24 hours. As you can see, it came on rapidly. I called the doctor over those two tiny bumps yesterday because I didn’t think they looked right. And now here we are. YOU are your child’s best advocate!
Side note- I did apply breastmilk topically to her rash. I couldn’t tell you if it played a part in the improvement because I did it at the same time as the steroid. But I was desperate and had heard that milk can help hives. I will say, she did not scratch at them and it did seem to bring her some much needed relief. Mamas are amazing!
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