Almost All Better

We are definitely on the mend with Jackson!  After I posted last Wednesday, we took an afternoon walk, after which I noticed large, white bumps on Jackson's hands and face!  They looked liked mosquito bites, but more raised and irregularly shaped.  They didn't seem to bother him, but I called the pediatrician right away.  They didn't have any more appointments that afternoon, but the nurse made me an appointment for Thursday morning.  About an jour or so later, when it was bathtime, the bumps were all gone!  Jackson slept really well that night and the bumps were still gone Thursday morning, so I cancelled the appointment.  Jackson was still lethargic Thursday, but he had more interest in eating.  After sticking to pretty bland foods during the day, we decided to let Jackson guide his dinner.  He ate a little of a bunch of different things, and seemed fine.  Unfortunately, around 8:30, Jackson started crying and we found him in his crib lying in his vomit :(  Poor thing was so tired, he was just lying there in it, not even crying.  We got him all cleaned up and let him fall asleep in our bed watching football :)  We definitely needed to see the doctor after almost a whole week of this!  So, I woke up early Friday morning to call as soon as the office opened to get an appointment.  We got a mid-day appointment, and spent the morning running a couple errands and sneaking in a little morning nap.  While we were running errands, I noticed the bumps again on Jackson's hands and shins...  We got to see one of our favorite nurse practitioners.  He didn't see anything really suspicious upon exam, but suggested we test for strep since many kids will complain of headaches and stomach aches and throw up, but they will never mention their throat hurting.  WEIRD!  We got so caught up in talking about Jackson's bumps that we almost forgot the strep test!  Before the test, the doctor thought it was probably one (or two back-to-back) stomach viruses plus a separate skin contact issue causing hives.  After the strep test, however, we determined that Jackson DID have strep throat and the hives were probably related to that.  I was SO thrilled to have a "real" answer!  (I know viruses are real, but the whole "let it run it's course" is not really helpful to a mom!)  So, we headed over to Target to get Jackson's antibiotic.  He took the medicine like a champ and was already feeling better on Saturday!  YAY!  The down side is that Jackson is in not completely recovered, so he is quite whiny...  We are trying to remember that this is not the new state of affairs.  Our sweet, well-mannered boy will be back before we know it :)

These pictures are of Jackson feeling a little better, wearing his new Elmo slippers :)  He got these for the first night of Hanukkah!  He thinks they are pretty fun!  There are also a couple pictures of his bumps--these were not the worst of the bunch, but it will give you an idea of what we were dealing with...