Just when I thought it was going to be a relaxing evening at home--Jonathan and I had made a trip to the Blanton Museum in the afternoon, then stopped by Jennifer & Stepan's to collect Kayleigh (and lucky Jonathan got a chance to hold Simone and sing her a song for a little bit), and we made it home by 5:30 p.m. Dale was already home, albeit working and oblivious to any conversation directed his way, and things were easy.
Then Kayleigh, who was sitting on my lap to eat her dinner as she was quite tired, commented that she couldn't bend her finger and wondered why not. Since that morning I had treated an (note: a single one) ant bite, probably a fire ant since it made a nasty white pustule, on her index finger, I was mildly concerned and took a look. Her finger was clearly quite swollen, but I thought to myself, well, you know, I'm sure that will go down in a couple of days.
But then I noticed that there was a red streak extending from the base of her finger all the way across the top of her hand to her wrist. I know that red streaks are a big flag to seek medical advice immediately, so I abandoned her in the kitchen to go look it up at my computer. After about five minutes of checking various sites, I called our After Hours clinic to speak with a pediatric nurse. She consulted with a doctor, who said to come on there rather than going to an ER--but definitely come in. So off we went.
Kayleigh was great. She answered all their questions and let them take her temperature, blood pressure, etc. The good things were that she has no fever, the tip of her finger has plenty of blood rushing into it after pressure is applied (apparently one of the biggest dangers of a swollen finger is that it can cut off circulation to the tip of the finger--I never knew that), and she was fine with the doctor manipulating her finger quite a bit. But when the doctor took a good look at the streak on her hand, she realized that it didn't stop at the wrist . . . it goes all the way up past her elbow.
So Kayleigh is on some strong antibiotic, which she did a fantastic job taking even though it has a sulfuric smell, and Dale as always was a huge help in making everything painless because he had her laughing as she took it. Our things to watch in the night are to make sure that she doesn't develop a fever, that the pain doesn't suddenly increase, and that the streak doesn't extend past the mark that the doctor put on her arm indicating its reach at the time of the appointment.
I rubbed OTC hydrocortisone cream on it just before putting her in bed, just in case it helped reduce the swelling (she also did a warm water bath for her hand as per doctor's recommendation), and I didn't like touching her finger. It's really kind of gross how it feels, like it's about to burst open. Both it and the part of her hand where the red streak runs is very swollen indeed. Cross your fingers that the antibiotic does the job and makes it all go down in the night. And that I don't end up writing my next post about our middle-of-the-night ER visit!
Goodness, I didn't realize it had been all month that I'd been neglecting my blog. I enjoyed writing in it while in England and was hoping I'd continue again upon returning home . . . perhaps from now on I'll make better updates.
Daddy left for Rita's this morning after spending a week with us here in Austin. We greatly enjoyed his visit and are sorry to see him go. It's always nice having my daddy in the house :-). I think he enjoyed himself, although he might have been able to do without the gluten-free bison meatloaf I served one night. It was tasty, but not as good as the beef tenderloin I served the first night. I like to make a big first impression and then coast on that for a while . . .
I do think he was pleased that he got to see little Simone when she was only about ten hours old. And, of course, he got to hold her too. Yesterday Daddy, Jonathan, and I went over to the Riha's with provisions, fixed them lunch (chips and guacamole, fresh salads, crabcakes, and mini dessert parfaits), cleaned up, and then took ourselves away again. It was nice getting to see the baby a bit. She is so beautiful! I love it when she just looks straight in your eyes and makes noises at you.
This week Kayleigh and Magda are at summer camp! It was a spur of the moment thing for me, and at the time I called after getting back in town from our England trip, the place was full but offered to put us on the waiting list since they said frequently they got cancellations for the last week. So last Friday, sure enough, I got a call that there was space for two if we were still interested. The girls seem to be enjoying themselves tremendously--camp is from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and their day begins with swimming. They play lots of games, and every day they ride horses. Can you believe that!
It's working out really great for me since Stepan is off this week taking care of his wife and new daughter, so he comes by in the mornings to pick up Kayleigh, and then the girls get to arrive at camp together (it's only about 8 minutes away from our house). We are alternating picking them up in the afternoons. Yesterday I barely saw Kayleigh at all--she left around 8:45 a.m., Stepan picked them up after camp (he gave them baths and then they made chocolate chip cookies before having dinner), and he took them to pajama storytime at our local library branch before dropping Kayleigh back off at home at 8 p.m. It was so quiet and low-key here without her--very odd. But this afternoon I get to have them over here, so that will be nice. I feel a little guilty that Stepan is taking them every morning and I get it so easy, but I know that when school starts up I'll be picking up Magda three times a week (twice for CAPS and once for her Friday over here), so I am trying to tell myself it's okay and to just appreciate it.
Jonathan is desperate for school to start, and frankly so am I! Luckily there is less than two weeks to go (he goes back on 2 September, the Tuesday after Labor Day), and for most of that time Mom will be here with us. She comes on Monday and will stay until the day after her birthday--yippee!