Bug bites!

Poor Reagan was bitten by some bugs outside, probably when we were sitting in the grass while playing with Hank outside.  We first noticed two bumps, one on her ankle and one on the side of her foot, last weekend.  They were red and inflamed, and I almost thought they were bad sun blisters.  I remember seeing one of the bites excrete some puss while I was changing her diaper.  Reagan was not acting unusually fussy so she didn't seem to be in pain because of these bites, but they just looked so painful and bad on her tender baby skin!

I called the nurse on Monday when they didn't go away, and she said if they were spider bites, then we needed to take Reagan into the doctor's office because spider bites for babies are serious!  So, David and I took her in Monday just to be safe and to learn next time if we need to take her in or if we can simply buy some Benadryl at the pharmacy on our own for Reagan.

Original bites (Saturday, June 6th)

Bite marks two days later (Monday, June 8th)

The doctor said that, yes indeed, Reagan was bitten but she thought that they were bug bites and not spider bites.  The doctor gave Reagan a prescription for some "strong acting Benadryl" called Triamcinolone cream.  

I looked it up on www.webmd.com and they had this description for the Triamcinolone: "This medication is used to treat a variety of skin conditions (e.g., eczema, dermatitis, allergies, rash). Triamcinolone reduces the swelling, itching, and redness that can occur in these types of conditions. This medication is a medium- to strong-potency corticosteroid."

The doctor told us that after we spread just a small amount of the Triamcinolone cream on Reagan's two bumps, that we needed to wash our hands right away because the cream thins out the skin if a thick layer is left on without being washed. 

The doctor said that if we had not come to have Reagan checked out at the clinic and if we had just left it alone, that Reagan probably would have been fine since they were not spider bites, but that they would have eventually dried out and left some scars on her leg for six-eight weeks.  We're hoping that the cream will work this next week!

Bite marks today (Tuesday, June 9th)