I am totally puzzled as to what this rash is. The full story is in my journal, but essentially, a rash of red bumps appeared on Emily's arms this morning, with a few bumps on her belly. By the time we got home, more bumps were appearing, and when I stripped her down to her diaper, she had them all over her legs as well. After naps, it seemed like they had lessened...weren't as bright red, the ones on her legs were gone, and very few on her belly and maybe 1-2 on her back.

Tonight after her bath, she had the bright red bumps back, and in little clusters up her sides to her armpits. She isn't scratching at them, still doesn't have them back on her legs, and maybe 1-2 on her back. Nothing on her chest, and a few on her forearms. I don't know if this is an allergic reaction to something (I did laundry last night, but same detergent-Baby All-that I always use) or if it is chicken pox. She was vaccinated Feb 2004 when she was 1, and was exposed in January at church. We know that for a fact, because we got a letter a few days after she'd been in Sunday School telling us that a child in her classroom during the service we were there had developed CP. She never had any bumps from that exposure, and now I'm at a loss as to how she could have even been exposed.

I'm going to see how she looks in the morning....the bumps developed today around 10:45am.

Thoughts?
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5da35b3127cce916f7e5e18ee00000016108AZs2jhq3ctF

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5da35b3127cce916f7e5a18ea00000016108AZs2jhq3ctF

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5da35b3127cce916f7e3999b900000016108AZs2jhq3ctF

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5da35b3127cce916f7e28189800000016108AZs2jhq3ctF

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5da35b3127cce916f7ed7995700000016108AZs2jhq3ctF

the bumps in the picture above are the only ones on her belly/torso except the ones on her sides.

:shrug:

Do they look like fluid-filled blisters yet? Chickenpox starts out as red bumps...looks like pimples or insect bites. If they turn into fluid filled blisters withing 2 to 4 days..then I'd say it could be chicken pox.

nope...just red bumps.

IMO...it looks like an allergic reaction or hives. :dunno:

Ooops, you beat me to editing my post. The blisters appear in about 2 to 4 days. She is very unlikely to get it since she had the vaccine. Ans as you said, she had been exposed to it before and didn't get it. It could be an allergic reaction, expecially since it seems to travel across the body...hives do that.

That's what I'm hoping for....I did some research on askdrsears.com, and it said to hold off til day 3 before going to the dr because it can take 48 hours + for the blisters to appear. I will say she is NOT showing any symptoms of being sick. In fact, she's as happy and healthy as she's been in about a month...playing fine, lots of energy, happy, eating well, no signs of fever or anything, so I will truly be shocked if this is CP.

Thanks for the super speedy replies!!

Oh, if some of the bumps went away, then I don't think it's chicken pox, but an allergic reaction. Chicken pox blisters stay. Did she eat something different maybe?

I had chicken pox and my mother told me that I was really tired before she knew that I had it.

She hasn't eaten anything different that I can think of...I'll have to ask Mom what she might've eaten yesterday. I know her dinner last night was chicken nuggets, fries and apple juice (McD's) at my mom & dad's, and she's had that a zillion times. :rolleyes: I haven't changed lotions, soaps or anything like that. I did change fabric softener/dryer sheets, but that's been several weeks ago, so last night's laundry load was not the first time their clothes were dried with the new dryer sheets. Unless it took this long for a reaction to show up?

I also had CP as a kid, and mom said we all had fevers for a day or two before the bumps appeared. She's wondering about measles, since Emily just got over an ear infection and had diarrhea over the weekend, but with all the sinus crap we've all had, diarrhea isn't that unusual due to the drainage issues. Plus, Emily is totally up to date on her vaxes!

I don't think it's measles. That rash starts differently from face to the rest of the body plus fever. Diarrhea and EI would be a complication of another disease, but not the start of one.
About fabric softeners: my mother never used any because I had and still do have problems with laundry detergent. According to the doctor, fabric softeners tend to cause allergic reactions more often. If you have time, maybe you could rewash some clothes w/o the new sheet.

maybe she came into contact with something outside? poison ivy or something? :dunno:

Amy, if it is an allergic rash, Benadryl would most likely clear that up (strong antihistamine usally does the trick). I just have no clue about the dose.

Silke, I think tomorrow I'll make sure she wears an outfit that was washed a while ago. Either that, or I'll do a fresh laundry cycle without dryer sheets.

Andrea, I don't know that she played outside a lot at my mom's yesterday, and if she did, they don't have poison ivy.

OMG...I just thought of something. Mom lets her play with bubbles, and I know they played a lot yesterday. This evening while dinner cooked, we were outside and she was playing with her bubbles from a bottle I just bought the other day at WalMart. I wonder if the bubble solution ran down her arms or something? Then again, the rash would've shown up before her bath and not after, right? Plus, Mom uses the same bubble solution I bought, and she's been playing with them there for two weeks now.

We do have Benadryl our ped recommended a few weeks ago for her runny nose...for her, the dose is 1 tsp. Thankfully I have it, so in case it is an allergic reaction I don't need to run out tomorrow!

She's sleeping peacefully...they've been in bed for an hour now, and she took a 2 1/2 hour nap this afternoon.

Allergic reactions happen in different ways depending on what it is, I know with my son when he drinks milk he gets those type of hives immediately.. but when he gets an allergic reaction to medication he can be taking it for days then he gets the rash all over his body that stays for days.

Is she on medication for the EI? even though my sons rash does not get raised like that and the dots are all over the stomach and back close together I am sure every child can react differently.. there is an option?

Oh, allergies can come later. I ate carrots for the longest time and one day all the trouble started.

Deb, I thought about the amoxicillin she was on for her EI, but I'm not sure. She started it April 2, and took the last dose this past Monday...wouldn't a reaction have shown up while she was taking it? I do know she's been on that before (March of last year for an EI) with no reaction, but a girlfriend's son didn't show an allergic reaction to penicillin until his 2nd time on it.

I could be way off but it looks a lot like Fifths disease. My daughter had it last year and it started out looking like that..worked down the torso and limbs then back up and out.

Jayne

Jayne, that crossed my mind as well, because when we went to the gym last Friday, they had a sign in the childwatch room that there had been an exposure to Fifths disease, but it was a day we didn't go, and in fact, hadn't been for several days after the exposure...plus Emily isn't in the room where the exposure occured.

I looked it up on askdrsears.com, and this is what he says it looks like:
WHAT DOES FIFTH DISEASE LOOK LIKE?


Bright red cheeks with pale skin around the mouth.
A red lacy or bumpy rash can occur on the chest, abdomen, and back, which can then spread to the extremities. It can be itchy.
This face and body rash can fluctuate from better to worse with temperature and weather changes. Sunlight exposure can make the rash flare up.
This rash can sometimes come and go for several months.
Fever is present in 25% of cases.
Mild cold symptoms may occur.
Some people will experience headache, body aches, and muscle aches.
Some cases will have general aches and fever, which resolve, then have the rash break out 1 – 3 weeks later.
Some children will only have a rash, with no other symptoms or fever.
Adults, especially women, may experience joint pain and swelling.
Some cases can come and then resolve without anyone even detecting it.
She has absolutely NOTHING on her face and cheeks, so I don't think this is it....

Deb, I thought about the amoxicillin she was on for her EI, but I'm not sure. She started it April 2, and took the last dose this past Monday...wouldn't a reaction have shown up while she was taking it? I do know she's been on that before (March of last year for an EI) with no reaction, but a girlfriend's son didn't show an allergic reaction to penicillin until his 2nd time on it.
Ava is allergic to amoxicillin/penicillin and it didn't show up until the 3rd time she was on it! :eek: She's on Omnicef now and has been just since Tuesday and she got the same type of rash she got from the amox. It looks just like that. :nod:

Hilary, when did the reaction show up for Ava? I'm not ruling out the reaction to amoxicillin, I just would have assumed it would show up *while* she was still taking it.

It was like the 3rd day out of 10 that she was taking it.

Logan has had Fifths, and I can say that his rash looked NOTHING like that. I would definitely say an allergic reaction to something, you may never know what. If there was something else that her body was reacting to mildly (pollen for instance) then perhaps the soap put her over the edge, but that same reaction might not happen the next time with the soap if the pollen count is different...kwim?

Deb, I thought about the amoxicillin she was on for her EI, but I'm not sure. She started it April 2, and took the last dose this past Monday...wouldn't a reaction have shown up while she was taking it? I do know she's been on that before (March of last year for an EI) with no reaction, but a girlfriend's son didn't show an allergic reaction to penicillin until his 2nd time on it.

Yep that is what Aiden is allergic too, the first time he had the Amoxyl he completed the entire dose then go the rash a day or two after that.... they now put him on Keflor....which is a variation he had that fine a few times but this last time he took it he was 3 days into it and got the rash... so I am presuming the first time takes longer then they get more and more sensitive???

Oh I am just finding this thread...

I just thought I would drop these pics here of when Jacob had chickenpox...just so you can compare :) I agree with everyone else...it looks like your babe has an allergic reaction to something...

Rebekah had bumps like that once with a fever. They were around her legs and diaper area, under her arms, etc. They looked like big welts. It was an allergic reaction to strep throat.

Melissa, thanks for dropping those pictures off. The only generic ones I could find online were of "worst-case" oozing crusty blisters.

I'm getting ready to go get the girls...she sounds happy, so let's hope this was a reaction to something! I completely understand what JennP meant about never knowing what caused it. Conditions just happened to be what they were and the bumps arose.