Sweet baby boy

As this weekend draws to a close, I have to say that it was much less eventful and much calmer than last weekend! We had a typical busy Saturday morning last week: pancake breakfast at the fire station, Quinn's gymnastics class, a quick trip to the mall for a new pair of jeans and Chick-Fil-A. Quinn and I got home from running errands and Randy seemed especially concerned about Wes. Wes had lots of groin swelling and bruises were starting to pop up all over his legs. He hadn't slept well the night before and wasn't napping well at all. We called our neighbor (who had been Wes's baby nurse at Mercy when he was born!) and she was puzzled. We kept seeing more and more bruising as the day progressed, so I started calling around to different clinics, seeing if I could find one that would see a baby.

Thinking that we'd be back in a few hours, we dropped Quinn off at the Kriegers'. We buzzed over to Urbandale....and got rear-ended on the way. Everyone was fine, so we proceeded to the clinic. The doctor there suspected a hernia (based on Wes's swelling) or some kind of issue with his blood (based on his brusing) and wasn't comfortable at all sending us home, so he called ahead to Blank Children's Hospital downtown and we were on our way. Once we got checked into the ER, we were so grateful that we had gone in because Wes started developing rashes and hives all over his body. The ER doctor didn't know what was wrong with him, and after skeletal scans, x-rays, ultrasounds, and bloodwork, they decided they wanted us to stay the night for more tests and observation. Our poor baby's arms and legs were so swollen that they had to draw blood from his scalp.

Snuggling with Mama

We finally got into our room at the hospital about 10:00 p.m. After a nap and some milk, Wes was whisked away for more tests. I was able to catch a quick nap while Randy stayed with him. We were up for most of the night, so the timeline is a little fuzzy to me, but at some point the pediatric oncologist came in and presented his findings. It wasn't cancer, thank God, but something called HSP. We had never heard of it, but all of the bloodwork and Wes's symptoms pointed to this.

• Henoch-Schonlein purpura is a particular form of blood vessel inflammation called vasculitis.
• Henoch-Schonlein purpura frequently follows an infection of the throat or breathing passages, but it can be induced by certain medications.
• Henoch-Schonlein purpura causes skin rash, pain in the abdomen, and joint inflammation (arthritis).
• The treatment of Henoch-Schonlein purpura is directed toward the most significant area of involvement.

We presume that it is from hand, foot, and mouth disease, which is considered an epidemic right now in Iowa. This could possibly what triggered Wes's throat ulcer back in March. We were so relieved to hear that it wasn't a hernia, or leukemia, or any other strange malady.

Poor picture quality (no camera!) but this is on Sunday. He looks a lot better than he had just 12 hours before! The backs of his legs, palms, and ears were still bruised, but much of the swelling had gone down.

After seeing a regular pediatrician on Sunday, we were able to go home late that morning. We picked up Quinn and met my parents at our house. We were so glad that they were there to hold Wes so he could sleep (and so that Randy and I could take a few catnaps ourselves). My dad ended up coming back and staying with us Monday-Friday to give us extra help around the house while Wes recovered. He cooked for us every morning and night and did laundry every day! It was so nice having him here!

I am taking Wes to our regular pediatrician tomorrow. We were told to watch for belly distension, lack of wet diapers, and anything other complications that his swelling might have caused. Wes is actually doing great! He slept until 5:00 a few mornings this week (!!).

Sorry for the wordiness of this post! We are so grateful to have our little man home and healthier. Thanks to all of our friends and family who offered prayers and support during this whirlwind of a weekend.