So That's Why

Emma is getting over some weird virus that had her chest, face and back covered with a weird rash and had the skin on her fingers and toes peeling. After two visits to the doctor and two strep cultures (one of which has not been completed yet), the doctor either thinks it is a strep infection or some strange little virus that mimics strep infection symptoms. We are waiting for a call from the doctor to let us know whether it is strep or not. She got the rash two weeks ago and then the peeling skin started this week. She has no fever and she is acting normally. The throat culture came back negative, but we are waiting for the other strep culture done rectally. (I didn't realize that you could get strep there!) When the doctor looked over Emma, she didn't think it looked exactly like strep, but did the rectal culture just to be sure. She said if the culture is negative, it's just some virus running it's course and that we don't need to worry about it.

By now you are all wondering where this is going? Emma has always been the one in the family to get the strange illnesses. Last year she had hand, foot and mouth disease, which is a nasty virus that causes serious sores in the mouth, as well as on the hands and feet. Emma didn't eat for three days, and then ate very little for several more days. We dosed her regularly with Motrin and Tylenol, but it did little to help the mouth pain. When she gets normal things, like a cold, she'll often vomit. She is a puker, unfortunately. When we all got the flu around New Years this past year, she puked for two days, while the rest of us only threw up for one day.

She just gets a little sicker than the rest of us, and today I think I found out why. As we were leaving Wal-Mart (yes, Brendan hates it, but I like the good prices) I let the girls each ride one of those 50 cent rides. Emma chose a horse and when it was time to leave she kissed the horse goodbye. That's when it dawned on me. Thousands of grubby little hands, faces, bodies touching the fun little horsie ride, and Emma has to kiss it goodye. Yuck!

Correction: I guess I wasn't thinking, because obviously you can get strep rectally - as in the B Strep virus that pregnant women (or any woman) can have.