So this month we had a major emergency at the Wilkin household. We got to see the seriousness of our daughter's allergy. Let me start from the beginning. Brianne, Mommy and Keaten were at a play date (at another Mom's house). To our knowledge, the only thing she ate was a Tim Horton's donut (of which she has had several times). Next thing we know, she has hives on her check, then eventually on her neck. Mommy had given her two Benadryl melts, but those didn't stop it, so she left to take the kids home and to give Brianne a full dose of liquid Benadryl. By the time she gets home, Briannes left cheek is swollen to the point her left eye is swollen shut. She is also complaining that she can't feel her tongue, which is a sign of the tongue swelling.
To make a long story short, Mommy had to use the epi-pen, and call 9-1-1, and eventually call me. I rushed home getting there in time to ride with Brianne in the ambulance to the Children's Hospital. The paramedics were wonderful and couldn't stop talking about how proud they were that Mommy used the epi-pen, as most parents are too afraid to use it. They were also very thankful that when they arrived, Brianne was screaming thus indicating her airways were not swollen shut. Once at the hospital, Brianne was looked at in the ER and eventually moved to an observation floor so she could be monitored once the effects of the epi-pen wore off. After 8 hours of observation we were allowed to come home with a prescription for a steroid (to keep the Benadryl working quickly) and new epi-pens.
I must say, that Brianne was a real trooper at the hospital. She obeyed the nurses and doctors very well. When they asked her to take a medication, she gulped it down, when asked to open her mouth and say awe, she did it right on cue. At first Mommy and I were confused... we wondered where our daughter was, and who was this one that was so willing to do everything the doctors and nurses asked. Nonetheless, we planned on keeping this one, as it sure made us proud. In the end, we still have no idea what caused her reaction, and we will likely never know, we are just glad that she was okay in the end.
Thankfully our month wasn't that exciting the whole time! I'm not sure I would have wanted it to be. But the beginning of the month made things interesting (at least for Mommy) when she took the kids to go vote. Brianne screamed the entire time, thinking Mommy was going to leave her (pre-school will be SO much fun!). Keaten on the other hand could care less (because he's a flirt, so he just sat and flirted with everybody).
Enough of the tough times, lets talk about the good times. Brianne and Auntie Amber made rice krispy trains, and boy was that interesting. Brianne was literally licking the icing off as fast as you could put it on one of the train engines. Lets just say, that one was put to the side for her to eat by herself, and the rest was cut up into pieces that everyone else could enjoy. :-P
With Auntie Amber's visit, Auntie Amber brought Brianne some flower clips for her hair. Brianne insisted that she had to have nearly ALL of them in her hair at once. What?!? You don't believe me? I have pictures to prove it (just check out the photo gallery)!
Then there is her imagination. Boy does she have a vivid imagination. Recently Brianne has been enjoying the show Phineas and Ferb. It is about a set of brothers who have an older sister, and during their summer break the brothers create all sorts of inventions to entertain themselves and their friends whilst their sister tries to get them busted by their Mom. Brianne now has conversations and adventures with all of the characters from Phineas and Ferb. Most of the time a tree is involved... and the friends are in the tree, but nonetheless, the entertainment level has reached a new level here in the Wilkin household.
Last but not least, the Sunday before Thanksgiving, Brianne came down with the 24-hour stomach flu. At 8:00 PM she was throwing up everywhere! Poor girl, she was so miserable that night. Thankfully she was nearly back to normal Monday evening and was 100% back to normal on Tuesday with an appetite and everything. She then gave her bug to Mommy to enjoy for 2 days. Thankfully Keaten and I never got it.
Love,
Matt, Kami, Brianne and Keaten.