Pink Eye

Our baby girl has officially caught her first (and hopefully last) case of pink eye. We knew something was wrong when she woke up wailing at midnight. We couldn't get her to calm down and we couldn't get her to open her eyes. Her face was red and blotchy, and her left eye was red and swollen. She had worked herself up real good, so I decided to give her a bath. After putting her into the bathtub, she quieted down, but kept her eyes shut tight. Needless to say, it was all concerning and slightly scary. After an hour of us calling the advice nurse, bathing, and comforting Maddie, we all decided it was time to try to sleep, as it was going to be a long night. My in-laws so graciously stayed up with us to figure things out, as they were concerned too. Brant and I ended up having her sleep in between us, so we could attend to her immediately, if need be. I was glad to be able to have her close at hand because she did wake often the rest of the night. But both Brant and I did not sleep very well at all, for many obvious reasons.

This morning, we called our pediatrician (remember, we are still in Oregon), and got some advice on what to do. We were also exploring the idea of this being related to a potential ear infection. We did some research, finally located a doctor that would accept our insurance, and brought Maddie in. She was given a prescription for eye drops and has begun the doses. Brant asked me to document this momentous occasion with a picture. You can tell she is not herself. She has a fever and her left eye is a little pink. I hope we caught it soon enough that it won't be a big deal when we fly on Friday... Now all we have to remember to do is constantly wash our hands for the next 24 hours, as she is highly contagious. Poor baby! :(