A different kind of excitement.

Just a couple of hours ago I talked about how excited I was at all the big things happening here at the Mangine house. Shortly after posting that, we had a different kind of excitement occur. Nia came up to me and told me she was feeling very itchy. This is not a new sentiment here in this mosquito-infested region of the world. We basically live life itching somewhere at all times.

But she began squirming and writhing and screaming that she was itchy all over. I looked over at her and her face was red and blotchy all over. I felt my heart panic and I immediately dropped everything (trying to get a family of 10 fed and out the door for church) and stripped her down. Hives were forming ALL OVER her body--- especially on her trunk, her scalp, and behind her ears.

I gave her a dose of Benadryl and threw her in a cool bath, while dialing Dr. Teresa. Thankfully Teresa was available and she talked me down... She had me double the dose of Benadryl, use some cortisone cream topically, and gave me the dosage for prednisone she needs if she starts having trouble breathing. I love her.

The good news is that I know what she's allergic to-- I gave her a new asthma medicine earlier today. So now I know that we need something different. And it's just one of those moments of God's grace as the doctor actually prescribed three different meds. I was nervous to start her on all those meds at once and didn't really think she needed them all, so I decided to start slow and only add the others if necessary. Plus, I thought it was too expensive to buy all of them at once when I wasn't convinced she needed all three. So my cheapness (or as I like to call it, "thriftiness,") paid dividends today.

So Nia and I are hope skipping church and just having some snuggle time. I am letting her watch a movie since I speculate she will be long asleep by the time everyone comes home from church for campout (thanks to the double dose of Benadryl.)

Thank you God for keeping us in your grip...