Bella's Allergic Reaction

So on a Friday night Bella woke up at 11pm crying.  Dan went to go check on her and picked her up only to realize he was now covered in some unpleasant smelling stuff.  We noticed while giving her a baby to get all the vomit off, that she was covered in a hives.  We weren't sure if it was a food reaction or what.  Bella was very tired and fussy through out Saturday and Sunday.  Sunday was a beautiful day and while Dan was out checking out garden compost, Bella was bite by something on the inside of her left foot.  It look like a fire ant bite and we treated it as such by giving her anti-bite medicine to help with itching and stinging.  The next day, which was Monday, Bella started screaming at around 1pm.  I noticed her pinky toe and that area were swollen and red, and I assumed she had hurt her foot.  After she cried and had been screaming for 3 hours straight I decided to call the Dr. and to take her in.  I was thinking it was either the insect bite or maybe a broken foot or something.  She was in A LOT of pain, to the point where I could not comfort her.  So I loaded all three kids in the car, and unloaded the car with a screaming Bella.  She wouldn't walk on  her foot and it became even more red and swollen.  The Dr. said it looked like a reaction and to just give her pain meds and benedryl.  But at the last min decided it would be a good idea to have her foot looked at to be sure it was not broken because she was in so much pain.  We then meant Dan at the orthopedic Dr., who said we should probably take her to the ER because she was still screaming which meant she was having a terrible reaction ( and this had been 5 hours straight by this point) and her foot looked really bad.  We called the pediatrician who said it was a good idea, especially if she was still crying (7+ hours by this point).  I was a little upset because wouldn't it have been easier if the Nurse Practitioner could have made that call and spared us driving up into Apex to see the orthopedic Dr.?  He knew right away that it was not broken BECAUSE it was swollen and red. I guess breaks do not become swollen and red. So we ended up waiting at the ER for several hours and still had hours to wait. We decided that since she had fallen asleep to just bring her home and monitor her there.  She had a terrible night and woke up in pain every 30 -45 min.  But she awoke in the morning and seemed to be doing better. It was crazy!  If that's how she's going to react when she gets bit next time by a fire ant, I'm a little terrified.  She's been bitten before and did not have any problems, but I guess you can build up an allergy to them.  Pretty scary stuff, just makes me terrified for how things could go next time.

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