Pop Go the Measles

Have any of your children contracted the measles? Our youngest developed the measles, but it really isn't the measles. Do you get that?

Okay, here's how the story goes. On October 3, 2007 my daughter went in for her 15 month checkup. Part of the routine visit was for her to get an MMR vaccination. Just as a refresher, MMR is for measles, mumps, and rubella. She got her shot, cried and life carried on.

Saturday night, October 13 we were getting ready for my mother's birthday dinner celebration when we noticed a generalized, yet very mild and minimal rash. I just assumed it was from a new clothes detergent I tried. You know how sensitive and delicate baby skin can be. I noticed a few more spots before we put her to bed, so I gave her some Benadryl.
This is what she looked like the next morning. In just about 12 hours of sleep her body went from a few spots to what you see in this picture. Hello! This looks like measles. I called the on-call doctor and that asked is she was in any respiratory distress. Of course she wasn't, only spotted red. She said to continue with what I have done by giving her Benadryl and Tylenol or Ibuprofen. Believe it or not, but this picture actually looks good compared to what she looks like today.

Monday, we called the pediatrician's office so he could see her. Finally we got an appointment. It was a bad side effect of the MMR vaccination. Generally, a reaction occurs 7 - 12 days after the injection. Her reaction time was 10 days. Our pediatrician stated he has seen mild "bumps", but never like hers. Luckily she never experienced any other true effects of measles such as a runny nose, eyes, or mouth, and fever. We emailed pictures to her doctor so he can document it.

Now, to add insult to injury, the poor doll has to have eye surgery tomorrow. Not only is she going to be itchy from the darn pseudo measles rash, she is going to have a tube placed from her eye through her nose.