Sick Baby :(

Last night as we were getting Charlie ready for her bath, we noticed that she had a little rash all over her belly, back, arms and legs.  I had noticed some spots on her face, but didn't think much of them until I saw the rash on the rest of her body.  My first thought was chicken pox since they don't vaccinate for that here.  Here is why:

The chickenpox vaccine is not part of the UK childhood vaccination programme, because experts think that introducing a chickenpox vaccination for children could increase the risk of shingles in older people. It is used to protect people who are most at risk of a serious chickenpox infection.

Chickenpox is usually a mild illness, particularly in children. The condition is so common in childhood that 90% of adults who grow up in the UK are immune to the chickenpox virus because they have had it before.  

Seems like a good explanation.  I had chicken pox when I was a kid and it was very mild.  

I sent a picture of Charlie's face rash to my mom who thought it looked more like measles or a staph infection.  Yikes.  Here is the picture I sent (don't mind the runny nose):

She seemed fine and wasn't running a high temperature, so we put her down for bed and tried not to worry.  Then, very early this morning I awoke to a crying baby.  She proceeded to vomit three times in a half hour so we called NHS Direct to speak with a nurse.  She asked me about a thousand questions before telling me that it sounded like a virus.  She said not to feed her, but to try to get her back to sleep.  She said to try her on some water in the morning and if she kept that down, to try some milk and bland foods.  She said that there isn't any need to have her see a doctor if things aren't worse in the morning.

Despite another small vom this morning, she kept down water and has now kept down 8oz of milk.  She was very needy this morning and needed lots of snugs, but now she is happily playing by herself on the floor.  What a good baby!

And since I don't want to leave you with that sad, sickly picture, here is a shot of her with her friend Emily after yesterday's playdate.  Once Charlie was strapped in and ready to head home, Emily came over and gave her legs a hug.  It was the cutest thing!  She is such a good girl that she did it again on demand for the picture.  Clearly Charlotte liked it too (or else she just liked pulling her hair!).