Four Feet More

Wendy and Micheal got married yesterday, and the ceremony was beautiful. The weather was perfect, the food was excellent, and everyone had a great time dancing at the reception. Vika and Eamon did a wonderful job in their wedding roles, and had so much fun playing with their cousins and mingling with the guests. Eamon had a little too much fun, in fact. He came off the dance floor (where he was immensely popular) and sat down to have some cake. His face looked a little red, but I figured he was just sweaty from getting his groove on. But, after he finished the cake, and I took him into the bathroom to clean up, I saw that he had little red dots all over his face and neck, and his eyes looked almost like they had been blackened! He was a bit puffy too. I freaked out, of course, and began applying cool compresses to his face. I didn’t know if he was having some kind of allergic reaction or what was going on. He just kept telling me, “Mama! I feel good!” The fact that he wasn’t sick or feverish made me feel a bit better, but I was still panicky. My mom located Jeff, and after seeing Eamon, we decided it was time to cut the festivities short and head home (much to Vika and Eamon’s dismay).

He was doing fine when we got home, but his face looked terrible! We applied more cold compresses and then put him to bed. Jeff and I both kept checking on him though, just in case it was an allergic reaction and he started feeling sick. This morning, he woke up chipper as ever, so I called my uncle Tony (a pediatrician) to see what was up. He asked me, “Was Eamon being swung around a lot on the dance floor?” I answered yes, and Tony said the red dots were most likely petechiae, caused by bleeding from the capillaries in his face. They probably occurred as a result of the pressure in his head from being swung around in people’s arms. Petechiae can also result from heavy bouts of coughing or vomiting, and generally go away in a week or two. I was very relieved to know that they are nothing serious and that Eamon is going to be OK. However, this is definitely something we will keep in mind at my brother’s wedding – no swinging Eamon and Vika around on the dance floor!

Here are some pictures of the kids at the ceremony before the unsightly petechiae appeared on Eamon's face. They did look really cute.