The Downside

This post is not for the faint of heart.  As I have already mentioned, the downside to living in Texas is dealing with the vast bug population.  Sure, I complain about mutant grasshoppers and tree roaches, but they don't attack like fire ants.  These things are everywhere!  Sure, you can treat your yard and try to avoid them in other places, but it is inevitable that everyone will get swarmed by them at some point.  I've stepped in a few fire ant hills over the past few years.  The worst was when I was playing ultimate frisbee barefoot (I know) and I landed directly on a huge hill.  My feet were swollen for a few days and it took every ounce of will power I had not to scratch the white heads off the bites, which is comparable to crossing the streams. 

Can you tell where I'm going with this?  It wasn't me this time.  It was Jackson.  We were at the park yesterday and while he was walking along the fence, he unleashed the mother of all fire ant attacks.  When I realized what was going on, I ran over to him and snatched him off the ground.  Ugh, it makes me sick just remembering what it looked like to have so many ants rapidly climbing up his little legs.  As I held him with one arm and swiped at the ants with the other, I could feel myself getting bit all over my feet!  I could not have done it all by myself.  Luckily, Elise ran over and helped me strip Jackson down to nothing but a shirt!  I put him on the table to put another diaper on and assess the damage.  His legs were bright red and his skin was puffed up about three millimeters around each bite.  I have a thing with repeating circles.  When I see them, I want to vomit.  (That is possibly a topic for another post.)  Thankfully, I controlled myself!  A few people whipped out their Benadryl pens and we went to work, pressing down on each bite.  Those pens are miraculous by the way, so go get one!

Jackson was already calm as soon as the ants were off his body, so by the time we finished with the Benadryl pens, he was ready for some crackers and juice!  I, on the other hand, was not.  He snacked for about 10 minutes, long enough for me to know he wasn't going to have trouble breathing or tongue swelling.  I took him home to give him some more medicine and a baking soda bath (thanks Cindy!).  The swelling went down and the white heads formed on each bite.  They look gross, but Jackson doesn't pay them any attention.  He's doing great!  I took a few pictures while he was napping today.

 

I wish I could say this was his last fire ant attack.  I'm just grateful that he has had a pretty normal reaction to fire ant bites.  Isn't that sad?  THAT is normal.  My next post won't be this horrifying, I promise.