Mommy Guilt

Picture it… It’s 4 am and my 15 month old son is starting to fuss and stir. I sit up and head to his room to get him out of the crib and as I place him onto the breast for a quick feed, I notice that he’s extremely hot. I rush back into his room to grab his temperature… 103 F. I immediately take it again, because that can’t be real. I notice he’s moaning. I turn the lights on so I can take a look at him. He looked pretty normal. I sit into the rocking chair and start feeding him. All types of thoughts start running through my mind because he was fine before going to bed. He goes back to bed easily and as do I.

That morning he’s fussier than usual at the breakfast table. He barely ate any of his food. He insists that he all he wants is boobie. I can tell he’s not feeling well. While eating, I notice little red raised bumps on the palms of his hands and feet. I also found little red bumps on his elbows and even the inner rim of his mouth. It hit me… but, of course, I thought I might been over reacting. So I call the pediatrician…. Hello? (Verifies his information) Yes, I think he has hand foot and mouth. Can I bring him in?

I’ve never gotten him dressed so quickly. Off we go to the pediatrician. We get there and sit far away from everyone else. They called us so quickly and whisked us off to the examination room. About 20 minutes later, official diagnosis…. yep, you guessed it… hand foot mouth. Go home and keep him hydrated.

That’s it?? In case you haven’t noticed, I love to research. So when I get home, that’s exactly what I do. Here’s what I learned…

1. Highly contagious virus

Common in day care centers and spreads from child to child through touch and can live on the surfaces. I knew where he got it from and I was so concerned about him. This was my baby’s first fever and he was down bad. I cleaned like a maniac during his naps and we washed hands more than ever.

2. Signs and symptoms

Symptoms show up about 5 days after being exposed to the virus and it’s most contagious before symptoms even appear. The loss of appetite, fever, sore throat last for about 5 days. It felt like forever. He wasn’t in the mood to eat so I kept him hydrated as best as possible. I tried to get him on the breast as much as possible. The fevers came and went over the next few days. He tried playing when he had enough strength, children are resilient that way. I gave him the pediatrician’s recommended Tylenol dosage every 6 hours and used it less and less as the fevers became few and far in between.

3. Painful, itchy rashes all over that may even blister

The rashes eventually scabbed over and they lingered on for a few days before disappearing. About two days after the rash goes away is when you are no longer contagious.

I felt helpless when he was really suffering but I did my best. I conquered my first major illness. Have you guys experienced hand foot and mouth? What did you do? Did you do anything differently?