In lieu of my regularly scheduled blog... the one that was supposed to be filled with princesses, fairies, pirates, and plenty of Mickey Mouse... I bring you... our first major virus with two kids! I am so sad that we need to put our first Disney family trip on hold... but that's the plus to having annual passes. We will just plan to go the following weekend as long as everyone holds on and gets better.
The past few days have been some very, very trying ones. Let me take you back. Back to two Wednesdays ago, in fact. Will woke up feeling a bit warm. No big deal. The kid always seems to run hot. He was acting almost normal that morning. He didn't want to nurse a lot, but he had been up numerous times the night before and eaten almost every time he woke up so I didn't think too much of it. He also didn't want to eat any solids. Okay. Not atypical of a 6 month old that has been eating solids for maybe a month. I didn't worry too much. We were playing in Kenzie's room and right before he was set to go down for a nap, I thought to take his temperature. It was right around 100. Nothing to be too worried about. I figured I would just watch it. He napped, he woke up hotter. Temp was up around 101. I gave him meds to help with the fever. He does NOT like liquid medicine. He spit most of it out. He ended up going down for another nap fairly quickly and sleeping for about 2 hours. That is definitely not normal. When he woke up I took his temp again. 102.3. Uh oh. Time for a bit more meds (most of which he spit out)... and... To the pediatrician we go!
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| Patient Zero. He was one sad panda. |
Will saw the other doctor in the practice (who was really nice, as an aside). His fever had dropped just a bit due to the tiny amount of meds I was able to get into him. They checked him for flu and a UTI. That one was interesting. They attached a bag to him and I alternated between letting his feet sit under running water and nursing him to get him to urinate. Eventually he did, thank goodness... but it took a while. He didn't have either. Verdict? Possible roseola. A virus with a high fever that causes a rash when it breaks. Rash shouldn't itch or cause any issues. Treat the fever and wait it out. Okay... can do. His 6 month appointment was scheduled for Monday anyway so we would be back in regardless.
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How do you help break a fever when your kid hates liquid meds?
Luke warm bath time! Complete with Momma snuggles. |
That night Will's fever peaked at 102.9. We ended up with fever reducer suppositories. Best. Invention. Ever. His fever came right down and broke once it was in his system and he slept fairly well. Thank goodness. Over the next couple of days the nurse checked on him a few times and each time his fever was barely over 99, maybe approaching 100 once. We ended up not giving him any more meds after the suppository. On Saturday we were out and about and I noticed a rash on his legs, back, and chest. Perfect! Roseola seemingly confirmed. He also got a couple of blister like spots on his foot and hand. They didn't look too bad and after looking up hand, foot, mouth we determined it didn't seem too likely because he didn't have a rash on his palms, soles, or bottom. Plus, the doctor was convinced it was likely Roseola. We figured they were ant bites or mosquitos because those suckers have been bad lately. We went through Saturday and Sunday like normal even going to the beach on Sunday. Everyone was good.
Will's 6 month check up rolled around on Monday and before getting his vaccines, we elected to do a strep test based on the rash. Apparently it can also cause a bit of a rash. His fever was gone, his throat had two little blisters, and nothing else seemed wrong. The in office strep test was iffy. So, our doc took a culture and sent it away. We would need to wait 2 days for results. By the by... as an update. Will weighed 18 lbs, 7 oz (75th percentile) so my weight estimates were fairly accurate. As I figured though, my height was not. He is actually 27.75 inches (93rd percentile). He is doing what we thought he was though and lengthening but thinning. Maybe a tight end instead of a left tackle. =)
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Will's 6 Month Appointment. Back when we thought it could be
strep. Silly us. |
Then... Tuesday happened. Kenzie woke up warm. Great! Here we go again. She didn't eat breakfast and actually put herself down for a nap around 9:15. That is SO not our daughter. When she woke up I took her temp. 102.4. Great! Another call to the doc to find out that even if Will had strep, they wouldn't be able to prescribe anything to her without seeing her. Fine. I can get behind that. So, off we went again. This time with the toddler all red from the fever and sad that she doesn't feel good. They took the in office strep sample test thing again. Negative. Doc took one look at the palms of her hands and said "Hand, foot, mouth!" No question about it. She had blisters in her throat, which the doc showed me as well. Poor baby! Verdict this time? Highly contagious. Don't allow the kids to play together for a few days. Treat the fever. Sanitize anything she touches and continue to do so for a week or so after the blisters pop. Be prepared for the possibility of it transferring back to Will. Lovely.
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The morning Kenzie got sick. Before it got too
bad, she decided her brother must wear stickers. |
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| Back for round two |
That day I came home and started cleaning. 4 hours later I only had a couple of rooms done and was on load of laundry number 3. Between a clingy baby (I love wonder weeks) and poor Kenzie being told she needs to remain in the living room and only play with toys I say are okay... it was slow going. About 3:30 in the afternoon Kenzie all of a sudden became quiet and when I went to sit with her I realized she was burning up. Apparently her meds had worn off and her fever was returning. I think she actually hurt from the fever because she didn't like me touching her and would scream when I did. Her throat was obviously beginning to hurt as well. Poor baby! It was one of the saddest things I have had to witness as her mom. Her feeling so hurt and me not being able to immediately take the pain away and fix it. I eventually got her to take some more meds and get into a lukewarm bath. She perked up after that and even ate a bit of dinner. After Steven got home she wanted to go out back and blow bubbles. She seemed to feel better! A short while later though we could tell she was feeling bad again so we decided to put her to bed a bit early. She went down immediately. That is just so unlike her. She usually despises naps and bedtime. She takes naps most days and eventually goes to bed... but she is one active kid and those are not usually her favorite times of the day. Kenzie continued to wake up every 30 or so minutes for the next few hours screaming. The poor kid. Her throat obviously hurt, but explaining to a 2 year old that screaming just makes that worse isn't easy. She finally settled for the final time around 11:30. She stayed asleep with the exception of me accidentally waking her up twice when I went in to check on her. Once she wanted to chat and the other time she just rolled over and went back to sleep. Funny. Even when the kids sleep I don't get to because I spend all my time worrying about them and checking on them.
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Trying to keep her happy and my house sterile. As sterile
as it can be with an infant and toddler. |
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The bath pile. I just started grabbing things that could go in
the washing machine. |
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| Breaking a fever, round 2. |
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Will hanging out while we tried to get his sister's fever down.
Sammy has been sprayed with lysol more times than I can
count at this point... |
On top of Kenzie not feeling well... we had Will. He was having a difficult time going to bed. He woke up quite a few times crying and would need help getting back to sleep just to wake up again a few minutes later. Around 10:30 he woke up and I realized he was covered in vomit. We have no idea what was going on. He was soaked though so he required a full bath and his sheets needed to be stripped and changed. Thankfully Steven was still awake (though I would have woken him up to help with that one regardless). We gave him gripe water and I held him for about 30-45 minutes upright before Kenzie woke up (again) and I had to put him down to deal with her. He fussed for a bit and eventually I went in, fed him, and put him down again. He ended up being fairly normal for the remainder of the night. Normal for Will though still involves waking up every 2 hours or so. Not cool, Will. Not cool.
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| Happy boy staying up late with Momma |
After that night, Steven said I earned my "mommy badge". I tell you... I think I did. I have dealt with sickness and even surgery before, but this was by far the worst thing we have dealt with. I'm not sure if it was the fact that there were two of them or maybe that Kenzie was so sad and could tell you what was wrong (for the most part) making it even worse that I couldn't take away all her pain and make her better. It was just terrible.
On Wednesday, Kenzie woke up without a fever for the most part. She was still definitely not 100% though. She said her throat hurt and getting her to eat was difficult. As long as I can pump her full of liquids, I'm a happy camper. Unfortunately, although Kenzie woke up without much of a fever... the rash and blisters were worse. I still spent my entire day following her around with lysol spray and wipes and trying to convince her to wear socks in case the blisters on her feet popped. I also had to constantly remind her to not touch her brother. Kenzie loves Will and always wants to help him do something or give him something. It was so tough to try to tell her she couldn't do that right now. I also ended up removing a lot of her toys from her reach and had to explain that she wasn't in trouble... I just couldn't handle needing to re-clean everything. It was overwhelming enough the first time through.
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| Finally feeling a bit better. |
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| Sick dots... =( |
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The "flat rash" that comes with this ridiculous
virus. |
Now, we are just waiting it all out. I get different information constantly about how long this thing is contagious. I will go with my doc's advice. If the fever is gone and the blisters have cleared up (dried up) then we are safe to resume normal activities but continue to wash hands more often than usual and still do NOT share food or drinks for a couple of weeks.
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Thank goodness we have leather because those sheets didn't
last long before she was removing them. |
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She told me her throat still hurt. I'm not convinced she wasn't
playing me though to get a popsicle. |
I have to say...I have learned a few things and had a few thoughts along the way as I have dealt with this ridiculous virus.
1. Toddlers touch more than you ever realize. Things I didn't think of initially, but either had someone point out to me or realized as I walked through the house in a lysol haze: piano keys, toilet seats, middle parts of doors (not the handle), picture frames on shelves, the fish tank. The CDC says that the virus can live on surfaces for a little over 24 hours. So... hence my (possibly slightly irrational) need to clean every surface in the house.
2. Fevers are so scary, but it's important to remember that they are actually a good thing. Fever means your body is fighting the virus. I've read that sometimes suppressing it can be a poor choice because your body then doesn't work to fight the virus. We let low grade fevers go without meds and try to reduce them with things such as lukewarm baths while keeping a close eye on the kiddo to make sure the fever doesn't get worse quickly or anything.
3. Having a sick toddler is so much worse than an infant. Will cannot talk. He cries, but you can cuddle him and eventually he just falls asleep. Kenzie can not only scream and cry, but express what is wrong and what hurts. That is heartbreaking. You can't really fix it, but you can't explain that it won't last long or why your child should do something (like eat some of the honey you have tried to offer 16 times to help her throat) because it will make them feel better. They may sort of get it... but they don't care because they hurt and that's all that matters.
4. When your kids are sick you can't think about or concentrate on anything else. Sleep is non-existent until they feel better because you spend all your time worrying about them.
5. A toddler being "sick" but not "feeling sick" is almost worse than them being sick. I can't explain to Kenzie that she is still sick even though she is feeling better. We just keep telling her that she has "sick dots" (blisters) and she has to be careful until they are gone. They should pop and then dry up. After that, they will take a few days to go away so I figure that is a good way to tell her that she is sick vs better.
I'm not looking forward to the continued quarantine that we have going on. It's been a very long couple of days. Here's hoping her blisters pop and dry up so we can resume a somewhat normal life next week. Plus... we had to reschedule Disney. Let's hope everyone gets better (or stays well in Steven's and my case) so we can make it out there next weekend.
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