I'm so glad I took the Pumpkin to the doctor yesterday, because she does indeed have something: coxsackievirus, aka hand, foot, and mouth disease*.
Yes, it is common in infants and toddlers. Yes, it is contagious, especially if the toddler puts her drooled on hand in your mouth (which she does to me a hundred times a day). No, there is not treatment for it beyond treating the symptoms. No, it is not dangerous for children (although it can be pretty rough for adults).
Those symptoms are basically the same as teething symptoms except worse, so no wonder we thought she was just teething until that fever spiked! The doctor said it just runs its course, the worst of which is about 3-5 days. She said that the Pumpkin was probably on day 5 and would start feeling better soon. We will continue to give her Motrin and Tylenol as needed, and at night give her Benadryl to allieviate the irritation of the sores in her mouth (my poor baby!).
Isn't Benadryl also supposed to knock babies/toddlers out so they sleep at night? Cause that didn't happen last night. The poor girl was up at 12:30 and didn't get back to sleep until about 1:40, according to Londo. But when she woke up, she woke up smiling and seemed to be in a really good mood. The doctor had said that she'd be fine to go to whatever childcare she goes to today, so the nanny came this morning and I was able to get to work in good time.
Speaking of good moods, I'm in a great one! When I said above "according to Londo" that is because he took her all night long! Have I mentioned how much I love my hubby?!?! He was up with her in the night, and when he finally got her back to sleep, he coslept with her in the bed in her nursery the rest of the night. When I woke up to my alarm in my own bed, I felt amazing! The sun was shining this morning, which was a nice change to all the rain we have been getting and makes me happy.
I have been so stressed, but today I'm feeling good and productive and am getting a ton done at work. Which is good, because I have SO MUCH to do, juggling four different projects, with big deadlines coming up on two of them. I ended up taking yesterday afternoon off to take the Pumpkin to the doctor and then hold her for her nap in the afternoon. (She's not been letting us put her down to sleep for any naps and barely at all at night, and now we know it's because the sores in her mouth bother her so much.) This caused me to have to work in the evening and night until later than I wanted to. Again. Which is interferring with the time I'd normal spend with Londo. But that's a different post...
For now, I'm just glad we have a diagnosis, know what's going on and know that she'll be feeling better soon. And I'm amazingly glad I had a whole, great night of sleep!
*Not to be confused with foot-and-mouth disease, which is what cattle and other animals get.
10 comments:
I used to live not too far from Coxsackie, NY, where the virus was first isolated. I really thought it was a regional thing, but then I moved away and found that they have it everywhere else too.
In a small percentage of the population (I think about 5%), the active ingredient in benadryl results in hyperactivity instead of sleepiness. It sounds like the Pumpkin might fall in that category- anyway, you may want to give the next dose during the day to check!
Our Pumpkin doesn't get hyper, but I still don't like using benadryl, because it dries her out (that's what it is supposed to do), so when she does wake up, she wants to nurse non-stop...
Hand, foot and mouth!! Glad I read to the bottom. Was totally wondering why a ped would send a child with F&M to child care to spread the disease to a whole lot of other children. Now I understand. Glad she's doing well and you have had a rest
yep, Gavin had that and shared it with me...that virus likes to lie dormant in my system until I get really run down, then I start getting those tiny blisters on my hands. Very sexy.
and that's why I call the animal disease "Hoof and Mouth"...hard for kids to have hooves (although I'd swear some of their parents had cloven feet!!!)
glad she's okay miss. and also glad to hear foot and mouth isn't serious with the young 'uns. sweet dreams!
Just to make sure it's clear, it's Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease (HFMD), not foot and mouth disease (or hoof and mouth disease). It's called this because the sore spots can show up in/on the mouth, hands and feet, but in the Pumpkin's case only the mouth.
Apparently Londo's coworkers were also confused. I think unless (g)you know someone who has it, people think of the animal disease of foot and mouth/hoof and mouth disease. The disease should clearly be named to be very different things.
Thank goodness you know and it can be treated. Yay for having such a helpful hubby!
Benadryl does make some kids hyperactive. Also if you take too much of it, it TOTALLY makes you hyperactive! I made that mistake before on myself when I had very bad allergies.
Hope the hand, foot and mouth disease gets better soon!
Funny you posted this (not haha funny). Our caregiver was JUST telling me that our bouts of illnesses would probably start to lessen as summer came on, HOWEVER, we might have to deal with this particular virus. Nothing yet, but I'm sure we'll all get it at some point given our track record so far this year!
Glad to hear Londo is so helpful during this time! Who wants to deal with sick baby all by themselves especially if the parents get it!
It was a very lovely day wasn't it? We got out to enjoy it as well. Hopefully, it will be nice this weekend!
sounds like Pumpkin got what they call a Paradoxical Reaction. Apparently that's normal with children because they aren't wired the way grownups are.
Which is why the pharma community gives them Ritalin (an upper) for hyperactivity.
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