10.04.2013

(Not) Head, Shoulder, Knees, and Toes...

...More like Hand, Foot, and Mouth...

Most nights Marcus goes to bed at 8PM and doesn't wake until 6:30/7:00AM. Those uninterrupted nights of sleep are beyond fantastic (especially after the first five months of his life when he woke every 2-3 hours, oy).

Then, not so long ago (last Friday) Marcus woke an hour after we put him down, and proceeded to cry and scream for the duration of the night. We tried EVERY thing we could think of to get the little man back to bed: we changed his diaper, tried giving him some milk, sang songs, read stories, I even watched an episode of Bubble Guppies at 1:30 to calm him.

Throughout the night I noticed Marcus kept grabbing at his feet. Scott thought he saw blisters on Marcus toes, but I couldn't imagine where blisters would have come from. Marcus had been wearing shoes all day.

At one point, around 4:00AM, I simply put Marcus in his crib and let him cry. I drug my exhausted self to bed and fell asleep to him sobbing. (Simply typing that sentence brings tears to my eyes... I am his mommy. I'm supposed to be the one who runs to him, not away from him, when he cries.)

The following morning I noticed Marcus seemed to be in pain when he walked. It was then I inspected his feet a little closer.

There *were* blisters all over his feet.

We headed to the doctor's office right away, and went in looking like this:
See those red spots? I thought it was just a case of baby acne. Well, it wasn't.

Per the doctor's diagnosis, Marcus had a case of Hand Foot and Mouth Disease.
(I had no idea what the disease was, so naturally I Googled it:
Essentially, it's a virus that is spread the same way the common cold is - sneezing, coughing, etc. The Blister-like sores appear on the hands, feet, around the mouth, and a skin rash may also develop. Whelp, Marcus checked all those boxes off.)
His poor little feet were just covered with nasty-looking blisters.
My poor little guy was really in pain the night we got no sleep. And, I let him cry and cry...

We diligently followed the doctor's prescription of Tylenol, Motrin, and Benadryl to keep the pain at bay.

Thankfully I am happy to report that for the past few days Marcus appears to be without pain, and without any other symptoms from this nasty looking virus.

21 comments:

  1. Aww the poor little guy :( Glad to hear he's feeling better though!

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  2. Poor baby :(( Glad he's feeling better.

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  3. Poor thing, and poor momma! Don't beat yourself up at all, you had no idea! So glad he's feeling better :)

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  4. Poor thing!!! It looks like it would hurt...I'd cry too!

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  5. SAD! But glad you took him in and now know what that is! Wonder where he got it?! Give him an extra squeeze for me!

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  6. Awww... poor thing! I remember learning about Hand Foot and Mouth Disease when I was taking education classes in college. I also remember that this disease happens more frequently in late summer and early fall. And looky here! It's late summer/ early fall. Feel better soon Marcus!

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  7. Aww, so glad to hear he's feeling better.

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  8. awww...poor wittle marcus.... So glad to hear he's doing better.

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  9. Don't beat yourself up, Mama! Sometimes you just don't know and if they can't tell you, then you can't blame yourself. The good news is that he's starting to feel better. I hope it all goes away soon!

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  10. Poor guy! My girls both had that too---although they lucked out and mainly only had it in their mouth....Raya had a huge blister on her tongue and she couldn't eat without crying, it was pitiful!

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  11. Poor Baby and Poor Mommy!! Dont beat yourself up, you did not know :) Youre a wonderful mom - dont forget that !!!

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  12. Aww! We went through this a couple of months ago. Clay had blisters on his tongue and basically refused to eat anything except yogurt for a week :/

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  13. this went around our preschool 2 years ago I think. Simon had a bit of red dots in the diaper area, but it didn't seem to bother him at all. I'm sorry it was so difficult for Marcus!

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  14. poor baby! Theres no way to know what was bugging him but at least he's getting better!

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  15. Poor Marcus! HFM stinks! Hannah had that one week after was Meeghan was born. She had it in her mouth mostly. Thank goodness it doesn't last long. I hope he us feeling better soon!

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  16. oh no!!! i wish i would have seen those pictures last friday! poor macke's :(
    i am so glad its better! and remember - YOU ARE A GREAT MOM! and half the reason ive survived!

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  17. Never in my mind!! what a mess! Poor Cheeks! If he needs extra cuddles, you send him my way.

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  18. Yuk...hope that little guy is feeling better!!!! :)

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  19. Poor little guy! I'm glad he's starting to feel better! Our pediatrician told me that it's really common for children to get this when they are in daycare, school, or around other children on a regular basis. I hope it's a bridge I never have to cross...

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  20. Oh poor baby!! I've heard this is a horrible horrible thing to go through!

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