HFMD

 Hand Foot and Mouth disease.  It sucks.  Big time.  Apparently almost all kids get it because it is SO crazy contagious but most kids get a milder case.  Sometimes parents don't even realize their child has HFM and it clears up without any aggravation to the children (or their parents).  And it gives them immunity when they are older.  I am hoping that was the case with Emily and that she doesn't catch it from Jacob.  Jacob started showing symptoms on Thursday which means he most likely picked it up earlier in the week making him most contagious from about Tuesday - Friday.  Incubation is 7-10 days, so Emily could potentially have it as I type this but her symptoms won't show up for a few more days.  I am praying that is not the case.  She is a horrible sick person.  And this seems like a horrible disease to have.

Jacob has very painful blisters on his chin, hands, feet, bum, and inside his mouth.  They are the worst ones - he has them on his tongue, inside his cheeks, and down the back of his throat.  Over the weekend he ate a few handfuls of pasta and that was it.  Drinking water was painful and he barely drank enough to keep him hydrated.  But today I am very thankful to say that he ate breakfast AND lunch and has had lots to drink.

We took him to the ER on Sunday morning.  I researched HFM online and was fairly certain there was nothing they could do for him, but the lesions were causing him SO much pain that I felt like a horrible mother for sitting and doing nothing.  We tried Epsom salt baths, lidocaine spray, antibiotic with anti itch cream, and cool cloths.  Nothing helped.  The ER doc told me that the pain is actually an "inside out" type of pain so there is nothing topical that will give them relief.  We tried giving him benadryl but again, the DR. told me that an antihistamine really doesn't help with this type of virus.  We would just have to wait it out.

Jacob thought that the antibiotic cream made him feel better and insisted on having it rubbed onto his feet without ceasing from about 10pm to 3am Sunday morning.  I think he just liked the sensation of me rubbing his feet and the coolness of the cream.  As soon as I would stop he would start screaming and rubbing his heals on the carpet, mattress, etc.  Today he has only complained about his feet a few times and can be distracted from the pain fairly easily.  He also slept much better last night and I will attempt to put him down for a nap shortly. 

 Yesterday afternoon I made up a baking soda paste an that seemed to help his feet, but it could just be coincidence.  I am VERY thankful that once your kids has it they won't get it again.  I couldn't imagine doing this every summer/fall (when it's most common).

So we will be quarantining ourselves at home for a bit to prevent spreading this yucky sickness to anyone else!  Jacob will be no longer contagious on Wednesday so hopefully we will be able to get out and about on Thursday.