Oh No, Blisters and Sores! :(

So it's confirmed, James has Hand, Foot, and Mouth (HFM) disease. :( I saw more of the little dots pop up and saw how they transformed into blisters. He has a few around his knee and some on his toes and hands.

The blisters don't seem to hurt him as far as I can tell but he does have some aches and pains from the fever. I thought the fever passed but he still had a temp around 6:00 this evening so we are back on Tylenol.

Poor baby still has a bad ear infection that hasn't really improved. Now he has some mucus forming in his eyes that I understand is due to the ear infection as told by a couple of my mommy friends who have been through this. My heart hurts when I see James screaming in agony over the pain he feels. The poor guy can't even sleep by himself. I have to physically hold him all night. If I dare try to put him in his crib or even next to me in my bed he's in hysterics. I can't imagine what he's going through right now. He's enduring so much pain and still breaks a smile when he can.

The Tylenol is helping but he's far from 100%. He's barely eating anything and it's because it hurts him to eat. I looked down his throat as he was crying earlier and I could see little white bumps around his tonsil and at the back of his throat. I read that it hurts babies to swallow so that is probably why he's not eating. I even see he has a difficult time drinking water.

As for James hydration, he is basically living off breast milk which is in lower supply as I'm working now. So I'm trying to supplement as much as I can with water. I know he's hungry and wants food but he keeps refusing it. Since I know his favorite food is rotisserie chicken and that he also has a sweet tooth, my mom got him a chicken and a blueberry muffin. Boy he loved that. He ate a decent piece of chicken and a small amount of the muffin. I feel so much better now that something is in his system besides milk and the occasional Cheerio.

I think James has slightly improved from yesterday. I only say that because he's basically traded the fever for blisters. He is uncomfortable and I find it helps when we massage his arms and legs. He's a pretty good walker but now he's really wobbly and falls a lot so my mom and I run after him all day.

I can't wait until he feels better. I've read mixed reviews on a time frame for him to get better. I've heard 3-5 days and 5-7 days. I hope it's the lesser and pray he heals soon. So this outbreak is due to daycare and I now it's easy to blame them but what can we really do to prevent it. Not being in daycare is not the answer as I have friends whose kids are not in daycare and still get HFM. It's a virus and can spread easily among children. I am sad that James has it but I stand by my decision of having him in daycare.

Otherwise I had about 1.5 hours sleep last night and am running on empty. I anticipate more long nights to come until he feels better.

Has your child has HFM? How long did it last? Do the blisters hurt? Does the baby scar? Please share your thoughts with us on the blog.

Happy reading!

Rachel