Hand Foot Mouth!

Part of the reason I am so far behind on my blogging, is that my life has been hectic.  We spent about 36 hours in the hospital with Doodle and it totally rocked my world for the next weekish!  Amazing how taking away a day and a half put me into a tailspin for at least 2 weeks!  Despite the hospital stay, I managed to take some pictures with my phone.  They're not great and they're not pretty, but they are what was going on in my life on that day!

Doodle had been sick for about 24 hours.  Upset tummy and low fever.  No big deal.  Early Saturday morning she spiked a 104 fever.  SCARY hot!  It stayed high for about 24 hours even with constant tylonol and motrin.  I made My Favoritest call the pediatrician (even though he is one).  All the nurse did was try to tell him we weren't giving the correct doses of medication.  Long story short, we finally noticed a rash on her hands and feet.  My Favoritest checked her mouth and deduced that she had Hand Foot and Mouth disease.   Normally this is no big deal.  We don't do normal around here.  She wouldn't eat or drink because she said her mouth hurt.  She was acting okay and I was feeling okay, so My Favoritest left around 2:00 to go to a job interview overnight.  By 3:00 I knew I had made a mistake in letting him leave.  Doodle was screaming in pain every few minutes.  She was eating nothing.  Drinking nothing.  Being a Child Life Specialist in my former, former life I tried every trick I knew.  Straw, no straw, cup, glass, medicine cup, syringe, smoothie, milk, water, gatorade, juice.  You name it, I tried to shove it down her throat.  Finally I gave up and took her to the ER by myself.


She got an IV and some fluid.  She was still in pain.  They admitted us.  By the time we got to our room at 2:30 she had taken 2 20 minute naps since 7:00 am the previous day.  I begged for better drugs for my kid.  They came through.  We slept, sort of!  They kept us in the hospital for another night mostly because she still wouldn't eat or drink much of anything.  This is when I decided that almost 3 is a crappy age for Hand Foot Mouth.  She was smart enough to know that her mouth hurt more when she ate or drank anything.  She was not old enough to understand that medicine could help it not hurt.  She was not old enough to understand that it would get better.  It was pretty much a waiting game with a 3 year old to see what would tempt her enough to forget that her mouth  might hurt!  We tried ice cream parties and bargaining.  I begged.  I was honest and told her we couldn't go home till she ate.  She said she didn't want to go home.  


Finally, as My Favoritest walked into the room on the 2nd morning of our stay, Doodle decidied she could eat a cupcake!  Seriously kid, you couldn't have waited until your dad saw you in your pathetic state?  Really?  Oh well, as least it was food and our get out of jail pass:)  So here are some pictures from our stay at UVA Medical Center!

September 18 (59/365)
Sleepy girl in the ER after her IV

September 19 (60/365)
Feeling a little better.  Thank God for the old IPhone filled with Doodle stuff.  It was a life saver!

Did I mention I asked for good drugs for my kid?  This was about 45 minutes after she had gotten a dose of oxycotin.  Thanks Landlord for the face decoration:) 

September 20 (61/365)
Although we got out of the hospital I was still worried about her drinking enough.  So every 10 minutes she had to drink for me!  It made for a long afternoon, but way better than being in the hospital!

September 21 (62/365)
It is a little hard to see, but this is the imprint of Doodle left on her mattress after her first night back at home.  She slept so hard that she left an imprint of her head, elbows,  and knees.  She still frequently sleeps with her butt in the air.  For 22 lbs to leave a mark like that, she must have slept GOOOOOD!