We all know how hot it was last week. 80's and high high humidity. On Monday Oliver woke up ROASTING. We thought it might have just been the temperature outside, but after Shane left for work Oliver slept for 2 hours and woke up blurry eyed and crying. He was burning up. I took him in for a cold shower, but I could tell that the pressure of the water was bothering his sensitive skin, so we sat in the tub for a while. When we got out he downed a bottle of water and slept for another couple of hours. Oliver usually takes 1 45 minute nap in the morning, so to have 2 2 hour naps before 1pm was very unusual. I took him out to Target to get diapers and some ibuprofin. I had to carry him through the store he felt so rotten. Every time I gave him his medicine it was like pulling teeth. He just did not want it. When we got home he slept some more and even ate some dinner. Before Shane went to school he noticed that Oliver was developing a rash on his feet. We know some people who had recently had Hand Foot and Mouth Disease, so that is what it was looking like.
He fell asleep fine, but woke up at 11 and cried/screamed for an hour and a half before we decided to take him to the ER. Earlier in the day I had made a doctors appointment for him, and they said if he got worse to take him to the ER. We arrived at 1 am. Oliver was incredibly well behaved. The ER Doc ordered his blood to be drawn. Shane and I assumed the usual positions for this situation. I stay with Oliver, Shane leaves. Shane is very sensitive to Oliver's pain and can't hide his own discomfort when Oliver is in pain, which we both know doesn't help Shane, Oliver, or the people doing the blood draw. The nurses who drew his blood said that he was the best pediatric blood draw they had ever done. They also said that I handled it the best of any mom they've seen. While they got the needle in, I held Olivers face and sang him a lullaby (Mary's Lullaby from the Children's Songbook) and he drank a bottle. They didn't find anything unusual with his blood, but administered a one time dose of antibiotic "just in case." (I don't usually approve of antibiotics, but he said because it is a one time dose, there is no risk of building resistance, so I allowed it...plust he played the "bacterial menengitis" card which had Shane convinced). We got home at 4am and Oliver didn't get to sleep until 5.
Tuesday was a bit of a blur. Oliver was very crabby, very sick. When we went to his appointment, his doctor said that it was NOT HFM Disease because he didn't have the tell-tale sores in his mouth. The rash that was on his feet also had spread up his legs, through his diaper region and covered his torso. The rash looked like little tiny pin pricks. I kept meaning to take a picture, but I had other things on my mind:) With HFM Disease the rash only presents on the hands and feet (hence the name). The doctor said that the disease would probably peak on Thursday and that she wanted to see him again to see if he was doing any better. That evening Shane gave him a father's blessing.
Oliver slept in bed with me because he refused to sleep in his own bed. He didn't get to sleep until 11pm. When he woke up his rash had gone way down and he was acting much better. I drove up to my parents house and took him in the pool. He wasn't a huge fan, but was obviously feeling much better. His strange sleeping pattern continued and he slept in bed with me, but once he was asleep, he stayed asleep instead of waking up for a bottle constantly.
His follow up appointment at the doctors confirmed that he was cured and had gotten better faster than expected. Of course Shane and I knew why.
Last night was the first night that he went to bed in his own bed at 730 and actually stayed in bed for the night. He didn't wake up until 730am! I think he was sleeping off any last ill effects of the illness and I am happy to say that he woke up happy and giggly and ready to read kitty books.
Below are some pictures of us in the pool on Wednesday. He wore his new floaty bathing suit top, but was not a big fan. I think next time I will just take him in without it. It kept riding up around his neck and he may have felt claustrophobic. It was nice to get in the water, though.
