The last 2 weeks have been long ones thanks to the virus Hand, Foot and Mouth. 2 weeks ago Alexander started to complain that his teeth were sore. I thought it was weird but that maybe one of his teeth were starting to come through, or just that he ate something a bit too hard. He didn't complain about it too much but refused to eat tomatoes. The next day he again complained that it hurt to eat his food and when I was changing his nappy in the morning I noticed some little spots on his feet. I was pretty sure that this was a sign of hand, foot, mouth. His hands also had these little spots and when I looked into his mouth sure enough he had a couple of little blisters on the sides of his mouth and also on his tongue. I made a doctors appointment and start to be cautious with him not touching things and adjusting what he was eating. That night he was waking almost every hour which was quite draining but he was ok during the day.
We saw the doctor and she confirmed that he had hand foot mouth. She pointed out that he also had some big blisters at the back of his throat too. I bought some pumpkin to make pumpkin soup for him and also read that scrambled eggs were good to have too. So Alexander's diet changed to weet-bix in the morning with milk, scrambled eggs at lunch with honey yoghurt for dessert and then pumpkin soup for dinner with yoghurt for dessert. Lucky I don't have a fussy eater because it would have been boring to have the same meal for the week but he didn't complain once.
I learnt that bananas hurt his mouth - must have some acid in them. Cheese hurt for the first few days but was ok after that. Small bites helped him to eat. Jelly was a favourite snack.
Alexander really loves food so he did struggle with not being able to eat the same food as the other 2, especially with fruit after lunch or with snacks after school. This was why I decided honey yoghurt and jelly would be helpful for him. Fortunately his blisters healed after 6-7 days from when he said his teeth hurt. It was a long week at home, not being able to go anywhere and it was raining so we couldn't even head outside to play. It didn't help too having him wake most hours in the night for a hug, a drink of water or more panadol. I was quite drained. But we survived. Come Saturday I was cheering that the other 2 hadn't caught it.
I had cheered too soon! Sunday morning Eliza started to say that her lip was hurting. It then changed to her throat hurting. I checked and there was an ulcer at the back of her throat. Darn it! But it would be anything - a different virus, tonsillitis, something else, anything else. We kept doing activities because we didn't know if it was HFM and she was still full of energy and just crossed our fingers. Tuesday we visited the doctor and sure enough, yep it was hand foot mouth. Again. Her tongue now had a few ulcers, under her lip there was a decent ulcer and there were some spots on her hands. Another week stuck at home, stressed out that Daniel was going to catch it, washing my hands so I didn't catch it or spread it. Fortunately the sun was out more so we did play outside a bit, walked to watch the digger outside of school, went for a scooter and bike ride around the block. It did help the day go faster. Eliza struggled to keep her hands off things, especially in the kitchen. She kept wanting to help with meal prep, touching food on the bench, touching plates and cups for the other 2. Today she is mostly better.
So far Daniel hasn't caught it. I really hope he doesn't. I have missed going to Mainly Music and to Mothers' Group. I have missed adult conversations. I have missed my routine. I have missed me time. But we did do well going for 7 years without experiencing it so that is a positive.
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