New Disease and No Braces

Micah always keeps us on our toes around here. Yesterday I noticed he was breaking out in a few spots around his body. My first thought was that they were hives from something. We had some friends over, but I didn't get too concerned. Around 5-6 pm, he started getting warm. I took his temperature and it was 99.7! Ok, those spots are not an allergic reaction!

I called the nurse's hotline, and they didn't really say much except to call my doctor in the morning. Micah snuggled up all evening and when I put him to bed, his temperature was 101.7. He wasn't fussy or anything, so I didn't give him any Advil. As I was rocking him to sleep though, I was texting my mom and she mentioned maybe he had hands, foot, and mouth disease. Once I looked it up, I knew that was what it was! He had sores on his feet, legs, arms, hands, face, and in his mouth; he had quite a bit on his bottom too! There were none on his torso.  He had a temp and wasn't eating very well. It fit him perfectly! (I wonder why the nurse didn't think of this??)

This morning when he woke up, he was a little bit warm, but he did not have a fever like the night before. I gave him a bath and tried to be careful because there were more spots than the night before too.

I called our pediatrician's office and talked about it with them. She said it sounded like hands, foot, and mouth, and there was really not much we could do except keep him hydrated. She said it has been going around lately. It is caused by a virus, so it is highly contagious.  She said to watch the other kids, but from what I read, kids under the age of 5 are the most susceptible.  Megan had it when she was a baby, so she probably can't get it again! She said the spots will continue on for 7-10 days and he is mostly contagious while he has a fever, but 24 hours after his fever breaks, he is fine to be around others again. .

Throughout the day today, Micah has been getting better.  He is eating and drinking and acting more like himself.  Because I had a sick kid this morning, I had to reschedule my appointment to get braces! Now I need to wait another two weeks to get that done! (That is two appointments this week that I had to reschedule because of sick kids!!)