HFMD Again!

13 months 3 weeks & 3 days old.....

The first time Ethan had it, it was very light and we didn't noticed it until he almost fully recovered. This time, he was not so lucky. Until now, we have no idea where he got it. Nobody at the day care got it and he did not spread it to other kids, thank goodness. It started with a fever on Sunday (8 July). The fever refused to go away even after medication twice and I began to worry when the temperature was still at 38 oc at 10 p.m. We brought him to the hospital and the doctor said he got throat infection. (I will never go to that hospital again!) Ethan was given suppository and the fever went down until it returned again early in the morning. So, I've decided to take half day off and went to my mother's house so that he can stay there when I go to work. At that time, the fever was under control.

Then, at around 11.30 a.m. I started to notice some red spots on Ethan's hand and leg. My heart beat shot up immediately! When I checked his mouth, I saw two ulcers on his tongue. That's it! Heart beat gone haywire! Call up hubby immediately and we went back to see Ethan's paed. The paed. confirmed it. Took some medication and went home. No need hospitalisation, just monitor him at home. The paed. said the ulcers on the mouth will recover in 3 days time and advised us to feed him more water. True enough, we went back for check-up on Wednesday and the ulcers were gone but the spots on his body were pretty bad. Some spots were like rashes and some like chicken pox. The spots were on his hands, legs, buttock and neck area. Some scars are still visible today.

The red spots on his thigh

....and mouth

I took the whole week off to take care of him at home. I tell you, it can be very stressful taking care of a sick child. He was extremely clingy and cranky. When he's in a good mood, he will play on his own while watching barney/ other cds. At other times, he just want me to carry him and walk around the house and refused to let me sit down! Refused to let daddy carry too. Even when he's very sleepy, he will not sleep without kicking up a fuss.

Ok, the bad thing is over. Something good also happened last week. We saw Ethan pulled himself up to a stand for the first time. He also made a few wobbly steps. We always encourage him to stand and walk but he was not keen. Sometimes, when we hold his hands, he will just pull our hands and bend his knees or even wrap his legs around our leg (like a koala bear). See the video below. (You have to tilt your head a bit because I cannot rotate it....hehehe)