Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease

Grrrr. My older two girls got sick yesterday. First, Adrienne spiked a high fever in the afternoon and Brooke followed her hours later, right as I was about to go to sleep. It always seems to happen like that, doesn't it? The poor girl did not sleep well so I, of course, didn't either.

Adrienne has been having some frequent urinary tract infections (another story for a another day) so we had her follow-up with the pediatrician today. I wouldn't have otherwise dragged the sick girls out to have them evaluated because I had already taken Bailey on Sunday for the same symptoms, only to find that it was a virus. So, anyways, I told their doctor what was going on and after hearing what each of the girls had and evaluating them, he said that they had a classic case of Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease. Basically, get you a high fever, sores in your mouth and throat and sometimes a headache. You know it's run its course when you break out with little red spots.. Which Bailey had on her cheeks and chin, but I attributed them to her teething and drooling a lot. So there we have it... A diagnosis for all this madness. That's why I hate walk-in clinics.. They usually don't have the most accuracy.

The worst part is that this could potentially last for 3-5 days. I'm not up for that and the girls more than certainly aren't! Bailey is completely fine now, Adrienne's case is mild but Brooke is pretty sick. She has horrible sores all on her lips, her head is throbbing to the point where she just wants to lay around and her fever has been the highest. Poor little princess:-( She also has some type of cold or allergies that are making her nose drip like crazy and cough constantly. It's definitely not a good combination for her.

I suppose that the best news about this whole nasty virus is that it's very rare for adults to get it. The doctor said that most adults have immunity against it and the simple fact that it's contracted through saliva is what makes is so contagious among small children, especially. I'm not sure how I would manage all that I have to if I got sick! That's always a crisis.

I'm really hoping that everyone sleeps well tonight and we wake up to three healthy girls but I'm not expecting it. That way, if it does happen, it will be an added bonus instead of a huge disappointment. Lol. This motherhood thing is sure exhausting but nothing makes me feel more "in my element" than when I'm caring for and loving on my babies and when they're sick, I sure get to do an awful lot of that!