Last week was a really rough one for Lily. Probably her hardest so far. She contracted Hand, Foot and Mouth disease--a terrible virus which causes fevers, blisters in the mouth, and a rash on the arms, legs, and feet. Poor Lily seemed to experience the worst of them all.
She spent 4 days in seeming agony. This normally bright, cheerful, independent girl literally spent 4 days and nights in my arms. I couldn't put her down or she would sob. Even at night the only peace she could find would be laying on my chest. She didn't eat for 5 days and stopped drinking after the first day. I would pin her down and force some water down her throat but she would scream and choke. It was just awful.
On the 4th day of the illness we became seriously concerned about dehydration. Instead of improving, she seemed to be declining. She became listless and her eyes looked sort of vacant. It was scary. We consulted her pediatrician who instructed us to go to the ER for IV fluids.
Here she is in her tiny tiger hospital gown. Even in her declining state she would still try to wave at the doctors and nurses as they came into the room. Here she is trying to wave at daddy.
The doctors and nurses did a full round of exams on her including a chest x-ray, blood-draws, and a urine test via catheter. Once all of that was completed they began the IV. These tests pretty much scared her to death. She cried through all of them. Perhaps the saddest thing of all was to see the change in her behavior. At first she would wave at the doctors but once they doctors had done a few tests, she became scared of anyone who walked in the room. Instead of waving at them, she would bury her face in my lap and try to hide. It was so sad!
Once the IV was finished we could see definite improvement in Little Lily. She seems to come back into herself a bit. After the ER trip we continued to see steady progress.
Thankfully today she was entirely back to normal. She was laughing, chasing her brothers, and playing pee-a-boo again. She even let Daddy put her to bed tonight, which made them both very happy!
I don't know when I've been so relieved. I feel as though I've holding my breath for a week, worrying every minute about her. To see my bright-eyed baby again is such a comfort! We love you sweet Lily girl.
3 comments:
Poor baby! That breaks my heart. I'm glad she's back to normal!
By the way, I thought of you several times this weekend, knowing it was your birthday, and yet I still didn't call or anything, so I'm sorry! Happy Belated Birthday my friend. We sure miss you guys.
That picture and the story about her waving and then hiding from the doctors is so heartbreaking. Poor sweet girl. I'm glad she's back to herself. (from Becky, not Todd)
Oh, poor little sweetie! How scary for you! I caught hand, foot, and mouth disease from one of my kids once and it was AWFUL. So incredibly painful. I'm glad Lily is doing better!
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