Horrible HFMD

The past week was horrible for both E and me. My poor little baby was down with Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD). Since 19th September, there was a mini-outbreak of this HFMD epidemic amongst the Singaporean children here. 10 cases…10 poor little victims. Little E is victim no. 8 and the youngest one.

Day 1
It all started on Monday morning when I spotted some red spots on E’s finger. My hunch tells me very strongly that he must have gotten the stupid virus too. (Having heard that E’s Zavier Kor Kor and Avril Jie Jie got it…I was crossing my fingers real hard that E be spared. Apparently not ) Super sianz! The appointment with the pediatrician, Dr Higuet, was at 4pm…so basically I spent the entire Monday morning and half of the afternoon fretting about the prospect of my boy getting the virus. The feeling was terrible and I felt so helpless. What’s worse is that I learnt that there is no antibiotic for this stupid HFMD…just some antiseptic gel to relieve the ulcers in the mouth and Doliprane (paracetamol) for the accompanying fever (if any).

At 4pm, my hunch was confirmed. Yes. E got the virus! I could see the start of the a few ulcers when Dr Higuet checked my baby’s mouth. SUPER SUPER SIANZ. E will recover in a week or so according to Dr Higuet. Somehow, I don’t look forward to the next few days.

Day 2
No fever. Thank god. But more and more spots started appearing everywhere, many on the buttocks. (I thought they were supposed to appear on the hands, feet and mouth?) E was obviously feeling very unwell, crying most of the time. Have to carrying him the entire day to soothe him. Later in the evening, his temperature was slightly high…gave him Doliprane as a precaution. The drowsy boy doze off to sleep soon after.

Day 3
Cranky. CRANKY. CRANKY!!! E could not stop crying. His ulcers in the mouth had developed into real big ones. Mostly near the throat, a couple on the gums and one big on the tongue. My poor little baby looked so miserable…whining and crying each time he swallows. No smiles at all the entire day. He even refused to latch on. Gosh! Afraid that he’d be dehydrated, I kept on offering him free flow buffet of my milk (he must be thinking mummy is crazy). Had to forced him to drink water and honeysuckle drink with the syringe. Not a pleasant experience. Deafening cries all the way.

Day 4
E did not smile the entire day again. He still had the miserable look. I had to force him to take barley water through the syringe method again. As usual, it was a tug of war between us. Though unpleasant, but I think the barley water helped a lot. He started passing real stinky poo many times throughout the day. Think he is expelling the toxic in his body. Good.

Day 5
The little blisters spots all that he had all over started to dry up. Finally, a signal that he is on the road to recovering from this stupid HFMD. He also started cooing to us. Vague smiles occasionally…well, better than his crampy look.

Day 6
Hurray! E’s feeling much better. Back to his nonsense again…demanding that we play with him and carry him ALL THE TIME! I must have spoilt him when he was unwell the last few days…

Day 7
My good old Ethan is back. Crying at the top of his lungs when he is bored. Smiling and cooing at his toys and us. Checked his mouth…most of the ulcers are gone. Just some redness. Finally, this HFMD saga is coming to an end. But we are still grounded at home for another 2 weeks (Order given by hubby’s squadron). Until then, we are a pair of mother and son jailbirds trapped in our home.