Ulcers and fever and medicine, oh my...

So Little Miss didn't exactly have the best birthday...

Wednesday night before, she started running a low temp. We did motrin and she slept well and I hoped that'd be it. Thursday on her birthday, we got up and dressed and went to get cupcakes, but the day wasn't as planned because of the fever - she couldn't be around her younger cousin. :(

We did gifts with my mom and grandma at the cupcake store, and Little Miss just wanted to go home and play with her new babydoll toys. So we did...and after a hard, long nap, she woke up and was NOT right. Very listless, no appetite, she never even actually ate her birthday cupcake. She refused dinner, just wanted to lay around, kept shivering saying she was cold. Her fever was back but I kept the motrin in her. Hubby was at the fire station working, and I called him to come check on her when she refused to get off the floor under her blanket, shivering....

Well after he got her, she threw up. I was actually relieved because I thought, okay, stomach virus, we can handle that. Not so scary. She perked up a little after throwing up, her fever went down, and she actually wanted to sit and watch TV with me and nibble goldfish crackers. Hubby saw some fever blisters in her mouth, but they didn't seem to bother her. She never threw up again, but the next morning, Friday - she was worse. Barely able to talk, and when I looked in her mouth, clusters of ulcers were all over her lips. She also had a few blisters spots on her big toes and thumbs. I thought "hand/foot/mouth disease" which I know is going around this area of town.

I took her to doc to be on safe side, though with a virus, all you're doing is throwing away a co-pay and torturing yourself in the waiting room for an hour just for them to say "ride it out, its a virus. lots of liquids." (which she could barely do because her mouth hurt so bad.)

Thankfully the doctor's office was NOT busy (crazy, for lunchtime on a Friday - thank you GOD!) and we got right in. The doctor looked at it and agreed on the hand/foot/mouth disease diagnosis, but did blood work to be sure. Well the blood work came back bacterial, not virus. So weird! Either way, she's miserable with the ulcers in her mouth. She gave us antibiotic, and gave me some tips for easing the ulcers (which hasn't worked so far).

Last night she was miserable, crying every time she tried to eat or drink, telling me she was hungry but when I tried to give her anything - jello, applesauce, mushed hot dog, etc. - nothing really worked. She barely got anything actually down. Hubby finally came home from working clinicals all day for paramedic school at 8:30 , and I got a chance to eat dinner myself and take a shower for the first time all day and catch up on a few things while helped her do her bath. Well after some one-on-one Daddy time, Little Miss perked up, drank an entire bottle of juice and had two bowls of dry lucky charms. Whew!

Today is much better. She still talks like her lips were stung by a bee, but she is talking today, and drinking a lot. Hasn't eaten much but we'll get there. As long as she stays hydrated!

It's been an exhausting week. All I can think of is how glad I am that I finished my deadline early, and wasn't in the middle of this trying to write the ending of my book before Monday! God knew! And I'm so grateful also that though this is rough, and she's miserable, it's still temporary. So many babies are out there that I know of right now with much worse problems - heart transplants, seizures, meningitis, etc. Thank you God that she's healthy and we know once these ulcers fade, she'll gain any missing weight back and be fine.

Whatever you're facing today - whether that's trying to wrestle medicine down your toddler's blistered throat, or trying to console a wailing toddler who just wants her sippy cup to work with her ulcer-covered lips, or missing sleep from checking temps ever 3 hours during the night...remember, this too shall pass. God is still good and still God and your life is still full of blessings! Find the silver lining :)

Mine is the form of knowing that next week when she's all better, we're totally having a Birthday Do-Over. Cupcakes, balloons, another present, whatever it takes. Turning 3 should not involve shots of phenagrin in your booty, throw-up covered blankies, and fever...Just saying.