Hoof & Mouth

No wait...that's barnyard animals.  Hand, foot & mouth (and crotch) disease...that's what humans get.  And that's what she got from school on Wednesday!  I guess it actually started Tuesday.  I went to put in her in her kiddie pool when we got home from school for a little dip and I noticed a diaper rash.  I am proud to say that in 13 months she has never had a diaper rash!  So I kept her dry, put on some cream and didn't really think anything else about it.  Fast forward 24 hours and I get a call from her school.  That is the scariest call to receive...my heart pounds as I wait to hear what they have to tell me.  "Mrs. Wimberly, you need to pick Ashlyn up from school and take her to the doctor.  She is breaking out in blisters on her hands and in her mouth and diaper area.  Hand, foot and mouth disease is going around the school and we think she has it."  The ONLY reason I even knew what it was is because our sweet niece Jules had it about a month or so ago.  Jules has 2 brothers and between the 3 of them, they have had their fair share of "bugs".  Kristin said HFM was by far the worst thing her kids have had!!  GREAT!  I am kinda freaking out as I pick her up from school and take her to the doctor...fearing what is ahead of us.  4 days of high fevers, unable to eat or use her hands or feet (if it is similar to what Jules had).  I picked her up and she was standing up in her crib, unfazed!  We took her to the doctor and he confirmed that she definitely had HFM but said usually the kids are pretty sick a couple of days before the blisters break out.  I had been saying that Ashlyn hadn't been herself the past couple of days, but I attributed it to teething.  He thought we were in the middle of it and the worse was probably over.  Thank goodness!  But, it meant staying home nonetheless as it is highly contagious (to other children.  Adults usually don't catch it...whew!)  So we did end up playing hooky from work/school on Thursday...but we didn't quite make it to the parade.  She was covered head to toe with a rash and I thought the heat might make it worse.  So we had a fun day just playing at home and getting some things done around the house.  Daddy stayed home on Friday and by today, she was back at school.  I guess we can check that one off the list!

This was the only picture I could get.  This is the rash when it started.  By bedtime it covered her whole body with blisters on her hands, in her mouth, diaper area and on her knees!  Poor baby!