khayla's hfmd chronicles.

Day 1 (Friday, 29/06/2012)
1400 hours - I received a phone call from the nursery, telling me that Khayla was having high grade fever. I rushed home to pick her up. She was bloated because she refused to eat the whole morning.

1900 hours - Her fever subsided after we inserted a Paracetamol suppository.

2130 hours - Tried to put Khayla to sleep but she would only go to bed for 5-10 minutes and then wake up crying as if she was in pain. This happened all through the night ! We noticed that she was drooling and teething, so we assumed it was teething pain. I had my doubts because we've been through teething before, and it was never that bad.

Day 2 (Saturday, 30/06/2012)
0400 hours - We decided to bring her to Selayang hospital to check if there was anything wrong with her. At the hospital, her temperature was 37.7 degrees. The doctor sent us home claiming there was nothing wrong with my baby (and that "Mak dia yang risau je ni.").

0600 hours - Khayla was still waking up crying every 5- 10 minutes. She refused to anything the whole day, she would cry everytime I tried to put food in her mouth. Her lips were swollen and she was drooling excessively. I also noticed red spots on her lips that day. she wouldn't finish her bottle of milk. We gave her Paracetamol syrup every 6 hours to help ease her pain but it didn't seem to work. Saw tiny red spots (like petechia) all over her calves and thighs and arms.

2130 hours - Tried to put her to bed but the same thing happened, she would still sleep for 5-10 minutes and wake up crying.

Day 3 (Sunday, 01/07/2012)

1500 hours - Khayla still wasn't accepting solids, and only drank very little milk. Mr. Sunshine noticed white spots on her lower lip. We decided to bring her to a paediatrician. Unfortunately, the paediatric clinic (Klinik Pakar Kanak-Kanak Putra, Sungai Buloh) we wanted to go to was closed that evening, so we took her to the nearest hospital, which was Hospital Sungai Buloh.

1930 - Doctor examined Khayla's spots and ulcers on lips, and was certain it wasn't HFMD, he took a blood test to check whether it was a bacterial infection. Blood test came out normal and we were sent home with an antibiotic cream to apply on her body along with Vaseline to apply on her lips.
I refused to use both medications.

2130 hours - Khayla still had trouble sleeping, and was still in pain.

Day 4 (Monday, 2/7/2012)

0600 hours - Noticed that the spots on Khayla's legs and arms were lesser. Lips were still red, swollen with ulcers.

0900 hours - Brought her to Klinik Pakar Kanak-Kanak Putra in Sungai Buloh. The paediatrician took one look at Khayla's big toe and told me it was HFMD. Hmm. "This is a classic sign of foot & mouth," she told Mr. Sunshine and I. She examined Khayla's buttocks & genital areas & also her mouth. Her mouth was filled with red ulcers ! My poor Khayla, Mummy's terribly sorry for not noticing all those red spots IN your mouth. *nangis*
The paediatrician told us that Khayla must have been in tremendous pain before this, and after three days, a babies body will start generating antibodies to fight the Coxsackie virus. Isk isk.
She was prescribed with Diclofenac Sodium suppositories and Xylocaine drops to numb her mouth area so that she could feed easily.
She recommended that we feed her with cold liquids or vanilla ice cream to soothe her ulcers.

Day 5 to 8 (Tuesday to Friday) - Stayed at home to take care of Khayla. She would eat in small amounts. However, she finished a bowl of rice porridge on Thursday, woohoo ! Slept well starting Wednesday night, Alhamdulillah. No more spots and ulcers.

Sad to say, I did not get to snap any photos of Khayla's spots or ulcers as I was too busy attending to her.

Alhamdulillah, my baby is now well. She is still drooling (significantly lesser than before), but that's because she's teething. My baby's getting her molars !

A few HFMD tips that I can hand out:

• Once your child has contracted HFMD, there's nothing you can do but be there for him/her. Baby will be very clingy and restless. You will lose sleep and be exhausted. You've gotta be patient. 
• The sores can be extremely painful, so for mothers who do not like the idea of giving your baby painkillers, please, please reconsider your options ! But only do so under a doctor's recommendation, ok ?
• Your baby will have trouble feeding but make sure to keep them hydrated with lots of liquids because the major complication of HFMD is dehydration. Don't worry so much about wanting them to finish that bowl of pasta you made. Make sure to check their nappies (babies should wet their nappies at least every 6- 8 hours)
• And lastly, it might be a good idea to bring your baby straight to a Paediatrician when you sense that something's not right, rather than waste your time and energy bringing them to see inexperienced HOs and MOs.


Hah.


Ok bye.

UPDATE: Khayla did not get the virus from her nursery because appatently no other child there had similar symptoms, so she either got it from home or from the hospital when she was admitted.

xoxo