Bring Us Your Healthy! We'll Make Them Sick!

So on Sunday, we hosted a bit of a playdate... Karen's kidlets came over, because, well it was Sunday. This has turned into a bit of a regular scene of events. It's Sunday, thereby they're here. I love it. I also had mentioned to my friend Nita that Karen was going to be here, and she was dying to meet Karen... So before I knew it, we had a full blown playdate on our hands!
I was excited about everyone coming over and hanging out at our house, we certainly have the room to entertain, and of course the ability to shuffle everyone outside if things get chaotic. Karen's eldest son J is older than my kiddos by just about 2 years. He was able to take full advantage of our new playground that the kids got for their Birthday, and also play on the slide that Jon and I gave to the kids. He seemed to really enjoy his time here...
Unfortunately just as we were putting the kids down for their nap, I happened to notice as I was changing William's diaper that he had an unsightly rash on his bottom. This past week, had been a bit warm, so I wrote it off to heat rash, and let it slide. That afternoon, after all five of my children had played on the waterslide with J, and Lilley had successfully tried to replace Baby Ricky's binky on more than one occasion, Jon and I collapsed, exhausted, onto the couch.
Will crawled up onto my lap and explained that his bum was hurting him. I then remembered that rash. Peeling off his diaper, his bottom looked terrible... Red, blistered, just awful. I immediately thought of the herpes virus that the girls are carrying, while no one else has caught this mysterious virus... I thought for sure that this was that virus. I was filled with dread. Just then I noticed Will scratch his hand, and I saw two very symmetrical little blisters on his knuckles. I was instantly relieved...and just as quickly, I was feeling terrible. I knew what the kids had, and knew how contagious it was. Hand Foot & Mouth disease is a nasty virus and causes these icky little blisters. They can be so painful, which is why Will was complaining about his bum hurting him so much... I immediately hopped online and contacted Karen and Nita... Telling them what the deal was... What are the stinkin' chances that the ONE day that I have a house full of kiddos, my kids come down with the creeping crud... What are the chances... Pretty good clearly.
We took Will in to see Dr. Awesome yesterday just to confirm that it was in fact HFM and it is. He did tell us though, that it's a good chance that the other kiddos wont get it because they're still protected by maternal antibodies. Ricky is just about 4 months old, and Karens kids are almost a year but are still breastfed.
Needless to say, I'm going to have to quarantine my kids... And I'm also sitting her scratching my head wondering where on earth we got this too. However, we've had this before and it was SO much worse the last time. This time around the blisters are really only on their bottoms, and scattered across their hands and feet. We have NONE in their mouths and throats which I think is a miracle in itself. So we'll take what we can get, and thank God for that small blessing!

Comments

[Jill Bartlett]

Oh my goodness - you have my sympathies! I somehow caught it 3 weeks ago (even tho neither of my kids have it) and I have not been that sick since I had chemo...it was HORRIBLE (I only had the large blisters in my mouth). I didn't even know that adults could get it. I'll be praying that your kiddos get over it soon and all are better.

Hugs,
Jill

[Melis B]

Ugh..you poor thing. That is one nasty virus. We had it over here one year and even I got it..and bad too. Sucks.

I hope you all getting feeling better soon!!!

Hugs to everyone~~

[Kristi]

Oh no! That's no fun! Hope you all get healthy again soon. At least you had fun at your playdate, right? I'll keep my fingers and toes crossed that no one else catches it!

[Cynthia]

I hope everyone feels better soon and I hope no one else gets sick! My daughter brought HF&M home from daycare...she didn't actually develop any symptoms but she passed it to me and my mother. Not fun! Thankfully it goes away quickly. Good luck!

[rachael]

oh no! i hope everyone is all better soon!

[Kelly]

It seems like it is going around right now. I hope everyone feels better soon and no no one gets mouth sores - ouchies!!!

[pam]

oh no! kinda funny how we have the mouth version, and your guys have the foot and hand (and bum) version. well, maybe "funny" isn't the right word. maybe "sucky" is.

sorry about spreading it via the internets. :P

[AudreyM]

Ewww! I hate that stuff. The first time was MUCH worse for us as well. The second time it went away very quickly. In fact, we haven't had it again in about 2 years. Great, now we'll get it! Take Care!

[girl]

Agreed, hope recovery is soon! Hope someday I get a playdate invite, hint hint. Although I don't want to get sick, hee.

[Mindy]

Oh No! I hope they recover soon. That's one thing we haven't gotten yet -- but now I'm sure we will since I said that. The baby and I are passing thrush/yeast infections back and forth but for the moment we are healthy. I hope it goes away quickly for all of you!