The World Stops..

..when your child gets sick. Well at least that's what I thought, because mine did.

I came home to a feverish A last night. It was not her first time actually, because during her 4th monthly checkup, she reacted to her vaccine with a very low-grade fever. In less than 24 hours, she was back to her normal self. But this time was different.

She was holding on to me, telling me something's wrong. 

I was trying to convince myself that it was just like the first time and A will just shrug it off once again. But my little nursling was telling me something else. She was just nursing quietly, holding on to me. No acrobatics, no wrestling. She'd fall asleep but quickly wakes up at the slightest move I make. We monitored her temperature round the clock and it went from 36.7°C up to 38.3°C. It was still a low-grade fever but I knew that something else was going on. It was a long night and I was constantly reminding myself not to message A's pedia in the middle of the night and wait till morning instead. She advised us to keep monitoring and bring A in for her to see should she become uninterested or totally stopped nursing. But my little nursling didn't slow down, but her temperature went up to 39°C. It was then that we decided to bring her in.

I was really lucky to have inherited a very good pedia from my sister. Her name is Dra. Lorna Abad. I told her all about A's temperature changes and the rashes on her legs. The minute she saw the rashes she told me about the currently going viral Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD). She asked me if the same rashes appeared around A's mouth, but there was none. She then checked the inside of A's mouth and there they were, little cold sores down her throat and on the roof of her mouth. Just one look and she knew already. She then explained that there's really no treatment for HFMD but there's no need to worry about it as it is not something major. We were prescribed with Paracetamol for the fever and a spray to treat the cold sores inside her mouth.

All these happened in 20 hours.. and on our 24th hour, A was like this already.

Fever? What fever? HFMD my cute bottom! :P

If I were to enumerate the things I've learned after:

1. Trust your momtuition. Because almost always they are correct.
2. You can always do research over the internet but checking on your doctor is still and will always be the best thing to do.
3. Don't panic, or at least pretend that you aren't. Lol.

And it was just in the news, the number of children affected by HFMD in Metro Manila is increasing. So to my fellow Supermoms, let's all take the necessary extra precautions to prevent or fight HFMD.