The other day I noticed he was just starting to act quiet and not quite himself. He developed a fever and was sleeping awful. I choked it up to another cold or perhaps allergy issues like what I've been experiencing recently. Another day goes by and I noticed he kept picking at and digging in his mouth and he'd cry whenever he tried to eat something. Fed up, I pried his mouth open and saw red, swollen gums and a multitude of mouth sores.
I worked my research magic, got an idea of what I thought was going on, called the pediatrician, then headed in to the after hours clinic yesterday late afternoon. After waiting in the waiting room for 30 minutes and an abnormally long Dr visit, my suspicions were confirmed: a viral infection, the herpes simplex virus to be exact. He has Herpetic Stomatitis.
To read more about Herpetic Stomatitis, click HERE.
I feel so bad for him. He is in a lot of pain from all the sores and is just inconsolable. His crying just goes on and on and nothing we do seems to help in in the moment of his crying. He is hungry, but will hardly eat because it hurts him. There is definitely a lack of sleep going on here. We basically have to let this run its course, since it's viral. We are giving him tylenol to help keep up with pain management, as well as rubbing a prescribed medicine on his gums and sores that is suppose to numb them and help with the pain. He hasn't had a fever since yesterday afternoon, so I'm hoping we are turning the corner now and his sores will start to heal.
Poor, sweet boy. He just can't seem to catch a break. It's been one thing after another the past few months with him. With the older children being in school, he is just exposed to so much of what they bring home. I hope he's better for his birthday this Sunday! We have fun plans to take him to the Portland Children's Museum.
Get better, baby boy.
With love,
Mama Hauck
Oh no! That sounds horrible! Sending big hugs!
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