Hand Foot and Mouth

Dear Luke,

A few weeks ago you were so sick and it was so, so sad. You fell asleep in your car seat one afternoon while we were running errands, which was strange, and felt really warm when I got you out of the car. I put you down for a nap thinking the sun must have just been shining on you. But when you woke up, you were still really warm and I figured you must have a fever. Sure enough, you had a temperature of 102. I took you to the doctor the next day to learn you had hand foot and mouth disease, with painful ulcers at the back of your throat. All we could do was alternate Motrin and Tylenol and rub some special mouthwash in your mouth with a q tip every 6 hours. It was so sad. You would wake up crying at night, rubbing the back of your neck over and over. Even holding your bear, sitting in my lap, watching a praise baby DVD, you would fuss and not be able to get comfortable. What made it worse was that Daddy was sick that week, too. Your fever came and went a few times over the course of a long week, and I kept feeling at the end of my rope. You finally started to feel better after about 8 days. Let's try not to repeat that one!

Love,
Mommy