Baby's first Christmas

Henry's Christmas was really good, all things considered... Considering he had RSV, and ear infection AND broke out in what I think was hand foot mouth Christmas morning.


It all started when Henry had what I assumed was "the crud" around Thanksgiving because we all had it. Finally after about 2 weeks of him still not being able to shake it, I took him to the doctor. The doctor said Henry was well on his way to a double ear infection so he put him on an antibiotic to clear that up and help dry up his sinus issues. After a week of meds Henry seemed like he had actually gotten worse and had a terrible cough! So knowing it would be just our luck to be in the ER on Christmas Eve, I decided to take him back. Dr. S said he had an ear infection in his left ear and confirmed my fear that he likely had RSV. He took a chest x-ray and said his lungs looked good but to keep an eye on his cough and make sure it didn't get worse and he wasn't struggling breathe. He decided to change antibiotics and said to continue propping his bed and run the humidifier. By Christmas Eve Henry was still a little puny so we had to skip Henry's first Christmas Eve service at church. I was pretty bummed about that but we figured it was better to play it safe and not expose him to other small kids in case he was contagious. We went to Lee's mom's for dinner and stopped by our friend's house for a quick visit and went home to get ready for Santa! My mom spent the night with us and she and I stayed up late baking cookies together. I really enjoyed that. Christmas morning was pretty low key, we got up when out little alarm clock in Christmas pajamas called for us. He opened a few gifts and was ready to go back down for a nap after about an hour. My dad came over for breakfast and more presents. By the time Henry got up again I noticed he had a rash on his chin and hands. By mid morning it was all over his back and feet. I couldn't call anyone with it being Christmas day but I have seen it enough from working at the daycare to be pretty certain it was hand foot mouth, which is a fever virus followed by a skin rash. It's pretty contagious among infants so we opted not to go to Christmas dinner with Lee's family in fear of getting cousin Summer sick. Lee went and my mom hung out here with H and me. By afternoon Henry acted like he was feeling better but still had the rash. We all just laid around and watched Christmas movies in between naps. That evening, KK and Papaw stopped by and visited with us and we exchanged presents.

I absolutely hated that Henry was sick for his first Christmas but it also made me so very thankful that I have a healthy baby most of the time. I spent a lot of the time he was sick thinking about was how terrible it must be to have a child with a chronic or terminal illness. It broke my heart to see him feel so bad and look so pitiful but I knew he would be well in a matter of days. I can't imagine how it feels...I hope and pray I never have to know...

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!