Chicken Pox Diaries

Chicken pox diaries - Day 1

Suspicious Pox.

So it seems that my lo has got chicken pox. I'm going to be a running a chicken pox diary, updating you from the very start to the end, in hope that it may one day be helpful for any other parents whose going through the pox stage.

My lo is 19 months, so it's a good age to get it out of the way and also she can't complain as much as she proberly could as let's say a five year old.

So here's Day 1.

Day 1 - Suspicious Pox

I noticed lo had a bit of a temperature going and also had a very runny nose. Many of times I had to go and catch it! ;-)

I noticed three small spots, two on her belly and one on her chin. They looked a bit like a normal reddish white head.

It was then I remembered at playgroup last Tuesday there was a boy who looked like he had dried up chicken pox spots... This is the only child that lo has mixed with that has had chicken pox, and it's the only play group that we go to.

She still had a bit of an appetite, I made her some soup and she had lasagne. She drank well as usual too. But she was a bit grumpy and irritable.

I thought it could of possibly been her teething, as her insisors are coming to complete her pearly white collection.

I topped her up every 4-5 hours with 5ml of baby ibuprofen  to help control the temperature and relieve any aches and pains.

She slept quite well that night :-)

Updates tomorrow.

Lucy x

Chicken Pox Diaries - Day 2

A spotty surprise!

So this morning lo woke up with some more spots, a temperature and watery eyes. Basic common cold symptoms.

Again I kept topping her up every 4-5 hours with ibuprofen.

She had her usual breakfast of jam on toast and a cup of milk.

I tried to count her spots but she got upset when I tried to touch them. I was pressing them to make sure they went clear, incase of meningitis, that always scares me!

I booked a gp appointment as I wanted to get it checked 100%, and he confirmed it defiantly was the pox!

He said that the virus can last up to 3 weeks and that lo shouldn't come in to contact with any pregnant ladies.

So we had a quick trip to the pharmacy and stocked up on baby piriton, more ibuprofen  and some camomile cream.

As we got home, lo had a little nap and I made her a fruit smoothie out of bananas and strawberries. She also had a brioche bread loaf, along with some grapes and blueberries. And of course she had a long drink of water, as you must make sure they stay hydrated.

After lunch I did the usual nappy change, and found water filled blisters on the outside of her private parts. Later on the water will become cloudy and then after that the blister will begin to crust, and that's when you'll know that the virus is coming to an end. 

But also the spots can come in waves and clusters.

Below are some pictures of the spots when they first became noticeable.

Ibuprofen, piriton and camomile cream.

All in all lo has seemed fine, we spent the day colouring and watching our favourite programmes cuddled up on the sofa :-)

More updates tomorrow!

Lucy x

Chicken pox diaries - day 3

Day 3 with chicken pox.

Lo has seemed to lost her appetite today. I made sure she had plenty to drink, as it's do very humid here today. She's also been sleeping more than usual.

We stayed inside and red stories, had a bath, watched some films and played dollies together. 

A lot more spots have appeared on her face, chest/belly, back, bottom, legs/arms and nappy area. Some look red sore and a bit scabby, whilst others are still water filled.

I pray none will scar her ��.

I also wonder how long it will take for the scabs to completely go once the virus ends.

By my research it can take a good few weeks!

 I also red about giving lo an oat bath. Apparently you wrap some oats in a Muslim or a thin cloth, and run the water through it, this makes the water cloudy and is meant to be very soothing.

Have you ever tried this? How did it work?

I'll let you know once I grab some oats.

But for now it's piriton and camomile cream.

More updates tomorrow.

Lucy x

Chicken pox diaries - day 4

Day 4 with chicken pox.

Even more spots have and keep popping up, their quite red now, whereas the water filled spots have now turned cloudy or are scab like.

Lo doesn't seem to be scratching and is generally quite well.

It's very hot here, so I wasn't surprised that she's a bit sweaty at the moment as so am I!

I've noticed she's got some on the inside of her lower lip and that might be why she's got little appetite. She's drinking though with which I'am pleased with.

She ate some homemade soup and j on toast too.

Lo is quite happy playing and doesn't appear to be ill, and her runny nose has cleared up too.

Today was a lovely sunny day and I think lo knew too. She kept grabbing her cardigan and saying "ahum ahum", which means I want to go out in baby language.

So we went in to town and browsed the shops, I treated her to a new book, and we visited the Disney shop to look in to the magic mirror. It was nice to get out and it seemed to put some colour back in to lo's face.

It's quite hard to think of things to do when your child has the chicken pox. So here's my list on what you can do to keep busy (and sane).

- take a stroll around the park/lake this way you'll both get some fresh air and won't be coming in to close contact with anyone else.

- role play

Dress up and play out your favourite books or films, great for the imagination and you'll always end up getting a giggle out of it.

- color, paint and draw

Get creative and make, glue, splodge and draw! Google crafts that you can make.

- bake

Get the children involved to help bake a cake, some biscuits or even dinner.

- Pj day

Why not snuggle up and put both of your fave films on, have some sweet treats and lots of cuddles. It's great for some bonding time.

- Play with every single toy

Make time each day to actually sit and play with your child and each of their toys. You might be suprised on how much there is, and also find toys you've forgotton about. Or even realise you need a good old clean out!

- Classic board games

If your child's old enough, why not bring out some good old board games?

How these tips have helped to help you pass the time. It can seem like you've got cabin fever but it does end... Apparently!

More updates soon.

Lucy x

Chicken pox diaries 5-6

Hi everyone, I need to do a bit of catching up for you all! It's been a bit of a hectic weekend.

Well lo went to stay with her Nan on Saturday till Sunday evening.

I was able to have a house catch up and sort through some things, and I also got some well needed time to spend with the other half.

We went to the O2 Arena for a spot of lunch, and we did our own small tour of the O2. It's like a little town inside a big tent! Except the buildings aren't real but the shops are... If that makes sense. Like you have numerous restraunts that are real, and their in a fake building. I wonder if they have to pay rent for those?

We then had a ride around on the cable cars, very high but very cool. Not much of a good view though I'll be honest, a lot of the thames and buildings and houses and industrial dirt.

So that was our little date for the day. I think that it's important to try and spend some good quality time with the other half, just to show that your not always raving parents and hard tired out workers.

Anyway back to lo! When we went to go and pick her up, I noticed that her spots had turned in to scabs, she had no temperature and her colouring had come back. She still seemed fussy with her food, not really wanting to eat much, but she was drinking plenty.

On day six though she seemed to turn that around and ate three meals and lots of snacks. It's very pleasing to see her on the mend again.

On day six she seemed a bit frustrated and bored, so I'm guessing she had a bit of cabin fever. I took her to the park, and she absolutely loved it. I could really see her letting off all the steam she had been building up.

I'am still keeping her up topped up with her medicines and creams, and will continue to do so until all her spots have gone.

I know sometimes that they say once you think the spots have cleared new ones will appear, so I'm not giving my hopes up just yet.

Update more soon.

Lucy x