Hand Foot Mouth Disease (HFMD) on 1 year old toddler

Where should I start. That I was covered with Hariz's poop 30 minutes before departure at the airport or Hariz been effected with Hand Foot Mouth Disease (HFMD) ? *sigh*

I've been taking turns with Wan to look after Hariz at home. He's been house arrest for almost 3 days now. It all started when we were on our trip in Kuching last Friday (Deepavali holiday). He seems fine and active as always. He slept the whole trip from Penang to Kuching (a real relief). 

Once arrived at the Kuching, we took a walk at the riverfront. I started to notice red bumps appeared on his bums. I thought it was just nappy rash and he seems fine.

And the day after, more red bumps started to appeared on his arms. But not much. Just a few dots. and again, I thought maybe it's the bed bugs because Hariz slept in the baby cot at the hotel. Again, I never thought of anything serious.

The day we returned to Penang, his foot started to show more red bumps. I started to feel something is not quite right. It's either chicken pox or something else. Suddenly my mind flew to fatih's blog, pikertonic, because I remembered reading her daugther Athirah had this HFMD. but quickly I shook it off. Hoping that it's not it. 

But you know what they said, mother's instinct is always right. Right after we touched down Penang airport, we headed straightaway to Kid's Carer, child specialist, where Hariz has been having his monthly jab. I told the doctor where we have been , and the doc saw Hariz been drooling and the red spots, he knew it was HFMD. He checked his mouth and there, small ulcers started to developed on the throat. 

There's no exact cure or vaccine for this disease, so we were given cream for the bumps, antibiotic for the ulcers and paracetamol just in case he had any fever. 

According to wikipedia, the symptom started with fever and followed with the rashes. As for Hariz, he never had any fever until now. Despite all the ulcers in his throat, he seems to appear, fine. He ate normally, drink normally and well.. sleep more I guess :P

Now I'm not too worry about his condition as the ulcers in his mouth are gone.Only left the scars and some few red spot on his feet. Until then, he has to stay away form the nursery and other kids because it is contagious. That's what been bugging me. 

Wan can't stay at home look after Hariz every day. and I can't take leave for too many days too!

So how exactly Hariz got this HFMD? We have no idea either. Because there's no other kid. Hariz has been in his stroller all the time. It's not airborne. No direct contact. I just don't know. Benda dah nak jadi kan?

As long as he is happy and always bubbly :)

Heat rash on a baby

Hariz is the kind of baby that sweats a lot, I mean really a lot. He sweats every time I nurse him. He sweats when the weather gets a bit warm and he sweats when he is asleep. The sweats on him didn't really bothers me that much. He just get wet so much and we just change his cloth often and so I thought.

Not until yesterday, well it was actually few days ago, that we discover small red bumps on his chest, back and arms.

{rashes on the arms , back & chest}

Heat rash happens when the body heated and the skin pores got blocked out because of the sweats and small pores. Heat rash is not serious but it shows that the body is too warm. Usually it is not painful and maybe a bit itchy. As for Hariz, he didn't had any pain or itchiness. I was a bit worried when I saw all the reds dots on his body (who doesn't?).

So before he went to bed, I just wiped him off with lukewarm water.

and this morning when I woke up, to my surprise, all the red bumps are gone!!

I think my mistake the night before was I applied him a balm on the rashes and it went bad the day after. So what I did last night, I didn't put anything on the rash (oil, ointment, powder etc). Really saves our trip to the doc :P

However, if the rashes came with a fever, never hesitate to straight away to see your doc. It could be something else other than rashes.

More info here

How to get flat tummy after pregnancy? *secrets revealed*!

On previous entry, I've  posted photos of me and many wonders how I got back my figure after giving birth to Hariz so soon! The secrets? There are none! :P *bummer*

Actually, my belly is as flabby as you guys too. no kid! :P (pengakuan berani mati) Maybe in that photos ,what I really did was really holding up my breath every seconds the camera's shutter click and of course, with the help of Spanx :P

Anyway, I did some search on how to get flat belly and found this info that is quite useful for those who is too lazy to do exercise but want instant result. (like me! :P)

1. Nurse
Not only is your milk best for baby, but nursing will help get you back in shape more quickly. Sucking stimulates the release of the hormone oxytocin, which contracts your uterus and helps it to shrink more quickly to (nearly) its pre-pregnant size. And you naturally burn calories to make breast milkevery time you nurse. 

2. Pelvic Tilt

To strengthen abdominal and lower back muscles and improve posture, lie on your back with knees bent together and feet flat. Slowly breath in deeply, let your abdomen rise, then while exhaling pull your abdomen in tightly and push the small of your back flat against the floor. Hold for five seconds. Release and repeat ten to fifteen times.

3.Head Lift
To strengthen abdominal muscles and stabilize the posture by flattening the back, lie on your back with your knees bent. Place one or both hands on your tummy to remind you to keep your backbone flat to the floor. Take a deep breath and raise your head slowly while exhaling. Then lower your head slowly while inhaling. Raise your head a little higher each time. Keep your eyes toward the ceiling. As your abdominal muscle tone gradually improves, you can do the head lift exercise along with the pelvic tilt.

4. Hula hoops

Some one once told me that you could get flat belly by using hula hoops. I bought mine at giant for rm19 kalau tak silap. You're suppose to do this for 15minutes everyday but I only managed for 15seconds :P But the results (for 15seconds) was amazing! I can feel the muscles around my abs started to ache (meaning it works right?) Imagine if I could do it in 15 minutes!

I'm sure you too have your own tips on how to get flat belly right? c'mon, don't be so stingy. Share with us! :)

source

Fever on 8 months old baby

Hariz has been down with fever since Monday. This will be the longest fever he had since he was born. It was so heart wrenching to see him ill and not as playful like he used to be when we was healthy.

It started on last Sunday evening when suddenly, I felt hot on his cheeks and I knew that it's fever. I tried to breastfeed him and put dabbed him with wet towel but the temperature didn't seem to subside. So we gave him paracetamol as prescribed by the doctor. Luckily Hariz is not so hard to give a medicine to. He will just, take it like eating a candy. Few hours later, he started to sweat and get better.

I was contemplated to go to work on Monday but he seems fine and didn't show signs that fever will arise again.

Called the nursery from work at around 3.30pm but he seems okay. So I was a bit relief.

But when I reached him after work, he was down with fever. His body was hot and his lips are all red.He seems unhappy and showed no expressions. I got home and quickly breastfeed him and dabbed him with wet towel again. Temperature showed 39.1 Deg! gave him the medicine again and within minutes, he gets better again.

I took a day off the next day because I know he is still not 100% well eventhough he was climbing here and there.

On Wednesday, I had to go to work and Hariz was okay but not completely well. For the 1st time, Hariz cried when I sent him to the nursery. It was heart breaking and I cried on my way to work. Sedih tau. :(

{healthy Hariz. Maybe it's football fever yah?}

I took another day off today. If he shows no signs of fever today, he should be okay tomorrow and I need to go to work tomorrow.

The first time Hariz was given medications back when he was 3 months old, we have been struggling with the syringe because of the narrow end and afraid it may hurt his gums. So I went to Toys R' Us and found this 3 piece medication kit from Safety 1st. It's just like any other syringe but with removable caps/spout which really gentle on his gum. and I think he kinda like the spout because he kept sucking it eventhough the syrup is gone. Maybe mommies out there who's been having trouble giving medications to their babies could try this?

I think this is the new version of the kit from Safety 1st but the all meant for the same reason.

Has anyone experienced this before?

I've been having this pain on the muscles since Friday. Started off with my left arms and slowly going down to my calves.Now it's all over the place! I went to 2 doctors and both of them clarify my pain as nothing serious. Possibly fatigue or I've been lifting heavy weigh or viral? I tried to explain as its best about my condition tapi, doc still cakap it's not serious since I don't have any fever on me. 

I did request for blood check tapi the doc said it's not necessary. The pain is like, I've been running hard or lifting heavy stuff (does Hariz includes?) 

I did Googled about it and here's what it says about the 'muscle pain' :

"Muscle pain is most frequently related to tension, overuse, or muscle injury from exercise or physically-demanding work. In these situations, the pain tends to involve specific muscles and starts during or just after the activity. It is usually obvious which activity is causing the pain.
Muscle pain also can be a sign of conditions affecting your whole body, like some infections (including the flu) and disorders that affect connective tissues throughout the body (such as lupus).
One common cause of muscle aches and pain is fibromyalgia, a condition that includes tenderness in your muscles and surrounding soft tissue, sleep difficulties, fatigue, and headaches."

Now I can't hardly walk or even climb the stairs! What's wrong with me?? Has anyone experience this before? Please do share!