45 Weeks Old!

45 weeks old!

Fortunately, Cael and I are feeling much better. But I'll tell you, last week was rough. Cael had (still has) Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease, and I had Coxsackie Virus. Yes, I'm diagnosing Cael and myself, but it's not like I don't know what we were exposed to. After researching HFMD and Coxsackie Virus, and talking to another mom who's baby just got over HFMD, I learned more about it. There's the Coxsackie Virus, which causes fever and sore throat, and then there are variants of Coxsackie, such as HFMD and others. HFMD causes fever, sore throat, and sores and blisters in the mouth, feet and hands. I didn't know that the two were different, which was interesting.

Cael has a mild case of HFMD, because he has only about 20 sores. They're mostly on his legs and genitals, with some on his hands. It definitely could have been way worse for him, so I'm glad it didn't turn out to be a worse case. I only have about 4-5 sores, and they're more like zits. Cael's most recent sore popped up yesterday on his hand, and it actually looks like a blister. It's the worst one, but it doesn't seem to bother him. So yes, he still has sores that are popping up, unfortunately. So even though his fever broke on Thursday, he's still getting sores.

Wednesday. He was so sick :(

So here's the recap of our hellish week. As I wrote in a previous post, Cael's fever started on Tuesday afternoon. But it was Tuesday night into Wednesday morning that was the worst.night.ever. Even worse than the newborn stage. He was burning up all night despite Tylenol and Advil, and he was so uncomfortable. He woke up every 40 minutes (and that's no exaggeration), and spent most of the night in our bed, sleeping on me. He would wake up and cry and scream, and I would need to hold him, or put him on my chest for him to sleep. My heart broke for him, because he was so uncomfortable.

Wednesday was pretty much the same. He had 3 breakdowns where he screamed for an hour strait, and once again, nothing I did helped. He would finally fall asleep on me after an hour, but only sleep for about 45 minutes to an hour, and then wake up crying again. His mouth seemed to be bothering him, because he didn't eat much breakfast, and he didn't want to nurse in the morning at all. He kept poking his fingers into his mouth, although I couldn't see anything. At that point, he didn't have any sores yet.

Laying on Mommy

My fever started on Wednesday, and I felt like crap all day. It was a rough day, because I felt like I was hit by a bus, and I had to take care of Cael. I relied on Advil, which worked amazingly well for me, thankfully. My fever must have broke Thursday morning, because I woke up soaked in my sweat. Like, saturated. It was disgusting, and I felt disgusting. I couldn't wait to take a shower. Thursday was a little better for the both of us. I felt normal again, and Cael was back to playing on the floor with his toys and trucks. His fever broke Wednesday overnight as well.

However, Cael started getting his sores on Wednesday evening. They looked like little pimples or zits. First there was a few on his legs, and then in his genital area. By yesterday, most of them were in his groin area, with a few on his legs, and a couple on his hands. Honestly, he didn't get it bad at all. I would call it a mild case. Even though I ended up with only 2 sores on my lower lip, and one on my hand, I think I had just the Coxsackie virus. From what I read on the CDC website, it's all the Coxsackie virus, but just different variants of it depending on the symptoms that present. Usually adults don't get it, so I'm surprised I got it at all. But once again, it wasn't bad and my symptoms only lasted 2 days or so.

In other news, we picked a theme for Cael's 1st birthday party. It'll be "A Mustache Bash for Our Little Man". I love it! I found "Little Man" plates and party accessories, and ordered customized mustache invitations from Etsy. It's perfect because I always call him my Lil' Man. And he really is such a Little Man, with the faces he makes and his personality. I absolutely love how the invitation came out. I can't wait to send them out.

Cael's 1st Birthday Invitation - I LOVE LOVE LOVE them!

Cael is standing a lot more now by himself. And the funny thing is that we don't think he even realizes he's doing it. He'll be standing at his toy box holding on, and then grab a toy with both hands, letting go of the box, and stand there playing with it. I got a video of him on Thursday standing for 15 seconds by himself. Matt and I watched him in awe, and then when he finally sat down, we clapped and praised him. He gave us the biggest smile.

Along the same lines of standing alone, is taking his first steps. Yes, Cael took 1 step by himself! It happened on Friday night, and Matt got to see it. Granted, it wasn't a steady step, and he fell right into my arms immediately following the step, but it still means he's that much closer to walking. I'm not ready for that! He's already all over the place, and walking will make it so much worse! :) You can see he's starting to get braver and braver with standing by himself, and it'll look like he's going to just let go and start running, but instead, he'll let go, hesitate, and then plop to the ground on his butt. It's only a matter of time. :::sigh::: Now, however, I think he's starting to think it's a game. I'll stand him up in front of me and arms' distance away, and instead of taking a step or trying to step forward, he'll just lean forward, like a trust fall. He knows I will catch him, and he'll giggle while I'm catching him.

He loves walking with this toy

Playing is such hard work!

Helping Daddy type