Saturday 19 May 2012

Roseola...


The past few day's have been some of the hardest since becoming a Mummy. I have never been subjected to complete sleep deprivation before this, and to be thrown into two very sleepless nights, is the things nightmares are made of.

On Thursday I took Leo to the doctors to have his rash looked at, and to see if I could get a magical remedy to help take away any discomfort my poor little baby may be feeling. The doctor checked Leo out and eventually diagnosed Roseola.

Roseola is a viral infection that commonly affects infants and young children. It involves a pinkish-red skin rash and high fever. The virus is common in children aged 3 months to 4 years, and most common in those aged 6 months to 1 year. So poor little Leo is very susceptible to picking up this nasty viral infection.

I had been expecting a viral infection to be at the centre of it all, after talking to many helpful Mummy's on Twitter (Thank you all for your advice!)

Roseola seems to sum up everything that Leo had and may be feeling, and it is no wonder he has not been his smiley happy self over the past couple of days. Roseola presents it's self in the following symptoms:

- Eye redness
- Irritability
- Runny nose
- Sore throat

- High fever- Pink or rose-coloured rash, that starts on the middle of the body and spreads to the arms, legs, neck, and face. The rash usually has small sores that are slightly raised - Just like Leo's.

It is really good to now know what is making Leo feel so under the weather, and it makes it less frustrating knowing that there is a real reason for us being up all night.

You all know about my first night of no sleep, but I am yet to talk about the second...

Expecting the worst out of the night ahead was all I could do, the doctor had also mentioned that she could not promise me a better night which of course re-confirmed my worst fear. I dosed Leo up with Calpol and got him ready for bed, and I even managed to get him down by 6pm. However when 9pm struck, I was greeted with my screaming nocturnal baby boy once again.

It seems that as soon as the moon comes out, Leo makes the transition from angel baby to monster baby...

I was determined to not have such a bad night, I wanted us both to get some sleep. At 11pm I was out driving around the countryside trying to get my beautiful boy to close his eyes once again. I was secretly hoping that I would get him to sleep and then be able to transfer him into his cot. Of course as soon as the car stopped...Leo was awake once again, dashing any hope of going to bed myself.

Leo reminded me of the Terminator by this point, he needed no sleep and he could go all day and night without even closing his eyes...Despite what I did, he just kept on coming back...Back from the land of nodd.

Leo wound himself up until he got hysterical, and by this point I felt like crying too. All the hours were merging into one and I was aware that this would be my second sleepless night. Through my teary haze I called the out of hours surgery. I told them all about my dilemma and how I could not settle my baby boy, how he was screaming and would not relent. By this time I could not control the tears falling down my cheeks.

Luckily my Dad was holding Leo while I made the call. I was told I could take him into the surgery for a appointment at 2am if I felt the need. It was around 12:30 by this point, and I did not feel strong enough, or confident enough to drive the half hour drive with my baby boy in my current tired zombie state. I was far to tired to even consider doing it safely and I knew they wouldn't be able to do anything. All they wanted to do was take his temperature, which I could do at home.

Leo would not settle in his cot, not even for a second. As soon as I put him down he worked himself into a hysterical state. I decided as a last straw to put Leo into his pushchair and walk him around the house. Yes in my hour of madness I was walking in circles around the living room and out into the hall. Anything to just try and get him to rest, and therefor pave the way for me getting some shut eye.

Eventually he did give in and he shut his eyes, so I brought down my duvet and attempted some sleep on the sofa. Sleep that never came. Leo then began to cry again and I was presented with the fact that I had the chance to sleep, and that chance was now passing me by. Luckily Leo was soon settled with a gentle rocking of the pushchair, and I made the decision to bring down the baby monitors and get into my bed for as long as I could.

I managed about an hours sleep, and by about 5:30am Leo was back up and awake again....My day was now starting and I was now more tired than before I went to bed.

With Luke being away all of last week, I have been trying to cope alone. I am not ashamed to say that I have found it hard. When Luke arrived back last night I don't think I have ever been so pleased to see him. I was thankful that we could both work together, and I could even take a little break.

To be continued....

Laura
xx





6 comments:

  1. Sounds awful, I hope he's better tonight. Poor little thing

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    1. Thanks Marian, He seems much better tonight apart from the rash. Feels like it has taken forever to get to the turning point of recovery, but we are almost there! xx

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  2. Oh Laura I'm so sorry it's been so hard for you, it's awful when our babies are ill and there's nothing you can do, such lack of sleep certainly doesn't help. I'm glad Luke is hem to help you out x

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    1. Thanks Lisa, I am so glad Luke came back last night. He was great. Took control and sent me to bed. So I went straight away! Leo then decided to sleep for Luke though! lol. Made me out to be fibbing! xx

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  3. I have been away from the computer a lot this weekend, so I didn't realise you had found out what was wrong- I hope that Leo is better soon. x

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    1. Thanks lovely, He finally seems to be on the mend. So great to have my sleep back again and a happy baby boy! xx

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