It is almost 2.30am and Isaac has been crying for more than four hours non-stop, since 10pm. His personal record.
We discovered the ulcers in his mouth on Saturday afternoon, right after we brought with his 38-degree fever down with meds. And when I saw the small black blisters on his buttocks while changing him, my worst fears were confirmed.
We were wondering whether to move Mommy to my in-laws, to keep her away from this contagious situation. But in the end, I confined the wife to the master bedroom, where she spent the day sleeping and opening her boxes with the special clothes.
Isaac hardly ate or drank, because the ulcers in his mouth were making him miserable. We tried to cheer him up, Celia and I, by singing to him and letting him watch the Wiggles. We watched at least 3 discs.
The Wiggles, which used to work like a charm calming his sister down when she was sick, only worked partially for him. He was soon sticking his finger into his mouth and crying again.
Mommy felt helpless, confined to quarters, hearing her son cry and unable to come out to console him. Not that it would have helped anyway. Celia and I already tried everything we could. And it would have been too risky to expose her to him. So I had to chase her back to her room a few times.
At about 11pm, my Mom called, while we were dealing with Isaac. I could hear Faith crying in the background.
"She is homesick, Mun," my Mom said, "I think you better take her home, no point keeping her here since the boy has it too."
So Faith came home after her two-day quarantine at Grandma's, relieved to see her Papa. I carried her to the study let her sleep on the guest bed there, and I lay beside her till she slept. She could not sleep with Mommy, since she was still contagious. And sleeping in Isaac's room was out of the question, since his bawling would keep her awake. At least Faith was getting better and not feeling any discomfort from the sores.
I came out to help with Isaac again, once Faith was asleep. She did wake up at around 1am and ran out of the study crying when she did not see me there. It took me less than 10 minutes to put her back to sleep the second time.
Isaac's non-stop crying was getting to be a concern. He was going to get a sore throat in the morning if he did not stop, and that would make it even harder for him to eat and drink. We also had to put some medicated oil on his tummy, because he developed wind from the crying. I told Celia we should also give him the Gripe water, remembering what my Mom told me about its usefulness. He seemed to enjoy the sweet taste. I remember liking its taste a lot too when I was a child.
It is now 3am. The crying has stopped. I leave Faith's side to check on the boy, and I am pleased to see him asleep from exhaustion. Celia and I sigh with relief. He is even snoring.
Time for the two of us to get some shut-eye too.
Hand-foot-mouth is a bitch.
