The Polk-a-Dots

This week has been a rough one up until now. Lincoln got the chicken Pox and he hadn’t been immunized yet only because he was exposed before immunization time. So, the same time he was meant to go to the doctors, he popped out with the “Polk-a-Dots” (Lizzie’s words).

They showed up last Thursday morning with a few on his tummy and a couple on his chest and by next day’s time, he was covered in all the warmest places. He didn’t want to eat or drink (they were inside his mouth and throat as well). He was Miserable!!

The moments when he felt his worst, the only thing that made him feel anything better was to have me hold him and even then it didn’t help how uncomfortable he felt. He cried himself to sleep in my arms several times. I think that may be the worst thing in the world; to hold your baby and not have any control over the situation; to feel completely helpless.

I had tried everything—For anyone else, dealing with the same things, these are a few things that did help:

      Warm Oatmeal baths- there’s an old wives tale that you give your kid a warm bath to bring out the chicken pox because they don’t all come out at the same time and it helps them to pop, basically speeding up the process. Although, if your kid is already running a high fever, this isn’t recommended- wait until the fevers are gone. Lincoln had high fevers for the first couple of days so the oatmeal baths came later. He was very curious but loved them!

      Basically anything cold- Popsicles, milkshakes, smoothies, yogurt and for some reason, Lincoln liked oyster crackers (the ones that dissolve in your mouth). Ice, cold water, not milk. Lincoln lived off these things this week.

     Calamine Lotion and Desitin- Lots of it!!

There were several times, he’d wake up in the night crying and the only thing that seemed to calm him down was for me to lay him on my chest and rub or pat his back, This, however, did not help me to sleep at all, but if a few days sleep is my sacrifice to help him feel more comfortable, then I’ll do it!

After finding the things that worked best, I felt much more capable of taking care of Lincoln. I cried when I was finally able to get him to eat the first strawberry milkshake I made him, so you can imagine how I was feeling beforehand.

Now, he’s been feeling much better and most of the “Polk-a-Dots” have scabbed over. He’s eating solid foods again and sleeping much better at night. Today is the first I’ve felt like things are back to their usuals. Lizzie is prancing around the house dancing and singing, “Nothin’ can break this” over and over and over again (a song I’m pretty sure she made up herself), while Lincoln is still under the impression that grapes are tiny toy balls. He insists on chucking them across the room instead of eating them. Normal-acy  is something I take for granted until I have experienced a week like this one.