I had made a post on here about advise for FTMs and mentioned “not to let strangers kiss your babies” in it and have gotten quite a bit of feedback on that topic alone. So I thought maybe I should share my whole story with it so parents and parents to be can actually see and read why it’s so dangerous. Coming from somebody first hand.

*taken Thursday April 14th. Literally the day before symptoms started appearing.

Friday. April 13th, was at my moms with hubby and daughter playing outside having a grand ole time. Minka was eating fine and mom had mentioned when she was watching her eat she thought she saw some redness in the back of her throat. I looked but didn’t really see much so just brushed it off.

Saturday & Sunday. April 14th and 15th were both good days. Minka kind of acted a little sickly. She would lay down and take breaks more than usual and didn’t eat much which isn’t uncommon. Then she’d get right back up and play like nothing was wrong.

Monday. April 16th, Minka woke up in the middle of the night crying with a low grade fever. Nothing really major, called off work so I could stay with her. Gave her some Tylenol and cuddled all day. She didn’t eat anything at all this day. I took her to urgent care just to be safe early that morning around 7:30 and they diagnosed her with pharyngitis and said it just needs to run its course and sent us home. She had continued getting worse through the day so I made her an appointment with her pediatrician who said no it’s tonsillitis but also said antibiotics won’t help. It just needs to run it course and just keep alternating Tylenol and Motrin.

*From the 16th. Just not feeling well.

* What she had vomited up when the doctor stuck a tongue depresser down her throat. Coagulated Tylenol and Motrin because she was so dehydrated her body wasn’t breaking it down.

Tuesday. April 17th, Minka was declining more. Still having fevers and not eating. Was alternating Tylenol and Motrin every 2 hours but the fevers would just come back. Called off work again to be with her. It was crushing that there wasn’t anything I could do. By this point she had developed a white coating on her tongue along with blisters on her tongue and gums and behind her teeth. Took her back to the ER this time at a different hospital and was told by the ER doctor that it was thrush and we needed to take her to a dentist. I was irate... to say the least. Was sent home with swish and swallow lidocaine rinse but what 2 year old is going to do that especially when they are sick? We got home and I was up all night with her just trying to comfort her.

Wednesday. April 18th, Minka was declining terribly. No food or anything to drink for going on 4 days. She was so dehydrated. The fevers were still there. She couldn’t hardly move. The blisters that had developed all over her mouth had begun to get infected now because her immune system was so far gone it couldn’t fight the sickness off. Her mouth smelled like something dead and green pus and blood would just ooze our of it.

I did everything I thought was right. Warm baths, cuddles, offered water and trusted the doctors. She just kept getting worse. Hubby came home from work early when I called and told him her fever was 103.8 and it wasn’t coming down so we took her back to the ER where we met yet another different doctor.

I will forever be grateful for this woman. She took one look at her mouth and asked how long it had been like this and I said going on day 5 and day 4 with no food or water. She said why hasn’t she been given IV fluids or been admitted. Well her guess was as good as mine. She said well today she’s not going back home. It took 5 adults to hold down a baby to get an IV in her. A nurse on her legs. Hubby holding her head still. Me holding her left arm still. A nurse holding the right arm still. And a nurse to stick. It was the worst thing I’ve ever seen in my life to watch my baby scream and cry in pain knowing I couldn’t stop it and also knowing that I was causing it.

We were admitted immediately where we received fluid which slowly starting turning her around until the doctor came in 3 hours later. She said she was stumped at what she was seeing but she thinks she figured it out after a lot of research (which is what took so long). She then started explaining to us about HSV. What is was. How it’s spread. Symptoms. I was in complete shock. Pissed to be honest. You mean to tell me that my baby almost died because of a cold sore? No I wasn’t having it. Until the doctor brought me in her laptop and started explaining that when an adult has the virus it’s a cold sore normally on the lip. When a baby or toddler catches it for the first time this is the result. It forms blisters in the mouth that normally go away within a few days with medication. But because no one could figure it out it continued to get worse which put us where we are now. It literally starts out like one sickness until it gets so far gone you almost can’t catch it before it’s too late. It mimics so many different illnesses. She started her on IV antiviral meds which were continuous for 3 days. Minka still wasn’t eating but she was coming around. You could definitely tell that she was feeling a lot better. The doctor didn’t want to release us but I told her that I think the reason she wasn’t eating much was because of her environment. Let me take her home and work with her food intake and if it doesn’t improve believe me I’ll bring her back and she agreed. Also sending us home with a weeks worth of liquid dose medicine. I was right. As soon as we got home we took a bath and I offered her some jello. She ate it all. Pudding, yes! It was like she was almost back to normal. A week of pure hell on any parent and child but we made it!

*her mouth after 2 days of meds. The white spots are blisters that hadn’t ruptured. The blood is coming from the one that had and is pushing the infection out.

4 hospital visits. 2 hospitals. 5 doctors. 6 days with no food or water and she lost 5 pounds. Is what it took to finally figure out what was going on. This is why I say be safe than sorry. There is nothing more scary than to sit on your couch staring at your child thinking if this doesn’t get better she will die. They admitted her with a 103.8 temp which would’ve caused her to go septic with the infection if we wouldn’t have taken her in again when we did.

I cannot stress this enough. DO NOT LET PEOPLE KISS YOUR BABYS’ FACES! Even if someone doesn’t have an active cold sore they still carry the virus which’s h is contagious in saliva!!!!

*first day back home. Still a little rough but we got a smile!

Thanks for reading our story!

*taken yesterday at our pool almost 2 months later. Gained 4 pounds back and still working with eating as her mouth is super sensitive now but we’ve made a full recovery!