It was 2 weeks after his MMR (mumps, measles, rubella) jab and we thought we were off scot-free. Of course, when you think all is clear, that’s when the Green Goblin strikes!
On Thursday, the boy started feeling feverish and his babysitter reported that he didn’t finish his morning cereal. Also, he ate less than his usual bowl of porridge at lunch and dinner.
In the back of my mind, “Is this related to the MMR?”
I gave him paracetamol but he didn’t sleep well that night – constantly waking up to glug down three 9 oz bottles of water throughout.
On Friday morning, his fever went down but I gave babysitter the paracetamol anyway, along with stewed pears for dessert, to help cool his system. However, she reported that he threw up his lunch, had diarrhea and was only happy to take milk the whole day.
On Saturday, he was poorly and cranky the entire morning, refusing even his favorite cheese, banana and Calci-yum yoghurt. He only took 2-3 oz, far from his regular 6-7 oz.
I was at my wits’ end cooking for him: a nice mash of beef, celery, yellow lentils, tomato and potato was refused. A jar of Heinz chicken noodle (present from colleague) was also rejected.
Hubby asked me to give up feeding him since sick people don’t really eat much anyway. It’s hard for me because I can still eat 3 regular meals even if I’m sick!
Feeling his flat tummy, I knew he was hungry. At one point, it was a battle:
Mum – the cook who spent the whole morning getting the mash right and worried that toddler is very hungry
vs
Toddler – who’s getting measles (?) and not knowing which word/whine/wave to use to tell Mum this 
He was hungry and took in the mash but he cried and spit it out. Finally, it went through my thick skull that maybe he’s got a sore throat that comes with fevers!
I took out the Heinz fruit gel I’d bought for emergencies. He was quite happy to take in half a jar and I was satisfied that he managed to eat something.
Phew, I was *exhausted* from caring for him Thurs night, Fri night, working both days that I told hubby we’re going over to Grandma’s place.
We wanted to bring him to a doctor but since the hospital is closed on Saturdays, we didn’t really want to bring him to a GP in case we got a repeat episode like Dr. Quack the last time. Looks like we need a back-up doctor…
On Sunday, we brought him to the hospital but his paed was away and we saw another one. She was nice and suspected that it could be a reaction from the MMR, which generally takes 1-2 weeks.
She also confirmed that he had a *very* sore throat and prescribed meds for the fever, vomiting and diarrhea. In the car, I looked through the meds and later realized that she had forgotten about the sore throat!
Aargh…and I only remembered this when we had left the hospital and was half way home!
For food, he still didn’t have a good appetite but was quite willing to take
- half a banana,
- a few small pieces of soft bread and
- a bit of porridge.
Again, it was milk which was 50% soya milk and 50% formula since he rejected 100% soyamilk.
Since he was tired, we pushed him out for an evening walk and he was quite happy, also finishing half a biscuit in the process.
On Monday evening, I was horrified to come back to a sleeping son with SPOTS!
I’ve not seen anyone with measles except for photos but the real life image is something else especially since they covered his face, body, hands and feet.
They were redder and more concentrated around his neck and butt area that he looked like this:
With May 1 and 2 being public holidays, we couldn’t bring him to his hospital but since his fever did not reappear and neither did the vomiting, we were not that stressed. My Mum also reported that he was feeling slightly better.
Today, I called his paed who confirmed that it’s actually roseola and not measles since the real one would take 7 days to subside.
As it’s the 4th day today, his spots have gone down a lot – none on his face and body, just a bit on his arms and only drying ones left on his legs.
IMPORTANT: Kids with roseola/measles should be kept away from pregnant ladies as the infection can seriously harm their precious one!
This has been one harrowing but educational experience for me – especially after checking with Ryeli’s mum if she had reacted this way. I must now go check out Darrius’ mum to see how things are at her end…
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Poor dear…hope he get well soon…
OhNo another sick baby. Yrs came 1-2 weeks later ah Mine in 5 days time But thank god its over edi. For you, just hand in there!
Strangely Ryan also fell sick a week after his MMR jab. He was down with a cold bug and swollen gland. Ryan also had a short stint of Roseola but thank gawd the rashes were gone in a 2-3 days. Hope he is much better now….Take care.
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