WebMD
March 28, 2006
Dear Smart People of the Internet:
Please tell the dumb girl this is not what she thinks it is.
ACK.
I know I'm totally the Girl Who Cried Pox, since I freak out over every single rash he gets. One time I called my mom to report that Noah most definitely had chickenpox this time I really mean it, only to realize that I had red ink all over my hands and was simply smearing it on Noah every time I touched him, which was why the "rash" was spreading at an alarming rate RIGHT BEFORE MY EYES OMG.
My freak-out is completely selfish, as I'm all for Noah getting the pox over with before he's old enough to discover his fingernails and the Glory That Is A Good Scratch, but I NEVER HAD CHICKEN POX. THIS IS ALL ABOUT ME.
I planned to sweet-talk Noah's pediatrician into vaccinating me at his next visit, which is next week, like, OF COURSE.
(The Sidenote of Controversy! I am not going to vaccinate Noah against chickenpox, because as an adult who has never gotten the disease, and who has known for the better part of a decade that she needs the damn vaccine, yet still has not gotten said damn vaccine, I prefer for him to get his immunity the old-fashioned way -- just so I'm not calling him at college to bug him about getting the booster shot, knowing full well that he already spent his vaccine money on beer.)
Anyway, I think I am maybe being stupid about a harmless rash again (AGAIN!), but I'm taking him to the doctor anyway, if only to use that awesome "infectious disease" entrance they have with the special intercom.
Amy: Buzzzz
Nurse: Hello?
Amy: UNCLEAN! UNCLEAN!
Nurse: Yes, yes, please come in.
Amy: A POX ON THEE.
UPDATE! Not pox, just like you smart people said. While a couple spots were getting very fluidy-zit-like, the majority of the bumps faded by the time we GOT TO THE DOCTORS, BECAUSE OF COURSE. Looks like it's time to switch laundry detergents and for me to maybe chill the fuck out.
I'm getting vaccinated next week. God.
And Now, Some Non-Rash Excitement, Or Pretty Much The Highlight Of My Whole Weekend:
We went to Whole Foods and did the little thing where they send your groceries down to the parking garage on a dumb waiter and give you a number to claim them.
I take my organic prune juice shaken, not stirred.
HA! We're lame. Yes.
And Now, Um...Some Pictures, Because I Am Kind Of Not Doing So Well With The Writing Thing Today
THE DEMENTED TURTLE. HA HA HA HA. HA!
Noah would like to give you a hug and possibly gum your face a little bit.
Just don't let him suck on your nose anymore. Or you know, ever, because who lets their baby suck on their nose? Not me, that's for sure, oh no.
Ouch.
Who, me? I'm just sitting here like some kind of TODDLER ALL OF A SUDDEN, thinking of fast and effective ways to pass varicella directly into my mom's sinuses.
I have never had the Pox either. I think we might be the last two people on Earth - who will hopefully STAY THAT WAY.
No 2!! WoHoo!!
I got to have them twice because I didn't get them "bad enough" the first time! Just wanted to say love the site - I have a parallel life to yours (except my dog is bigger and my baby is a week younger) and it is fun to read of you adventures!!! Keep it coming!
I, too, know the hard life of an editor and the panic that ensues due to stray, smeary red pen marks. Now whenever I suspect I have a rash, I just head to the bathroom and attempt to wash it off. So far I'm 5 for 5.
Good luck with the pox... I can actually remember having it when I was 3 and my parents said it was so bad that they started counting them on my face and just stopped when they got to 200 - that's how bad I had it. I HAD THEM INSIDE MY EYELIDS.
My daughter (who I too chose NOT to vax) had them (at least I think she did) over the holidays. She had about 4 days of a fever, was fine for about 2, and then got the rash when we arrived home.
Nothing major, small bumps, she was fine?!
I hate drs (except for Web, MD who has the most amazing bedside manner) and didn't take her in - hoping the picture will suffice when I try to convince school officials that she has indeed had them.
So, it was either that, or 1200 other rashes - so who the heck knows. She is the rash queen, but I had someone whose kids just had it and they were pretty sure that was it. You should see little blisters forming (although she didn't have those either) - that's a sure sign of zee pox.
And I would freak out as well if I hadn't had them. Buy some benedryl and get to the real dr. (JMHO)
My guess is Fifth's Disease. Sam had it a couple of years ago and I got it as well. It's one of those super common, how-come-I-never-knew-about-this until I became a mom skin rashes. Let me know if I win the prize of Smart Internet Person!
Sidenote of Controversy: I just read an article about vaccine vs. non-vaccine for the chicken pox. If you have not already researched it, do some more reading before you rule out the vaccine. That's all I'm sayin'.
That tooth is so cute!! And CP looks like little blisters, not just bumps. Also, I only scanned your post because I need to leave RIGHT NOW!! and don't know if you mentioned the blister part.
Out, out, damn'd spot!
Here's hoping you and Noah recover soon.
It doesn't look like chicken pox to me. But good luck at the doctor! :)
Thanks for all the pics... they are so cute!
Do Noah's bumps look like zits? 'Cause I got the pox in second grade and my mom thought I had pimples on my face at first.
Did I mention the second grade part? Because pimples? At 8? Silly mom.
I'll keep my fingers crossed that you are just being paranoid!
I'm guessing not chicken pox. My mom always told me the first ones appear on your stomach, and since these are on his back I don't think they're pox. Plus it kind of looks like a run-of-the-mill rash. But who am I to make that call?
Great pictures - he's adorable as usual. I can't believe how fast he's growing and changing!
Just make sure to ask if his daycare if they require the vaccine to keep him enrolled.
Dude'll totally suck your cheek off leaving you covered in drool and then he'll nuzzle you, thereby tempting you to take him home with you. Do not give in!
Oh, I had em my junior year of highschool,ahhh, right before prom. Yeah, didn't go.It really sucked. (umm..I don't think I ever really got over it, I had a rockin date, and I couldn't bring myself to go. All I can say is EXPOSE,EXPOSE,EXPOSE, you don't want him to miss his prom do ya??? HeeHee
I have nothing useful to say, really. But oh, how I hated the chicken pox. Ack, the itching. It makes me itch right now, thinking of it. Thank the sweet, sweet lord for calamine lotion.
I hope Noah merely has a mysterious non-poxy baby rash...
My kids get weird spots like that, too. Sometimes it's from the detergent, sometimes it's just skin being...skin-like. Weird little skin bumps. Did they go away after the evening? Ours do. Interestingly, my 1-year-old sometimes gets hives from his own poop! Yay, skin! And here in CT they don't let kids start kindergarten without the pox vaccine. I think that's stupid. But that's the way it is, here anyway. He looks adorable, by the way. Keep posting those pics.
I don't get the chicken pox vaccine, when I was a kid (and I'm only 28), if someone heard you had the chicken pox they'd have everyone over to let their children get it and be done.
Sometimes a rash is just a rash. We'll pull for him. Um. If it is that other thing, do you all end up quarantined? I mean, is that like free time home? Not that anyone's wishing that, but you know, make lemonade and so on...
Roseola? New laundry detergent? Sudden allergy to sweet-smelling baby products? Definitely not the pox though. No way.
I had to swear off the Whole Foods. Seriously. Because we like being able to pay our rent.
ktbug - I've done a lot of research on the varicella vac (well ALL the shots, actually), and the killer for me is the need to revaccinate throughout life. Its HELL growing up without the immunity, and I've read some pretty compelling arguments that the vac may just lead to more cases of pox later in life as people grow up and get lazy about the boosters. (raises hand, guilty as charged)
But that's just me, and I know some people probably think I'm crazy for preferring to let Noah get sick.
And no, the varicella vac is not required here, especially not in daycare, which has a reported case of pox every other damn week. Bastards.
(All other vacs he's gotten on schedule...just so nobody thinks this is coming from some kind blanket anti-vaccine viewpoint. Case-by-case, family-by-family basis I say.)
Oh! And yes, they look like zits. And they are also on his stomach. Bah.
Someone else who had them twice! I had them both times REALLY bad which was just dreadful. The second time I was in middle school too so...ew.
But I do really hope that you get that vaccine before you get the chicken pox because I'm thinking that grown up mommy chicken pox? Would kind of suck.
We did the sucking on the nose thing, too. Then she grew teeth. And then, she thought nose biting was funny! FUNNY!
I'd like for my kids to get the pox the old fashioned way but dude, I just can't deal with it. They whine enough when healthy.
My Son had a rash that looked exactly like this! I took him to the afterhours clinic in a panic because it had seemingly gotten much worse over the course of one day. It turned out to be Excema (which apparently looks totally different in babies than in grownups) and it got worse because the poor monkey was too hot in his fleece jammies. The doctor gave him some cortisone cream to use for flare ups and recommended that we "air him out" and apply lots of hypo-allergenic lotion after his baths.
It looks like maybe a rash from sweating or rubbing or something. Not so much chicken pox.
My husband has never had Chicken Pox (at least that his mother can remember!) and so I freak out every once in a while about taking care of two kiddos and one BIG BABY at the same time. Ahhh, men are so much worse than children when they're sick.
We decided to vaccinate our 3 year old againt CP bc it doesn't actually keep you from getting it, just makes it milder when you do get it. So, we're going to make her play with the first poxy kid we find and hope she gets it over with quickly. :-)
I, too, had zee pox twice, because as another poster said, the first time I got them so mildly I didn't develop zee immunity. Hopefully Noah has them mild and quick, and you never have to worry about it again (except for ALL THE TIME, since YOU do not have zee immunity!).
Even if he IS rashy, that first picture compels me to pet his soft skin and sniff his little head. *squee*
Definitely not chicken pox. It's probably one of the many very minor chilhood ailments which comes with a rash such as Fifths disease, roseola or scarlet fever (which thanks to modern medicine is no biggie). Or if he's not running a fever it sould just be any old skin rash caused by heat, chafing or a reaction to detergent. If it doesn't seem to bother him, I wouldn't worry about it.
Could be Roseola. Especially if it was preceeded by a fever?
If that's the case, it's not a big deal, though it looks awful.
Love the tooth!
I don't blame you a bit for going to the doctor to ask about the rash. Our doctor has an e-mail practice -- she actually lets us ask exercise our paranoia on line and responds within 24 hours! And she'll look at digital pictures of things. How cool is that?
Good luck, and I hope it's not the pox.
I'm going to avoid the rash-related assvice, because in my book it could be anything from dry skin to fleas, but will share my CP story...
My family thought that it would be great to still go camping in the middle of the hot as Hades freakin' summer even though I had the worse case of CP my doc had seen (in my throat so I couldn't eat much and on bottoms of feet so walking sucked it hardcore). So I laid in front of a fan in the tent, gripping the calamine lotion bottle like it was the most important item in the universe and prayed for death while the rest of them were out boating on the lake. Bastards.
Ok -- one more unsolicited opinion. My son got CP when he was around 1. Even with doing everything the doctor said, a couple of the lesions got infected and he developed a generalized strep infection (equivalent of what they used to call scarlet fever). Had to RUSH him to the doctor and he was almost hospitalized. When baby girl came along, she got the vax, I can tell you that. One other thing to consider is that if you get CP as an adult, it's a lot worse. Taking care of a baby when you're down for a couple weeks is rough. But you know that.
Just sayin'...
P.S. Oh, and wait. The closeup of angel-baby in the drooly orange & white? Totally looks like a "little boy" and not a baby - sniff, sniff.
My husband and his brother and sister all had chicken pox three times. And every time was worse. And haha, their doctor told them that they could all get it again, and if they do, they would probably have to go into the hospital! And not that we're having babies anytime soon, but it just occured to me a few months ago that if we do have kids, could my husband someday catch chicken pox from them? It's all me being a paranoid weirdo, all the time.
How is it that Noah looks older than some toddlers I've seen? Huh?
My entry into "What The Eff Is That Skin Thing?" Is... Roseola. If he's a little sick with it. PS? Roseola is totally not scary.
The pox tend to start on the warmest places of your body. I got my first ones on the back of my neck under my hair when I was 6. They would be more concentrated in the diaper area, creases of arms and legs, and under the arms. They're also raised and filled with fluid and what Noahlah has doesn't seem to be filled with anything.
That rash could be anything. My daughter is extremely sensisitive to everything that touches her skin. I've been to the doctor so many times I should be a co-owner of the practice. Usually they say "That's the worst case of whatever that is I've ever seen!"
I don't think Noah has THE POX. It looks more like some other kind of rash - new soap? new clothes?
Chicken Pox, if I recall correctly is usually proceeded by a high fever - flu like symptoms, then you are good for a day and then break out in the POX for like 2 weeks, wherein you itch like heck and do not have a fever. Calomine? Cortaid? Oatmeal bath - they work, but only a little bit.
I'm sending pox-less wishes your way.
Oh! And I also had zee pox. In zee ears, in zee mouth, on zee tongue.
Zee pox, it is zee lovely thing. I have zee scars to prove it!
I'm voting for roseola. Does it look like pin pricks without pus?
It looks like 5th disease to me. I'm not a doctor, but I play when on the internet. And for my husband's birthday. Anyway, it it's 5th's, all my kids had it and it's no big whoop if it is.
I really don't think it's chicken pox. It could be a thousand things but I really don't think it's chicken pox.
The only kind of rash my daughter has had was Hand, Mouth, and Foot Disease but that rash shows up on their, well...hand, mouth, and feet more than anywhere else. I do know it is highly contagious. Sorry, that's all I got.
Can I tell you how much I LOVE the tooth picture! Priceless.
Noah is so drooling over us as much as we drool over him.
His drool is a bit more literal, though.
I would have had no clue what that rash was, so I'm glad I read this after the update.
Did your Dr tell you specifically to switch detergents? We stopped using Dreft only a month ago, and luckily have had no rashes.
BTW - Noah's hairline looks similar to my sons. Although Matthias' hair is growing at an alarmingly fast rate just recently and my husband wants me to cut it already! OMG are you kidding? A first haircut at age 5 months? Are you insane man?!?!
My boyfriend's brother-in-law was just telling a story about letting his daughter suck on his nose, and she threw up and it went in his nose and flooded his cavities...ewww!
Ivory Snow detergent. My sisters stopped getting the pox once we started using that. Until they actually got the pox, that is.
I'm in FLorida- They make us vaccinate for chicken pox to be in any day care program. Unless your like me and you just duck and dance around the director of the pre school so she never catches up with you that second time to "remind" you that you have to get his vaccination.
Not saying i do that or anything.....
I am very glad you're getting the vaccine - I got it shortly after it was first available, and subsequently found myself trapped in a house with three poxy kids for an entire weekend. Aside from the fact that nobody believes you when you are 27 and have the pox o' chicken, it wasn't horrible at all, and that's because of the vaccine. :)
Hubby got the pox when I was 28 and pregnant with our daughter. He missed the first ultrasound because he was so contageous. He had 104 fever for a week and was literally off his feet and in bed for two weeks (speaking of feet, he had pox on the soles of his swollen, aching feet). It's something that gets really dangerous the older you are when you get it. My friend's brother in law DIED of the chicken pox when he was 42. True story. A little shot is nothing compareds to that for both of you!
P.S. People who get the pox as adults are prone to a second syndromw called post herpetic neuralgia which can cause psycosis, blindness, or death. good times!
BTW- Noah's rash? Def not pox.
And people wonder why I think about closing comments sometimes. Jesus.
I had adult chicken pox at age 21 and it wasn't too bad.
cutest pictures to date. that is all.
Love the wet t-shirt photo. Oh how I remember those days. You go from changing them a hundred times because of exploding diapers and spit-up to the gushing teething drool. My son (now almost 20 months-gulp) would be SOAKED. Bibs didn't even seem to help.