E.M's 2 Year Check-Up & J.R Gets Chickenpox

Just out of the blue yesterday I received a phone call from one our local Health Visitors, to inform me that E.M was due for her 2 Year Check-Up - I see they still have a one month backlog then, since it is October now - so I made an appointment for today.

E.M is usually VERY shy and nervous when it comes to people she doesn't know, often clinging to me and 'crying', and this morning was no exception.

I have to admit that on our way to the appointment I was already wondering how much we'd get done, since the whole check-up generally takes about 30-40 mins, I was just waiting for the words: "How about we re-schedule?" As if re-schelduling the appointment would make E.M behave any better...

As expected, E.M was fine in the waiting room, it was when the HV's started talking to us that she got silly. She clung to me, refusing to look at them, she forced out those crocodile tears and she answered every question with a "Noo."

So the HV's decided that they would go through the question/answer parts of the check-up with me then and there, but leave the practical parts until next week when they would come to our house - in the hope that J.R (being the enthusiastic one of the two) would take part, encouraging her little sister to do the same...We'll see!

Meanwhile, J.R has at last caught Chickenpox.

It all started yesterday morning when she got up, I noticed she had a strange round cut on her bottom lip, and it wasn't scabbing over. So when we got to pre-school I asked the manager to take a look and just keep an eye on it for me during the course of the day.

She did, but in the end dismissed it as a cold sore saying they behaved in a similar way. But today it's really looking like a Pox.

It's opened up, started to yellow and scab over slightly, with the skin around it peeling. Plus J.R has another suspicious looking spot on her chin, which looks like it's gonna break through very soon...

Baby E.M + Chickenpox: Day 8

This photo was taken tonight - E.M's doing okay, the biggest problem we've had so far is her scratching her face in her sleep - due to the itchiness coming back when she's due another dose of medicine overnight. She's been scratching 'til it bleeds meaning her bedsheets have needed changing every single night.

It's made her face look an even worse mess and to be honest i'm getting a bit worried about scarring. But I keep reminding myself that because she's so young her skin should heal pretty well...

Meanwhile there hasn't been a single new blister appear anywhere else on her body, this is good news. Since when the last blister has burst and crusted over, she'll no longer be infectious and I wont have to worry so much about her being in contact with other children when we go out.

Baby E.M + Chickenpox: Day 5

I couldn't count the number of blisters on her face if I tried, since two new blisters have appeared on her body - one on her arm and one on her thigh - the ones on her face have popped and bled, leaving behind a rather gross mess.

I feel sorry for her, her face looks absolutely terrible. But to be honest, it looks worse than it is. I haven't seen her scratch any of them for a long time and not only that, her general health is improving. She's very active again now and eating better aswell...

An Introduction To Chickenpox

The following extract is from

• Chickenpox is a mild but highly infectious disease that most children catch at some point.

• It takes 10-21 days for the symptoms to show after you have come into contact with the virus. This is called the 'incubation period'.

• Chickenpox is most common in children who are between two and eight years of age, although you can develop chickenpox at any age.

• You are infectious from two days before the rash appears until about five days after. Therefore your child should stay at home until all of the blisters have fully crusted over, and this usually happens about a week after the first blister appears. After the last blister has burst and crusted over, you are no longer infectious.

• Once you've had chickenpox, it's very rare you should catch it again. This is because your body develops an immunity to the chickenpox virus, which stops you from becoming re-infected.

For more information on the symptoms and treatment of Chickenpox, please click here to visit the NHS Choices website.

Baby E.M + Chickenpox: Day 1

Ok, I admit it, I put socks on her hands. I'd already clipped her fingernails and it was the best thing I could come up with! The fever has died down now, so instead of giving her Calpol, i'm giving her Piriton syrup (which helps ease the itching) and treating the actual blisters with a gel I bought this morning called Virasoothe for chickenpox. Apparently it's new out, and it's doing the job pretty well, even though the blisters appear and grow in size really quickly.

Since this morning the number of blisters on E.M's face has changed quite dramatically, she's gone from having barely two on her chin, to five or six blisters spread across her cheeks within just a few hours. But because of the medicine, she doesn't seem to be irritated by them and that's the main thing.