There is no way that I would have predicted a month ago that Oliver's first sickness would be the highly-contagious communicable disease of chicken pox. Nor that he would have come down with it when we were on vacation on a remote island off the coast of France. Five days before I was scheduled to get the chicken pox vaccine myself (I'm not immune). And yet there we were, on Wednesday of our week-long stay on the Île d'Oléron, when we discovered a few strange blister-like sores popping up on Oliver's torso and face. That morning, we thought perhaps an aggressive mosquito had made its way into his room, but as the day wore on, and Michael did some expert googling, it was pretty clear we were dealing with a case of the pox. To be sure, we drove the 45 minutes to the nearest hospital at around 9pm - see Oliver above in the Emergency Room, not at all pleased with his circumstances. After waiting a few hours, the doctor confirmed it was the start of the chicken pox. First trip to the ER, check! We have no idea where he caught it, and children this young do not normally come down with the chicken pox, as they often receive a sort of temporary immunity through the mother's breastmilk if she is immune. About 95% of adults in the US have had the chicken pox before they are 18, but I was one of the (un)lucky few who have made it to adulthood with no exposure or immunity. And since I am not immune, there were no antibodies to pass along to Oliver. Poor baby actually had it quite bad, but the great fortune for us and him is that while he was most certainly uncomfortable, he was not coordinated enough to be able to scratch his blisters. The most pain that he seemed to be in was at bath time when we had to give him a medicated soap bath followed by antiseptic spray. Our neighbors likely thought we were seriously harming our child, he would cry so hard. As for me, I rushed to the local island doctor the following day after his diagnosis to get a vaccine. If you get vaccinated within 3-5 days after exposure, the severity of the outbreak is significantly lessened, or you can avoid the pox altogether. At the time I am writing this, I have passed the 21 day incubation mark with no outbreak myself. However... we did not know for sure until the full three weeks had passed. In fact, Oliver and I were pretty much quarantined in the apartment when we got back to Paris in what turned out to be one of the hottest June temperatures on record. Because he was still contagious, our one outing was to his pediatrician to confirm everything was healing fine, but we were seriously sweating it out in the apartment that week waiting for his contagious period to end. We managed to survive by shuttering windows, keeping hydrated, and sitting in front of fans - like many Parisian apartments, we have no air conditioning. On the fourth day of the heatwave, the day we were sure he was no longer contagious, I packed our bags and headed straight for the Musée du quai Branly, which is blessedly air conditioned, dark and peaceful. We managed two naps and two feedings, and I have never been happier for AC in my whole life.
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AuthorBecause why not get married and move to Paris to really kick off your thirties? Archives
December 2016
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