Should of kept my Hand, Foot in Mouth--

My morning started off like with two happy kids...Gwen was giving Grant hugs at breakfast:

Drop kids off at school and off to work I go, sipping my homemade pumpkin latte (recipe to follow in another blog)

Pull in to work at 7:30 a.m. on the dot and begin experiments.. 

8:30a.m receive call from Gwen's school from the Ms. Director, who informs me that "my little Gwennie" has "hand, foot, mouth disease" which has been plaguing/ infesting room 6C. Continues Ms. Director "She COULD have stayed at school because she feels fine, but because she has PUSSY blisters, I need you to come pick her up".

Inner monologue: "Shit, Shit, Shit, Damnit"

I immediately enter "Multi-task Mom-Scientist Mode" and begin getting my lab work prepped for my inevitable departure in 30 minutes to pick up Gwen while trying to get a hold of husband by phone and boss via email.

Call Brent. No answer.

Text Brent. No answer.

Text Brent with an "ASAP" attached. No answer

Typical. 

Side note: It's amazing that I went into labor BOTH times when Brent was actually around because had I needed to get a hold of him to take me to the hospital, I would have been having a home birth for each kid. For SURE.

Call Gwen's doctor as I'm driving to the school.

Secretary informs me: "She's out of town for a week, do you want to talk to another doctor"

Me: "Ummm.... YESSSS"...continuing a bit sarcastically: " I certainly didn't call to talk to the secretary...... She has some sort of Hand, foot, and mouth disease! I want to speak to a medical professional ASAP!"

And under my breath..."I hope you don't respond to "ASAP" like my husband does"

After 15 minutes...Dr. Substitute-for-our-doctor calls back--actually, I believe her words were, "We don't WANT her in our office".

Now I'm having visions of my beautiful Gwen having sores and blisters all over the place, like some Halloween witch with boils on her face....something like this:

I finally arrive to Gwen's school and she's waiting in the front office and at first glance she looked fine. (THANK GOD no boils on her  face)..and then I start to think they must have the wrong child...and then they show me her hands:

They are EVER so tiny..but they're present...so for now, we are at home, hoping they don't go to her mouth or her feet....and she is eating popcycles and icecream because, according to her, "she's berry, berry sick"...
..and watching Dora. 
Someone please bring me wine.


Hand, foot, and mouth disease is a virus and there is nothing you can do except wait it out...read more about it here

And I JUST said to Ms. Teacher yesterday: "..looks like by keeping Gwen home last week with my parents in town, we were lucky enough to miss the incubation period"...
Nice.
I should have inserted "hand, foot into mouth" as I was making THAT statement.