Itching
Remember when I woke up itchy last week from my new laundry detergent? Well, I'm so very sorry that I complained about that. Because, in perspective, that was nothing. At the time, it was a major ordeal. In retrospect, I'd love to have that itchy rash all over my body right about now.
Last week, Joe was out of town. After giving the little ones baths on Tuesday night, I noticed a little something that was "off" in Spenser's freshly-washed hair. It looked like a fruit fly or a gnat. But upon further inspection, it appeared to be a tick ... or worse. Head lice. As I found a few of these bugs, full panic set in. This is our first case of lice. And there was some living in my girl's hair. I checked all the boys, and they seemed fine.
Joe was out of town, and because I wanted to treat this sooner than ASAP, I called his mother to stay with the children so that I could drive 20 minutes into civilization to remedy this problem. $58 later, I was armed with shampoos and sprays.
And then my hell began.
I shampooed and combed her hair for hours. (Not getting started until 10:30 p.m. and ending around 1-ish.) I was up until 2:30 a.m. doing laundry. Then laid in bed with an adrenalin rush (and complete and utter paranoia) until I first closed my eyes around 3:30. My eyes did not stay closed for long as the horrible bug dreams started and I woke up often to turn on the lights and inspect my bed. I didn't know if it was the paranoia, or sympathy itch, or lice itself, but I was one itchy mama. (Poor Joe was in Florida itching at the news.)
By Wednesday morning, after two hours of total sleep, I re-checked the boys and discovered lice. After a return trip to the store, and $110 later, I had enough shampoo and spray and new pillows for a small army. Or, in other words, our family. All in all, five of the six had it. Thankfully, all the cases were mild and I caught it just in time for it to spread around, but not totally infest their heads.
About 50+ loads of laundry later (I kid you not), I feel less icky in my house. I can relax when my head is on my own pillow. I cannot relax when I am sitting on the sofa (which is vacuumed daily now).
My hands are raw. I'm still itching up a storm (I did treat myself, just in case!). But I survived with minimal tears. I have never been so tired in all of my life. But, I had super-human strength that carried me through. All of my children got nice new hair cuts for Easter because I decided it would be easier on me to re-treat their hair this week. Spenser had her final treatment yesterday. Today is the day for the boys. So far, all is good.
So that itchy rash from last week? Yeah. That pales in comparison.
(And I feel that I must apologize to you now. I'm sorry that I made you itchy. Go ahead. You can scratch. No one can see you. And just be happy that you've been at a safe distance from us this past week.)
Comments
I still check the kids almost nightly and cringe when they innocently ask, "You looking for bugs, Mom?" as if it's the most normal thing in the world! This will stay with you for a long long time! LOL!
By the way, I've heard great things about using this line of products (http://www.fairytaleshaircare.com/) as a preventative measure. I'm going to start my kid on it as soon as she gets a little older.
Spenser's hair is cute though.
Hope you got a cure a little more simply than homeschooling!
And yes, I was all itchy reading your post!
-Kathy
Oh...thats right...to make moms life TERRIBLE for a few days!
I despise those little buggers!
And do I ever have tips for you.
First of all, don't freak out now. Once you have washed everything in hot water and vacuumed the house, you're ok. Live lice cannot live off the host for longer than 24-48 hours. Nits can still develop into live ones,but it is RARE for them to have just dropped off the hair shaft and be lying about.
Do NOT go into overdrive with sprays and pesticides. They have proved to be more harm than anything else.
Wash the pillowcases every day -- or have them lay on towels at night.
Use Olive Oil on Spenser's hair every 3-4 days. I know it is tempting to do it every day, but once you have the live ones gone, it really does take a few days to see any developing nits. Let the OO soak in for a few minutes, and then do the comb through and nit-pick. The wire combs are better than the plastic ones.
Do this for 28 days -- which is the full cycle of the larvae to live louse... It will get faster after your first pick through, but you will continue to find some (fewer, though)each time until you find none at all.
This site: http://www.headliceinfo.com/ is a wonderful, valuable place for handy information and it will ease your fears quite a bit. Don't worry, the hard part is over.
Let me know if you need any more tips. (BTW, I also bagged all of her stuffed animals and toys that I could not wash in hot water... for 28 days.) A sheet over the sofa and anywhere they hang out is easier than vacuuming everywhere all the time.
And... ALWAYS bring a sweatshirt or something to put over the headrest at the movie theatre... We had two outbreaks locally that were traced back there. Just FYI, you know..
xoxoxo You can do it. Yes, it's exhausting. Court actually got used to it after the first night. I sat her down in front of a movie when I went through her hair. She thought it was kind of fun to be allowed to do that so late at night.
YICK.
*itch itch itch*
Hope you get a good nap today. On a nice clean pillow :)
get some rest, my friend.
(fidget, squirm, scratch.)
We have been having tick problems where we are. I am constantly on the lookout for ticks-- on the kids (the baby, too! He had one on his thigh!) and the dog and the cats. Ugh!
Best of luck. My S-I-L is also going through this at the mo and is so paranoid, she doesn't believe she has got rid of them yet. Best of luck
I feel for you, but this too shall pass. And it isn't it just typical that this stuff happens with Joe out of town? At least I know that's how it goes in our house :)