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Dear God, is the poor babe in pain? I did not know that herpes could infect fetuses. I guess I thought they picked it up during lady partsl delivery.
The vitals have been normal for the baby from the time she was born. I definately would think she was hurting, but so indication to her having pain.
I have seen vesicular lesions at birth that were NOT herpes. It was similar to those. The mom had a genetic syndrome and the lesions were part of the syndrome that was obviously passed onto baby. The family had an older child also with the syndrome. The syndrome, which I can't remember what it was, also had complications such as paralysis. If I remember correctly the older child was paralyzed and had mental retardation, possible deafness, I believe.
I wish I could remember what it was for you.....
Neonates can be born with varicella lesions if mom was active during pregnancy. We had a baby who we thought for sure had herpes, but mom was monogamous and negative. Baby was also negative. The lesions dried up and fell off after a few days. He ended up being diagnosed with Langerhans-Cell Histiocytosis, an immune mediated "cancer-like" condition, which can be fatal, and form bone lesions, but luckily he had the congenital form in which his lesions resolved on their own. If they don't, the only option is chemo. Very sad, but he was lucky.....
Check this out: http://idinchildren.com/200104/frameset.asp?article=WYD.asp
This may be the genetic disorder that Nicu_RN_inCali mentioned. It's called incontinentia pigmenti. It's very UNLIKELY to be herpes, as that usually doesn't appear for at least a week after birth. Keep us posted.
When I delivered my baby they did a case study on her at Miami Children's Hospital. She was born with similar looking vesicles all over her body. Turns out she had the chicken pox. My nephew had the chicken pox and I was around him thinking since I had them as a young child I would not be affected. About a week after giving birth I got a few "chicken pox" I guess the docs said I had a very mild case and therefore I got them again. My daughter recovered completely with no problems.
Hope this helps.
jenrninmi, MSN, RN
1,976 Posts
The link below has a picture I found on the web of exactly what it looked like. The mother denies ever having herpes. A full work-up was done on the baby and baby is in contact isolation. According to Medscape, lesions usually present later after birth, this baby last night delivered with these lesions. Could it be anything else besides herpes?