(a long probably very boring documentation of the last few days with the swine flu- mostly for history's sake)
Now that my own sickness is behind me, it's easy for me to say "it wasn't that bad". But my husband will tell you that I curled myself up into a ball, moaned and groaned and complained that "I have never felt so terrible in my life." And that pretty much is the truth. I didn't move for 3 days.
It started on Sunday morning. It was the first time I had fasted on fast Sunday since I had my 2 babies, but I was kind of excited for it. I immediately didn't feel good, but attributed it to the fact that I hadn't eaten breakfast and that my body wasn't used to it. I started to get a little cough... it's because I haven't drank water, I told myself. As the day went on, I felt worse and worse. When we got home from church I was feeling terrible. I got some food in my belly but still felt terrible- so I took a nap. When I woke up, I asked Adam if I felt hot and he said no, but I felt like I had a fever so I took my temperature- 101.5. From that point on, Adam started taking care of the kids because I just couldn't.
Chills, fatigue, cold sweats, cough, body ache. All symptoms of the flu... I started wondering if I had it. I don't think I've ever really had the real flu. I've had colds here and there and got really sick once or twice in Thailand, but never really had the flu. At least not like this. I started wondering if I had the swine flu, and started asking questions about it on facebook. A family I had taken pictures for last Friday let me know that they, along with the bride's family also had the same symptoms and were going to be checked for Swine Flu. So I decided to wait for their results before going in myself.
Tuesday morning rolled around and I knew I wouldn't be able to take care of the kids without getting them sick (and I didn't have the strength anyway) so my sweet mother-in-law said she would take them for me all day while Adam went into work. I curled up under some blankets on the couch and watched "Uptown Girls" (a favorite movie of mine- so sweet) 2 times in a row. I had wanted to get some stuff done that day, but had no energy whatsoever. It was mid-afternoon when I found out that the other families had tested positive for the swine flu. So Adam took me to a walk-in clinic. my temperature was 102.4 and I immediately tested positive for type A flu virus (97% of which is swine flu according to the government website) I wasn't really too worried for myself- the swine flu isn't necessarily worse than regular flu as far as symptoms go, but is HIGHLY contagious because of it's newness in nature. So I worried about my children. It was decided that they, along with Adam, would stay at my in-laws that night so that we could hopefully keep them from getting the flu as well. I was also prescribed Tamiflu to help ease the symptoms.
Adam was so sweet and wonderful and helpful during this whole ordeal. I know it was not easy for him- he had work to worry about as well as some online classes. But he took such great care of me and the kids. He put them to bed by himself and fed them and got them ready. I really really came to appreciate him so much more and all the sacrifices he was making for his family.
Wednesday morning, Adam called to say that Joselyn was feeling hot. My heart just sank. Even though we had taken precautions she still got it. Landen was still doing fine as was Adam. Adam took her in to the doctor. Joselyn also had the flu. She came home to me and I got to cuddle on the couch with her for the first time in 2 days. Although I felt terrible that she was sick, I had really really missed holding her. Landen was still my the in-laws and Adam went back to work. We decided that we would bring Landen home that evening and he would sleep upstairs with Adam in our room and I would sleep downstairs on the couch. I was starting to feel somewhat better. I was taking care of Joselyn, because we wanted to try and keep Adam from getting the flu too. Adam was doing all that he could to keep himself from getting it as well. I laughed so hard when I caught him spraying his legs with Lysol after Joselyn sneezed near him.
You can probably guess what happened Thursday morning. Landen woke up with a fever. Fortunately, we didn't have to take him in. Our doctor told us to call him if he started showing any symptoms, and he called in some Tamiflu for Landen. Landen had RSV when he was really little, so I was especially worried about him having the flu. He acted very strange to me... his neck would get limp and he would almost fall back into me and I thought he was breathing pretty strange. I even finally made Adam take him in to get checked just to be safe- but his breathing was normal. Peace of mind. Thursday night was awful. I was up for the challenge of not getting any sleep- I had had plenty since Sunday. But I wasn't prepared for Landen to wake up every 15-20 minutes. I laid him next to me in bed and comforted him as much as I could but nothing was working and it scared me once again. So we called the Dr on call. I was in hysterics... had to repeat myself so many times because she could not understand me through my sobs and tears. She finally suggested we try letting him sleep in his car seat. We really should have thought of that- we did that often with Joselyn. It worked like a charm. He slept pretty well the rest of the night.
It wouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who woke up with a fever this morning... we thought he was going to be the strong one to avoid the flu, but it was inevitable- he had taken care of all three of us at one point or another. The good thing was that I was feeling SO MUCH better so I was finally able to take on the role of nurturer. And it felt good to be the one taking care of people.
**Then again, people WERE still taking care of me. My sweet friend Kasey, who I have been dying to see for months, who is visiting from NM with her little boy who turns 2 tomorrow, dropped some Chick-fil-a breakfast off on our front porch this morning. Then for lunch, we recieved Backyard Burger from my in-laws (not to mention the casseroles and cobbler she dropped off that Monday)**
My day was trying so hard to be bad, but I couldn't help but enjoy every minute with my children, who with medicine in their bodies didn't act very sick at all. When dinner time came around, it should have been the last straw. As I opened a jar of carrots for Landen, it all exploded onto my clothes. And then as he sat there eating, he pooped- which poop started leaking out his diaper. Since Adam was out of commission, I took Joselyn and poopy Landen both upstairs for a bath by myself. Joselyn played contently but Landen wanted nothing to do with a bath. He screamed and screamed. I for once didn't get impatient with him or feel frustrated. I understood how he must have been feeling. I dressed him up, made him a bottle and put him to bed. He fell asleep immediately. Joselyn screamed and screamed and kicked in the bath when it was her turn but I remained calm and didn't get upset like I usually would. My clothes were soaking wet and she hadn't even sat down in the water. It's ok- they were already orange from the carrot explosion. Once I got her out of the tub and into PJs she calmed down and I laughed at the sight of myself- and so did Adam.
I really do usually try to see the bright side of things when trials come along- but getting the flu this time around has really opened my eyes to the blessings that surround me. I know it's corny as can be, but for today I will not complain as I get up over and over again to help my babies and husband. I actually enjoy it today. Immensely. I love them so much. I'm so lucky to have them. I'm so lucky to be on my way to being healthy again.
To any of you suffering from the flu or wanting to find out how to avoid it, this is a really good informative website put together by the government:
http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/
