Ahhhh!

I think I can now finally say that! I think we survived the swine flu and I can now let a little air out as this winter was going to be extremely stressful trying to avoid it. Now that we've had it I'm hoping the worst is over. It's been a long week or so with all of us sick and numerous trips to the doctor's office but I think the end is in sight for those trips.

Ainsley is now allowed to hold her baby brother again!

Today we took Bennett in for his 5 month "well" visit and his first RSV shot. Surprisingly he gained weight after being sick but the doctor did hear that there was mucous build up in his chest so we will do nebulizer treatments for the next 5 days to try and break that up. He is breathing normal so unless that changes or he gets a fever again she thinks he will be fine. The RSV shot was a doozy though-he never cries really when he gets shots but this one goes right into the muscle and the poor baby was crying for 10 minutes! But it's worth it to me and he's fine now.

Here he is taking his nebulizer treatment, just smilin' away. Seriously, I can't get enough of this kid!

I am on a slew of medications as well but I'm starting to feel better and get my voice back. It's so true that mom's just don't get sick days. That's just part of life with kids I guess.

But the best part of all of this is that I can finally kiss and hug all of my children!! I was avoiding Ainsley and Harper like the plague when they first came down with it to try to keep myself and Bennett healthy but of course still needing to care for them and then when Mike and I got it we wore masks and didn't want to get any closer to Bennett than we had to other than feeding him and then he got it anyway!

So now we can all hug and be close and just be a loving family again-LOL. Good grief trying to keep a family of five some what healthy this fall/winter is already proving to be quite a challenge!!

Mike will be going out of town for 4 days~oh joy! As long as we're healthy I think I can manage, hopefully.

Cuddling with all my kiddos is just....ahhhh!:)

Flu Update

Well it's Halloween and my poor baby has H1N1. He has been fever free since this morning and took his entire 8oz at 8 am. Hopefully he takes this next bottle. The tamiflu seems to be working really well for him and I can still get a smile out of him every now and then.


I on the other hand I had a freak out moment at about 2 am in the morning once I started to notice I was wheezing when I would take a deep breath. I have asthma and it's controlled by taking Advair so I hardly ever need my rescue inhaler-ever. So I took it and just expected it to work like it always does. Well it didn't and the wheezing continued so I got on line and typed in swine flu and asthma and let me tell you that was a huge mistake. I was convinced I needed to go to the ER because I was afraid I was going to get pneumonia if I just let it sit {I can kinda laugh at myself now as I was in a real tizzy} I woke Mike up and told him I was literally going crazy and that something was wrong. I don't know what was the matter with me. I think getting the call at 12:30 am from our ped telling me that Bennett indeed did test positive for H1N1, sent me into a frenzy! And asthma and anxiety go hand in hand as you may know if you have it yourself.


So I decided before driving myself to the ER I'd call my friend Ginger who is a Physicians Assistant. I could breathe fine I would just wheeze when taking a deep breath. I hated to wake her but like I said, I was freaking out! Let me just tell you, Ginger has been awesome. Thank you so much Ginger for everything, you know all the things you've done for us and I just can't thank you enough! I ended up not going into the ER and I am now taking nebulizer treatments and I hope to get in with a Pulmonologist on Monday just to check my breathing and lungs to be safe. I have calmed down considerably since last night and realize now that it is quite easy to work yourself up.


So if you've learned anything from my last post please know this-if you or your family members are coughing, sneezing, have a low grade fever or just don't feel right- take them into the doctor and get them tested! Please! We've all heard of the horror stories with H1N1 and that doesn't mean we all have to be scared it just means we need to notice the signs early and don't assume you just have a cold. You just never know.


The girls will go trick or treating tonight as they are feeling fine and have been fever free for days now but we are trying to keep a low profile and keep the germs to ourselves. I hope to share some cute costume pics next week-Have a Happy Halloween!

Bennett Has The Flu~Prayers Please!

Type A Influenza. And we all know what that is. Which pretty much means my whole family had H1N1 and we didn't even know it. How can that be? First off I'm asking you to please pray that Bennett recovers just as we have so far, with no complications. I just gave him his first dose of Tamiflu and he is sleeping peacefully.

These were my family's symptoms: (remember-we never got proof of Ainsley testing positive because the swab was "lost" or not good enough, so we don't know for sure that she had it but since we all got what she had and now Bennett tested positive, it's pretty much a given)

Ainsley: (her symptoms were not bad at all)

• woke up coughing-went back to bed
• woke up later with a low fever (however-and this was my down fall-I used an ear thermometer and her temp was never above 101 but I think ear temps can be off a little so hers could have been higher)
• woke up saying her tummy hurt but never said it again
• Next day fever was gone but would return to a low (ear reading though) temp around 100 throughout the day.
• still coughing some sneezing
• decreased appetite some
• also tested positive for strep throat and treated for that

Harper: (she was much worse)

• Temp got up to 102 once (ear again though-I am so mad at myself for thinking they were fine because they had lower temps!!)
• watery eyes
• cough
• sneezing
• didn't eat as much but still drank a lot and ate some
• fever lasted on and off for 4 days but ear temp consistently said 99 so I thought it was a very low fever.
• She was treated for strep as well.

Me:

• Same as Harper but I had chills and then I would be sweaty but every time I checked my temp (ear) it was 97-98. So I thought I didn't have a fever.
• I do have asthma and I have started to wheeze some which I do when I have a cough like this.

Mike:

• Same as Harper and I

None of us were on Tamiflu because we didn't know we had it. Everyone is on the mend -no fevers for a few days but now my sweet Bennett has it and I just can't believe it. His symptoms started late yesterday when I noticed a little congestion and then today it was all of the sudden a fever of 100 (rectally) and the congestion was worse. So I took him in and I was able to see the doctor I liked. Turns out that my insurance allows for a lab to come directly to the office to pick up the swab and test it and will have results within hours. The doctor I saw today had no idea what happened last week. She called me at 12:30 am to tell me that Bennett tested positive and that she had just received the call. I was very thankful for her to do that. She said she will be calling to check on him daily and wants to know how his breathing sounds. She sounded exhausted. They are getting slammed with swine flu.

So learn a lesson from me. The symptoms don't have to be that bad for it to be swine. I'm just so glad I took Bennett in at the first sign of a fever and we got the results back quick this time. And I'm so thankful that Ainsley and the rest of us dealt with it okay. I'm hoping my asthma is not an issue.

I have no idea what Halloween is going to be like now. I'm just praying the girls can have their fun now that they are feeling better and Bennett will continue to eat and get the rest he needs.

Sorry if this post is all scrambled, I just wanted to get it out there and ask for your prayers. Thank you!