The Swine

So I think we are finally done with our bout of a little something they call swine flu. At least I hope so!

It all started with little Ben on a Sunday evening, by Tuesday Emily had it and on Friday it had gone to Mason. Somehow, Samantha escaped it! Yay God!

It seems like a very predictable virus; I could tell exactly when each child was going to get it and the progression it was going to take. They would get tired, cranky, and not have much of an appetite. By the next day you could bet that they would have a fever and be listless on the couch with body aches, sore throat, cough, headache, and a tummy ache. After about 48 hours of this, the fever would peak at its highest (with our kids this was around 103-104) and then it would slowly come down and symptoms would go away. The cough and congestion seems to be the thing that hangs around the longest as all of them are still congested and stuffy but they definitely have their energy (read: naughtiness) back!

I think Ben was affected the least. I'm not sure if this is because he's still nursing and is getting all the yummy antibodies my body is producing as I fight it off, but I am relieved for it all the same.

We had a little bit of a scare with Mason having a 104.1 fever that wouldn't go down and a night when he was pretty out of it. He wouldn't communicate with me or make eye contact, he just laid there looking off into space which was scary. Once the fever broke though, I could tell he was on his way to recovery.



Then on Sunday, we brought Emily into urgent care because despite having been "better" for 2 days, the fever suddenly returned with one heck of a cough and she was having a hard time breathing. They took a chest X-ray and thankfully it is not pneumonia... they told me to give it time and give her a decongestant to loosen everything up and hopefully she'll be good as new in a couple days.

All in all, I think we weathered it well. It's definitely not something you want to get, and if you are not in good health or are elderly, I can see why there would be a fear about getting it. But I do think if you are the normal, healthy adult with no other underlying conditions, people should be able to come through it OK with lots of rest and fluids.

So, let's hope this was our "Big One" for the season and that we can stay healthy -- and naughty -- the rest of the year!

UPDATE: The next Friday night, we had Emily back in the ER because her fever spiked again and she was having a really hard time breathing. It was a bit scary. After another chest X-ray, she was diagnosed with pneumonia and put on antibiotics. Things are looking better now! Hooray!