Poster family for getting your flu shot

Doesn't this look like a place you'd like to be right about now??


As you can tell by the title of this post, we have been struck with influenza. Yes, I said it.....I.N.F.L.U.E.N.Z.A. And for those of you that don't get a flu shot because you think the flu isn't that bad, let me just say you clearly have never had it. It is horrific! And we didn't get flu shots this year because I was waiting for everyone to be healthy at the same time--BIG mistake.
So hear is a bit of a rundown on what the last few days have looked like for us....

Sunday--Blake wakes up with fever of 102, everyone else feeling fine

Monday--Blake still has slight fever and really, really crabby so we go to the doctor's office to make sure it isn't an infection....sure enough, his left ear was infected but hadn't started to drain yet (kids with tubes in their ears aren't immune from infections but their ears will drain when it is infected)...start Blake on antibiotics

Tuesday--Blake wakes up with drainage from both ears, eyes and nose....Wyatt wakes up with fever....climbs to 104..call the doctor and they want me to bring him in...wake everyone up (they had all finally fallen asleep)...carry both Blake and Wyatt in to the doctor's office (quite the scene)...Sadie still feeling fine...sit in waiting room for about 20 minutes (Blake crying the entire time and Wyatt falling asleep on me)...get called back....Wyatt endures strep test (gagging the whole time) and influenza test (equivalent of giant Qtip getting stuck up both nostrils)....strep test negative...doctor says if it is influenza, we won't treat because Wyatt has no history of asthma...then I add the interesting caveat that I am 8 weeks pregnant (trying to tell the doctor without the kids hearing because we haven't told them yet..more on that news to come)....her eyes light up and she says, "well then, we will definitely treat Wyatt with tamiflu if he is positive for influenza"....come home with exhausted kids....get the call that Wyatt does have influenza and they call in tamiflu, tell me to expect a few days with fever followed by sore throat and/or cough for up to 2 weeks (great!)

Wednesday--Blake wakes up with horrific cough....is awake for about an hour then falls asleep on me...naps for about 1 1/2hr and then repeats the cycle....Wyatt's fever a bit lower but the sore throat begins to kick in and he is in serious pain....Sadie now complaining of a sore throat so she is quarantined to her room (I think she enjoyed the Sprite and DVDs in her room and wasn't in near the pain of her brothers)....call the nurse regarding Blake's cough....she is horrified when she hears him over the phone, definitely sure he has influenza.....I begin to realize that he started the influenza on sunday with the fever and just happened to have an ear infection on top of it....talk to doctor and they want Blake to be seen immediately due to his age and the nature of his cough....send us to his ENT first to make sure his tubes look fine (we hadn't made it back in for his post-up since he's had so many ear infections still)......Load up all the kids again (begrudgingly) and head to ENT.....ENT says his ears look fine but he needs to be seen in Pediatrics for his cough/lungs....send us down the hall to peds (not our normal pediatrician but I am not about to drive to a different location)....after much discussion considering the week we've had and again, telling the dr. I am "gestationally at 8 weeks", they listen to Blake and decide we need a chest Xray and nebulizer treatment....we've never done nebs in our family and boy was it rough...I begin holding the mask up to Blake's face (this will last 5-7 minutes) and he begins screaming....I brace him down with my arms and legs and hold the mask over his face....Sadie starts crying because she thinks I'm hurting him...I tell the kids to wait in the hall...Wyatt just wants to be by me (even more so since he can't be because I am pregnant but he doesn't know that) and Sadie is crying for Blake....after neb treatment we go to get the chest X-ray....they have to put Blake in a 'harness' contraption to hold him still with his arms over his head...he begins screaming again and Sadie begins crying again...I have to tell Xray tech again that I am pregnant and I have to leave the room completely...wait for a few minutes to meet with doctor again....and finally good news! Blake's chest Xray looks clear and the nebulizer treatment didn't work (a good thing longterm because that means we aren't dealing with asthma, but not great because this cough could last for weeks). Doctors decide to call in tamiflu for Sadie as she appears to be at the beginning of the influenza. Blake is too far in, as tamiflu is only effective if used within 48 hours of the first symptoms. We leave after being there for 2 hours with 3 exhausted kids to pick up Sadie's prescription. CVS calls me and tells me their computers are down and they can't fill her prescription (I go there because they have a drive-thru) so I call the doctor back and they call it in at Target=no drive-thru and have to unload all three kids again to go in and get prescription.
Blake goes to bed at 6pm (poor kid) and Wyatt and Sadie are back in their rooms eating their dinner and watching DVDs. Sadie begins coughing and I immediately know what's coming next (Matt was upstairs trying to help out the kids so that I could get a break from being exposed again and again).....before I can get up there, Sadie throws up due to her cough. We wash her sheets and get her a bath, then get both Wyatt and Sadie to bed. I am exhausted!!

Today--Wyatt wakes up at 5:30am with horrible cough (similar to Blake's yesterday), give him tylenol and ibuprofen and he's back to sleep until around 7:30....Blake and Sadie wake up around 7am....Blake seems a bit better, Sadie seems a bit worse....now dealing with Wyatt complaining of not wanting to stay in his room, being tired of being sick, wanting to be by me....Sadie sad because she can't go to the Woodbury Daddy/Daughter dance with Matt tonight and wanting me to hold her constantly (which I can't)....Blake walking around and playing a bit, which is a good sign.....Wyatt and Sadie upset that I can touch Blake and not get close to them....feeling like I can't win! (trying to keep this baby safe, trying to care for my sick kids as best I can, trying to keep their germs at bay....etc)

All this to say....
#1 Please be praying for us. Matt leaves to speak at a conference tomorrow morning through Sunday.

#2 GET YOUR FLU SHOTS!!!!!! Never again will we miss ours. NEVER.

#3 Thank goodness for this stuff........


And I obviously need to get more....see how low that is getting!