Welcome to the Infirmary...Anyone Wanna Come Play?

Last Wednesday, Taryn went to bed a little warm. The next morning, she woke up warmer still, but not enough to have me concerned. I took the girls to this little Kids Club music thing at the mall where they get to ride the carousel for free afterwards. Keara had been looking forward to it all week, so we HAD to go. Taryn's nose started running and her eyes were red and puffy. She looked miserable and each passing minute made her look even worse. She started sneezing and coughing and her fever shot up. By the time we were in line for the carousel, she looked like death had rolled in. Our sweet Taryn, full of fantastic energy, even laid down on the floor of the food court while we were waiting for our turn because she just couldn't hold up her own body anymore. Poor girl.

I took her temperature and she had a fever of 102. I watched her for the rest of the afternoon and gave her motrin, but the fever wouldn't go down. She fluctuated between 102-103 all day. Keara started coughing that morning also and by the afternoon, she also had a fever. We were planning on going on a date that night and then heading up to Braden's parents home while they were on vacation so we could celebrate our anniversary. Instead, we cancelled the date and just packed up the car and headed up north as soon as Braden got out of work.

Both girls got progressively worse throughout the evening to the point that Taryn could do nothing but either cry, sleep, or lay on the couch. She was far worse than Keara who really only had the fever and a cough and was noticeably grumpy. We decided to take Taryn to the doctor at 11 pm just to make sure she was fine with her fever not having broken all day.

Of course, when we got there, she started perking up and was able to eat, sit by herself, and talk...for the first time that day. Her temp dropped a bit and they sent us home with instructions to load her up with Tylenol and Motrin and keep the fluids in her. So we did. But even yesterday, she still had the fever, the congestion, and the cough. There are minutes in the day that she just can't handle life and just cries because she's miserable. Today is better, but she's not 100% by any means.

Keara still has a really rough cough. It's particularly bad in the evening and at night. It doesn't keep her awake, but it does make it hard for her to fall asleep at the beginning. Her fever is gone and never got as high as Taryn's.

Then, on Friday night, right before we headed out to dinner, Braden started with the fever and chills. Here it is almost a week later and he is still miserable. He missed half a day on Monday and then stayed home Tuesday and Wednesday, but went back today...still miserable. Poor guy! He has chills and fever, the cough, congestion, headaches, body aches, and is so tired.

Avery and I have thus far avoided it. Thank goodness! So I've been able to keep everyone else running, but to be honest, I've done a lousy job of playing nurse. I've been too busy with projects and other things to really give them the care and time they need. Sorry guys! I dont' know why I'm feeling so much pressure to get so much done right now. Self-inflicted pressure too.

So...what is it!? It's the full fledged flu virus. What remains to be seen is whether it is simply influenza or H1N1. It doesn't really matter, since they are so similar and equally as dangerous, but its for sure one of them. Doctors are no longer testing for it unless you are high risk, so there's no way to know for sure. But I'll tell you one thing...it is miserable. And it lasts for a long time. Sorry if we passed it on to you! You're most contagious before you shown symptoms so its really hard to NOT pass it around.

I've never been one to call the doctor's office with questions, but I have to admit, I worry about Taryn. For some reason, she scares me as far as her health is concerned. Not like she's ever been really sick before or has some immune system problem, but she concerns me none the less. So, for the first time in my life, I have called our pediatrician with questions! Not like they can really give me any answers, but I do notice I'm more worried.

What do you think? Is it all hype and no show? Or is there really something to worry about?