We got something for Christmas that we did not bargain for...the flu. The weekend before Christmas we travelled to Mike's parent's to celebrate their 40th Wedding Anniversary and our first family Christmas of the season. Ava was not herself on the drive over. First clue: she turned down McDonald's when I pulled through the drive thru a couple of hours into our journey. As we turned into "Grandma Pammy" and "Papa Nick's" driveway she kept insisting that she just needed to go to bed so that she could rest up for the next morning. That is SO not her usual agenda when she arrives at grandma and grandpa's! I knew that something was up. Within an hour of our arrival, she was chilling, then burning up, and then finally confessed to a sore throat. Poor baby! She fought the flu all weekend while we carried on with the festivities. A Minute Clinic diagnosis on Sunday morning was that she had the flu and to keep her comfortable. You know the drill...plenty of rest and fluids. Is it bad when I wish for like, strep throat when we go to the doctor? Rest and fluids? Pshaw, what's that about? I want to leave with meds and feel like I'm actually doing something to help my kid get better. As we headed back to Ohio the next day, the flu manifested itself into an ear infection and Ava screamed in pain across Eastern Indiana. After a quick pit stop at a CVS outside of Ft. Wayne, we made it to her pediatrician's office before they closed for the night. Ava did her best to recover for the next few days on our couch. She didn't want to be sick "when Santa swooped down to eat her cookies."
Just as Ava was starting to perk up on the 23rd, the flu hit Miss Emily. By Christmas Eve it was full blown and we ended up putting aside our usual traditions of church and a nice dinner out in exchange for carry-in, lighting the advent candles around our fireplace, reading the Christmas story, and singing Silent Night before bed. Emily was certainly no better on Christmas morning. You can see how miserable she was in the video below. She wasn't even interested in opening her presents. She just kept falling asleep in our arms. It was SO sad. The day after Christmas, her fever was down and she seemed to have turned a corner, so we labored over the decision to journey back to Indiana for my side of the family's Christmas. We decided to go for it. Mike followed us, because I planned to stay a little longer. As I made my way across Ohio, it became apparent that Em had taken a turn for the worse. She was really sick. Her fever was up. She was really out of it, and her breathing was more like panting. We got into my parent's just in time for the family dinner. I didn't take a single picture of this side of the family Christmas. I was busy holding Emily and too worried about her. I was just going through the motions when it came time to open presents. Something was definitely wrong with this kid. Her skin looked a little on the gray side.
After checking on her through the night, Mike and I threw on some clothes early the next morning. Because it was Sunday and my parent's family doctor's office was closed we headed to MedStat. A chest x-ray confirmed that she had pneumonia in the lower 25% of her left lung. We were given an antibiotic and care instructions and told that if she got worse or wasn't better in 48 hours to come back. As we headed back to my parent's house, I knew that I was getting sick too. Great. With the doctor's assurance that Emily would be okay, Mike ended up heading back to Ohio for work. He got to fight the flu bug at home. My parents had flights to Florida so they needed to leave. Ava went to stay with my sister, and Emily and I were miserable together in my parent's house. She had some trouble kicking the pneumonia and ended up with a double ear infection too, so by Wednesday we were back at the doctor again. After a shot of strong antibiotics and a swab confirming we both had H1N1, Emily rapidly recovered. My flu dragged on through the New Year.
By the numbers: That's 6 trips to the doctor, 4 cases of the flu, 4 antibiotics (not for the flu but for infections resulting from the flu), 2 ear infections, and 1 case of pneumonia. I'm so thankful that we're all healthy now, but I'm not gonna lie, it sort of sucked. As you can see in the clips below, we did have some bright spots in our holiday. We love Christmas, so we trudged through, sick or not.
Here's the footage from Christmas week...
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