The Flu Has Hit Our Household

For the first time ever, we have the flu. We usually get colds at this time of year. Not the flu. We haven’t had flu shots since my pregnancy with Molly in 1999. This year I did have the girls get the nasal spray for H1N1. Mostly because I felt their school wouldn’t really be able to protect the kids from getting ill. Alex’s daycare has been excellent at making sure the kids were pretty germ free. Unfortunatley it is Alex that has it.

He was great when we picked him up from school. He didn’t eat much dinner, but he never does. Then around 7:45 pm he started shivering and complaining about being thirsty. We got him his blankey and a glass of water. He then begged me to come snuggle with him cause he couldn’t get warm. This is not an unusual request. When I laid down with him I noticed he was a bit warm. Then he wouldn’t stop shivering. Even after 10 minutes he was still shivering. This started bothering me. By 8:15 he was a asleep. During the week he never falls asleep before 10 because the afternoon naps at school messes him up. On weekends when I don’t lay him down for a nap he is asleep by 9ish. So 8:15 raises the eyebrows. Even worse, he was panting. Panting like he does after chasing the dog or his sisters in the yard. I called Mr. P  over to help me check him without moving him and Mr. P  thought he was fine. I said “ok” but wasn’t too sure about it. Well shortly after that I fell asleep. I awoke about an hour later to Alex still panting but now with little moans every other pant or so. Not cool! I picked him up and he felt like he was on fire. Not totally unusual but I just knew something was wrong. We got his temp, 100.4. Not high enough to rush to the hospital but way out of the norm for my kids and enough to make me start freaking. Since we were out of acetaminophen, I grabbed my wallet and rushed to Walmart. Asheville is pretty easy to navigate, everything is about 15 minutes away. And it took 15 min to get to Walmart BUT it felt like forever. I had visions of my son dying because I didn’t get home in time and doctors screaming at me for not getting him the vaccination. Yes, I was being completely melodramatic. I am good at that. Got to Walmart and got some generic brand stuff. I also decided to grab some Nyquil (well generic brand) because I know that in a day or so I am gonna have this crap too. Why? Cause little man is ALL OVER ME! He doesn’t want anyone to leave him alone. Poor baby.

So he has had some acetaminophen. He is now asleep without panting and without moaning. Unfortunatley when he moves to get comfy he starts to cry from the pain. Hopefully I can knock this crap out by tomorrow night.

**UPDATE**
I have it. Little man only pants when his fever spikes. Now I understand why though, it feels like someone is sitting on your chest. I haven’t had the flu in a long time. Not sure if this is seasonal or H1N1 but regardless this hurts like hell. I am getting ready to go back to bed and it’s almost 10 am. And thanks for the reassurance about not vaccinating. It’s one of those sucky parent moments where you start to wonder if you did the right thing!