Swine of '09

Last night Zak was coughing pretty badly so we brought him into our bedroom to give him a breathing treatment. After he finished I got up to clean out the nebulizer medicine cup and when I got back Zak had taken over my spot in bed and my monkey!

This morning when the boys woke up Zak was burning up. I took his temperature and he had a fever right around 102, his cough was worse, and he was lethargic so I called the pediatrician. We went in at 10:30am and as soon as the nurse took us into the back she did a flu test (swab up his nose which he disliked). She came back to the room within about 3 minutes and said it came back positive for Influenza A which means H1N1. The pediatrician came into the room and looked him over along with checking his lungs. She said his flu test came back positive quicker than any other tests she has seen. She said he was wheezing a good amount and his lungs did not sound great, but she felt he didn't need to go to the hospital at the moment. She prescribed him Tamiflu along with giving me a prescription for Ryder since he has a bad cough and asthma as well. She also told me to watch Zak's breathing very closely and if it worsens to go straight to the hospital. Other things that we need to watch for that would result in a trip to the hospital include a fever of 104 or if he stops drinking fluids.

I know I posted earlier that the pediatrician thought the boys were at the tail end of H1N1 on Monday, but today the pediatrician said that wasn't the case. They probably just had their first cold of the season 2.5 weeks ago and not the flu. This time we know 100% that Zak has Type A flu which is being called H1N1 since almost 100% of all Type A flu is coming back as H1N1. Zak is MUCH sicker now than he was 2.5 weeks ago so we are seeing that last time it was just a cold.

To make things even more chaotic Ben woke up with a fever as well. Since Zak had a positive flu test Ben and I decided to get seen by a doctor as well. This resulted in all four of us being given Tamiflu (nobody else was tested for flu, but given the prescription due to symptoms and/or precaution). We don't know if Ben, Ryder, or myself actually have the flu or H1N1 but this way we will be covered if we do have it or it could help prevent us from getting it. Along with the Tamiflu I was also given a medication to help with my hacking cough that I need to take 3 times a day. I am hoping it won't make me to drowsy since I will be home alone with the boys for the next week. Ben asked the doctor about his flight to CA for work next week and was told he was fine to go since the doctor doesn't think Ben actually has the flu and he will have gotten a few doses of the Tamiflu by then.

So at the moment Zak is by far the sickest. Ben is not feeling all that good. I am coughing horribly and not feeling great. Ryder is coughing on and off and running around like a mad man since he seems to be feeling fine.

Naked Chefs & Unsuccessful Halloween

Tonight the boys helped Ben make dinner...

This year we have decided to skip Halloween. One reason is there is a 70% chance of rain tomorrow starting at 4pm and all through the night. The bigger reason is because we are still not 100% healthy. I still feel pretty sick (bad cough, stuffy nose, fever), Ben is starting to cough and have a sore throat, and Zak is still coughing pretty badly as well. We decided that the four of us need some rest since Ben will be away all next week. Tomorrow Ben is going to take the boys to stay with Rich & Laura while he helps Chelley & John move. Then he will come pick me up and we will go back to his parent's house. At that point we will take pictures with all of the grand kids in Halloween costumes and then head home for the night.

Since we will not be trick-or-treating tomorrow we tried to do a photo shoot tonight with them in their costumes. I was able to get a few good ones, but Zak also gave me a few really bad ones (but funny)....

After we took off their costumes we put on their sweater vests from Seth & May. We think they are adorable!

Random Pictures and a Video

The boys have been lucky this year and gotten a collection of pumpkins

which they like to push around in their shopping carts

Recently the boys have been obsessed with taking pictures with my camera. Sometimes they actually get a decent picture.

This is what Ryder took today

This is the picture Zak took today

We have known for a while that there is an animal that lives under our deck. It has chewed through the fencing which has let the dogs escape many times. Today I actually got to see what this animal is...a groundhog!

This is a video of Ryder very excited that Barney is on the TV

House Full of Sickies

The boys seem to be doing great even though they still have a cough. Zak's cough is worse than Ryder's, but it doesn't seem to be stopping him at all.

Yesterday morning I woke up and couldn't move. My whole body ached along with a runny nose, horribly painful cough, low grade fever (99.5), and feeling dizzy. Needless to say, the boys spent the day watching Barney. Ben got home from work early so that I could go to an Urgent Care facility to be seen my a doctor. I walked in and there was nobody in the waiting room which was awesome! I got registered and was quickly called into the back. The doctor was really nice and did a full exam. He diagnosed me with a sinus infection and bronchitis. He said my lungs sounded a little wet, but it was not pneumonia yet so luckily I caught it early enough. I am now taking Zithromax and a cough syrup to help decrease the pain.

I went to bed around 5:30pm last night and then woke up around 8:30pm. I watched some TV and then went back to sleep. I was awake a few times throughout the night, but slept much better with the use of the cough syrup. This morning I woke up without my body aching and no fever, but still have the runny nose and painful cough. The doctor said that after 2 doses of the Zithromax I wouldn't be contagious which means after this afternoon. I am hoping to feel a ton better by Halloween since we have a very busy day planned and then Ben will be in California all next week which will leave me home alone with the boys.

So far Ben has not started to show any signs of illness and we are hoping he doesn't since he does not have health insurance right now.

My uncle was discharged from the hospital last night so he is slowly on the mend which is also good.

Silly Boys

Yesterday afternoon I took the boys to the pediatrician to get their lungs checked out since they have been coughing and wheezing along with the fact that Roy is in the hospital with pneumonia. The doctor did a full exam on them and said there is no pneumonia so that is a good thing. However, she did say that the boys are on the tail end of having H1N1 flu. About 10 days ago we battled with some fevers which turned into snotty noses and now the coughing which seems to be the textbook presentation of this flu strain. The pediatrician said the H1N1 seems to be very mild right now so most people don't even know they have it. She did put the boys on oral steroids to help with the wheezing and prevent any other breathing issues.

For anybody who has seen them recently, you can tell they don't really feel sick. The videos below will show this as well.

Last night the boys decided to play with the newspaper we had in a Rubbermaid container. Ryder loves laying in it and Zak enjoyed covering him up...

Busy Day

Today Ben and the boys went to a Pumpkin Patch with his his mom and Rich. They had a blast! I am very happy that Ben remembered to take pictures while they enjoyed the day...

While they were at the pumpkin patch I spent the day in Annapolis going through some of Mum Mum's stuff with my mom and Colleen. Our day was interrupted when we found out my uncle was at the ER because his boss felt he was very sick. My mom and I went to see him at the hospital and we found out that he was pretty ill. The doctors diagnosed him with bacterial pneumonia and are keeping him in the hospital for a few days to receive IV antibiotics. They also said the bacteria that was causing this was a very nasty one which he probably picked up while he was in the ER earlier this week for an allergic reaction to his new medications.

Ben and I have decided to call the pediatrician tomorrow to get the boys an appointment since they still have runny noses and now have started to get a really bad cough and wheezing episodes. Hopefully it is just a bad cold, but we would rather find out since they have been around my uncle a lot recently because of the funeral and everything.

Way Too Much Rain

Today we have gotten a good amount of rain. For this reason we pretty much stayed inside all day and relaxed. We did have to venture out this evening to pick up Ben's work truck which was getting an oil change. When we got home the boys didn't listen to us and immediately started jumping in the various puddles in front of our house. They had a great time!

Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday morning was the funeral for my grandmother (aka Mum Mum). Chelley and Christine both said a few words at the funeral which was nice, but caused lots of tears from everyone. Afterwards, we had a get together with food at the hotel and then we took a trip to a pumpkin patch at Jamison and Josephine's school. I took lots of pictures...

Our attempts at getting a group picture of the kids

The boys enjoyed a ride with all of our luggage when we checked out of the hotel

RIP Mum Mum
We all miss you