We've Got The Pig Flu!!

Well, it's official ... we have been infected with the swine flu. GASP!! It kind of feels like we have the plague ... like our house should be covered in caution tape ... the windows boarded up and padlocks put on the doors. There really is a stigma associated with this illness ...

Bella came down with a cough on Sunday morning. I really didn't think much of it since what kid doesn't get a cough now and then right? Well, by Monday night she had a fever and her little cough had turned into this awful hack and she was wheezing when she breathed. I quickly called the doctor and they were able to get her in right away.

As I entered the doctor's office ... it was like entering a different world. All over people were wearing masks and when I check Bella in at the desk ... the woman told me that Bella needed to wear a mask in case she had the H1N1 virus. To be honest ... I took her there with the worry that maybe she had bronchitis or pneumonia ... I never dreamed she would have the swine flu ...

So I forced Bella to wear this mask (which she hated every second of) and we finally got into the little room to wait for the doctor. We probably waited almost 30 minutes when the doctor finally came in the room. Bella immediately started crying ... because the guy seriously looked like a space alien. He had on safety glasses ... a surgical mask ... and a blue covering over his clothes almost like a surgical gown.

I started to think perhaps I needed one of those mask things. I mean was this illness really that bad that everyone had to walk around wearing protective gear???

So the doctor did his routine exam - looked in her ears, listened to her lungs, looked in her mouth ... and then turns to me and says - "well, I'm pretty sure she has it."

Ummm .... gee .... could he be a bit more specific??? Has what???

"Has what?" I asked.

"The H1N1 virus. It's a very mild case, but I'm almost positive that's what she has."

I was floored. At that very moment my brain shut down. I had a million questions but couldn't think of a single one. I wanted to know what that meant ... was my baby going to die like that little boy in TN who was completely healthy one minute and dead the next??? Did Bella need to be quarantined? Was I supposed to go to work? Could Brian go to school? Did I need to tell Kadin's school that he'd been exposed to the swine flu???

AAAGGGGHHH!!! I drove home with my sick baby in total shock. (only after the doctor led us out a back door so we didn't go through the waiting room again - apparently another swine flu precaution??? Just weird if you ask me) The only thing I remembered the doctor saying was that Bella had to stay home until she no longer ran a fever for 24 hours and until her cough was almost gone. The rest was a blur ...

That was Monday night. Bella has been home the last two days, but I'm happy to report that she is on the mend. We've had no fever since yesterday and her cough has much improved. In fact, I think she really enjoyed having her mommy and daddy all to herself these last two days because Kadin had been staying with my parents (just in case). Tonight is the first night he's been home since Monday - and man did I miss that kid!!!

So, hopefully life here can get back to normal ... or at least as close to normal as possible.