Wiped Out

Whatever this virus is, it has run rampant through our whole family. I think both Ted and I thought it would run its course in a couple of days and things would get back to normal. Um, no. Not even close. Ted tried to go to work on Thursday, but his boss sent him home again that afternoon. Friday he did go to work, but he wasn't feeling his greatest--thankfully we had the Oktoberfest for lunch, and we all came home after Lucan's well-baby check-up. (Ironic, as you'll see in a bit.)

By the time we got home on Friday, I was well into the throes of this thing, and all I could think of was how glad I was that Ted was home for the holiday weekend. The older boys started experiencing the symptoms on Saturday, as did Kenna. We made the decision to all stay home from church and made arrangements for someone to fill in on the piano for me, since I was supposed to fill in for another pianist who was away for the weekend.

So we made our way through Sunday amidst fevers and sad, sick kids. Charis alone seemed unscathed, having mentioned a headache a few times, but obviously it wasn't too bad, since she spent most of the day doing various art projects. I personally had hoped to get some stamping projects done, but I think I had about a one-hour window of time I felt somewhat human. During that time, a rather perky Charis helped me finish assembling a stack of 25 birthday cards for The Sharing Org, and then I was pretty much done.

Meanwhile, Lucan was sleeping a whole lot, definitely feverish and not nursing as much, but enough that we weren't too concerned (yet). Tobin was sleeping off and on on the couch the whole day, Arden stayed cuddled up with Ted during the football games, and Kenna sat around glassy-eyed and quiet during her non-napping hours. We got everyone to bed early, then woke Lucan to nurse. He was flaming hot, so I took his temperature, and it was 103.5. We gave him Tylenol and checked him again 45 minutes later, and nothing had changed. Since I had just talked with the pediatrician on Friday and had been reminded that fevers over 101.5 needed to be checked out, I called the nurse hotline and gave the info on our situation, then waited for the on-call doc to contact me.

Meanwhile, we put Lucan back to bed, not knowing how long it would take them to call back. Around 10:30 we got the call, and after a conversation with the doctor, Ted got dressed again and headed out with a rather disgruntled Lucan. To make a long story short, poor Lucan was definitely dehydrated--there was a traumatic experience with the catheter when they tried to get a urine sample--and they hooked him up to an IV. By the time Ted woke me at 2 a.m. to nurse Lucan one more time, he felt much cooler, and it seems his fever has been either gone or low-grade ever since then. And thankfully he has awakened on his own to nurse more frequently, though not as long as usual...still, I think he's getting enough milk now, and I'm just grateful that he seems to be all right.

So this morning my fever was back up...it had been down to 99 most of yesterday. And Charis also had 101.5 temp, so our scheduled tour to the Longaberger Homestead for her birthday outing had to be called off. Sigh.

Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on whose perspective you're looking at), the older boys seem to be totally cured. While this is great news for them, it's a nightmare for those of us who have been having to put up with them pinging off the walls! We've tried to send them outside to use up some energy, but we also don't want them around other kids yet! Poor Charis has spent most of the day on the couch, unable to fall asleep, but not feeling like doing a whole lot aside from the times she gets some Tylenol in her system...then we see glimpses of our sweet little sunshine.

Believe it or not, we did do school today. I felt I didn't have much choice, since Tobin and Arden were obviously feeling fine, and I knew that if they weren't channeled in some kind of direction, they would drive us all crazy. They did their morning independent work and "funvelopes," and then we all did Sonlight reading on the couch after a light lunch. I took a 2 1/2 hour nap this afternoon and woke up just as wiped out as when I fell asleep, my temperature back up to 101.5.

Ted says that today is the first day he has really felt like himself...so, about a full week, unless you're one of our energetic male offspring! If that holds true for me, I've got a few more days to survive and then I should be golden for next weekend--just in time to clean my house for the birthday celebrations, LOL.