Swine Flu in the Davidson Household

Yep, that's right...that old pig-kissing, bacon-loving virus made a visit to our house recently. It started early last Thursday and hit me all of a sudden, much like regular flu does. I had no energy, was running fever, had a horrible headache, and felt so achey. Chris had a fantasy football event that night and didn't get home until around 9 o'clock that night, and by the time it was time to get Hayden ready for bed, I seriously didn't think I could do it. By Friday, I knew I had to go to the doctor. Hayden went to daycare early Friday morning, and I had a doctor's appointment scheduled for 2 o'clock. By lunch-time after several other symptoms appeared, I had a sneaking suspicion that I had the dreaded swine flu.

When the doctor's office checked my temperature and heard my symptoms, they immediately stuck their flu-checking stick in my nose. The results - Negative. I was doing a little happy dance inside. My doctor came in, looked me over, and told me I had the flu - the swine flu. I was confused since the flu test had come back negative, but he said the regular flu test wasn't really catching many swine flu cases (only about 40%). Because I had the symtpoms of the regular flu plus the stomach virus symptoms that swine flu can add, he felt positive that I had come in contact with the swine flu. He told me they could check and send the test off, but by the time the test came back, I would be finished with the virus. He sent me off with a prescription for Tamiflu and a preventative dose of Tamiflu for Chris and told me I would be banished to my house until I was fever free 24-hours. Apparently, my doctor has been seeing cases on and off all summer. Because the regular flu dies off after the cold season ends, they are treating all flu cases right now as swine flu. And, for me, at least, swine flu was different and had a few extra symptoms that you don't get with the regular flu.

I called Chris, who was very concerned and shocked. Our biggest concern was, of course, for Hayden. I had been contagious since Wednesday (one day before symptoms started), and Hayden was with me Wednesday after daycare and all day Thursday. He had been doing typical Hayden things like sticking his fingers in my mouth and feeding me food from his plate. I called his pediatrician, who told me they would not provide preventative Tamiflu for him but only would give him Tamiflu if he actually got the virus. They told me to keep him away from me. I was upset about having to stay away from him, and it definitely threw me for a loop that they wouldn't go ahead and give him Tamiflu. I knew God was in control. Chris would pick Hayden up from daycare and meet my mom, who would stay in a hotel with him to protect my brother's family from getting the virus.

It is so unfortunate how the media has depicted swine flu, because you usually only hear about the extreme doom and gloom cases. Don't dare google about a toddler getting swine flu...it will make you worried sick. Now granted, swine flu made me feel really bad, but I have definitely been much sicker with the regular flu, especially before the wonderful days of Tamiflu. That doesn't mean we should throw caution to the wind and start attending swine flu parties. Have y'all heard about this by the way? Crazy, pure insanity. Look it up if you haven't heard about swine flu parties. Anyway, there are people who get a mildish to regular case of swine flu who might pass it on to someone else that might get really, really, really sick. Elderly, children under 5, and people with pre-existing conditions like asthma are at the biggest risk from getting extremely sick, and there is no vaccine yet to provide us with any immunity. So, that is why they advise so much caution.

Luckily, Chris and Hayden stayed pretty much in the clear. On Saturday, Chris had some of the initial headache and no energy symptoms that I had, but he never got the fever or the other symptoms of the swine flu. The Tamiflu prevented him from getting it, and luckily, Hayden has been just fine. After the hotel stay Friday night, he and my mom went to her house Saturday and have been there since.

Besides being sick and feeling real yucky, the quarantine has been one of the hardest things about this. There are really only so many things you can do when you are banished to your house, but it has been nice to catch up on my sleep and sleep late. If the fever stays away until 4 o'clock today, the quarantine will be over. I still don't feel 100%, but I know that seeing my little boy will make me feel so much better that I won't care about the few symptoms that I still might have. Chris stayed at home from work today to prevent taking some of my swine flu germs up there, and if all goes well today, Chris plans on picking Hayden up from daycare late this afternoon and bringing him home finally! :o)

According to my doctor, he expects the number of swine flu cases to increase drastically since school is starting. Apparently, Mississippi State University is getting hit hard by it right now. So, wash your hands and be safe. And, if you get sick, stay away from people just in case! Oh, and don't go around kissing any pigs or eating too many ribs...you can just send the ribs along to me! :o)

Look at Hayden go!

I never knew that a parent could be so happy about walking! Being mobile at such a young age and being an early crawler led me to believe that Hayden would walk early, too. Nine months rolled around and people started asking if he was walking. Now granted, he was a nine month old who was the size of a 15 month old...so he probably looked like he ought to be walking. But, of course, parent worry set in, and I began to think he needed to start walking. I would stand him up, and PLOP! He would fall right down and go back to his business and was as happy as he could be that he was crawling. I guess I was worried that Hayden might go to college and not walk there or something. Hehehe...

Isn't it funny how we can't control things but we try so desperately to so many times? It doesn't always just have to do with our children, but I must admit that I often see parents trying to control their children's lives. They encourage their child to be the best soccer player or the most popular person in school or keep up with so and so when the child is perfectly content to be in the band or hang out with math nerds or to challenge themselves to be the best they can be rather than keeping up with someone else. Or, some crazy parent might even challenge their child to walk rather than be content to let them develop at their own pace. Hehehe...

Now granted, I have made some huge strides with my control issues, but just when I think I've licked them, my flesh kicks in and those ugly control issues rear their ugly head again. Isn't it funny how when we "let things go," they take care of themselves?

Now, look at him go! Sorry for the obnoxious number of videos, but I am really excited for him! (And me...26 pounds is a lot to carry around.) Hehehe...





I had to remove a toy that was in the way on this one!

Beach Trip 2009

Chris, Hayden, and I are back from a wonderful week long trip to Orange Beach, AL. We went with a big group of people from our church and had a great time. Hayden was able to enjoy the beach much more than his last trip at a mere 6 weeks old, and I was so glad that he loved the beach and the water. I knew he'd either love or hate the sand, and he handled it like a champ. He loved playing and crawling in the sand, and of course, he ate a good bit, too. His hair is white now after being in the sun for a week...he looks like a little surfer boy.

There were lots of birthday celebrations while we were down there. On Monday night, we had a cookout and cupcakes to celebrate Kellan, Chloe, and Hayden's birthdays. Hayden had no idea he was going to get to have another party, and he was even more excited that it involved cupcakes. We celebrated Gran's 60th birthday on Friday with some pies from Sweetie Pie's. I definitely recommend Sweetie Pie's to anyone who visits the area...they are so yummy!

Poor Hayden woke up from his nap on Monday with a fever, so we had to take him to the doctor down there. It was the most interesting/weird doctor's visit I have ever experienced. Anyway, he had the beginning of an ear infection which turned into a full blown ear infection a few days later. That's right...tubes for only 3 days and already an ear infection. Hehehe... Thankfully, we were able to get some medicine and then some ear drops to help him out. Nearly every family that went had a child who was sick or injured down there...it was a very interesting trip. The urgent care doctors got their money out of us Mississippi folks, for sure.

All in all, it was a wonderful trip full of fun fellowship, relaxation, good food, and time away from the hustle and bustle of life. I miss the beach already, but it's always nice to be home, sweet home.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the week.

Here he is playing in the waves. He wasn't always this excited about it, but he got so tickled at the waves that first day.

He's used to the swimming pool in Clinton where he can walk around in the shallow end, but the pool at the beach wasn't that shallow. I had been working with him in the deep end at Clinton, and he did great floating around and swimming by himself.

We took some time Friday evening to take some family pictures. Gran was a great and patient photographer.