The Flu=Boo :(

Its official...the flu has come to the Long residence. Holt woke up on Saturday with a low grade fever, a cough, and congestion. I called the on call nurse and she said it sounded like a cold and to just watch him but to call if his fever went above 104. Even though he had all these symptoms, Holt acted liked he felt great...playing, laughing, and being his normal happy self. Things took a turn at 3 am that morning and his fever spiked to 103.7. I gave him infant Advil and stayed up with him pretty much the rest of the night because he just couldn't get settled.

The next morning his fever was still 103.3 and he was very fussy. I knew something was up and decided to call the on call nurse anyway even though his fever wasn't 104. They got me a referral to the after hours clinic and we got an appointment for 3:15. Thankfully, Holt slept from about 10:30-2 but when he woke up that afternoon he was on fire and very irritable. Chad and I decided to go early to the doctor. When we got to the doctor, Holt's fever had spiked to 105!!! This mommy was extremely worried.

The nurse immediately gave Holt some more Tylenol while we waited to see the doctor. When the doctor came in, she asked all the routine questions and examined Holt. Holt was so fussy and was hard to calm down (which is not like him at all). The doctor was very quite and I could tell she was trying to observe Holt. I told her that Holt had his first flu shot and was scheduled to have his second one this week. Finally, the doctor spoke and told me she was suspicious of Meningitis. What?!?! My heart sunk and my mind was racing with terrifying thoughts. She said she was going to test for the flu but if it came back negative she was going to send us downtown for a spinal tap. Not to be dramatic, but the 15 minutes it took to get the flu results back felt like hours. I didn't want Holt to be sick with anything but I would take the flu over Meningitis.

The doctor informed us that Holt did indeed have type A flu. She gave us Tamiflu, an antibiotic because his left ear looked a little red, and instructed us to have follow up with our doctor the next day. To be honest, I wish the doctor had just tested for the flu before telling us her concerns about Meningitis. I realize they have to give you all the information but we could have crossed that bridge if the flu test had been negative.

Holt "slept" in our room that night. It was a rough night but his fever broke around 4 am and he slept until about 8 that day. We went for follow up that morning with our doctor and she said to just keep doing what we were doing. I could tell Holt was so much better but he didn't get back to his normal, active, happy self until Tuesday. But just as one was getting better, another was feeling worse and worse. That's right people...Chad was diagnosed with the flu on Tuesday and we are still trying to get him feeling better. Great way to start 2013! I hope everyone feels better soon. I hate seeing my boys so sick.

I hope I'm not next!