We got "the Gunk"!

My little family has been SO sick!  It started last Sunday night when Alix complained of a headache before bed.  She had been playing  and wasn't sure she wanted to go to school the next morning, so I thought it was just an excuse.  Then she woke up in the middle of the night and started throwing up-- obviously she wasn't faking it...

Alix stayed home from school Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday with high fever, body aches, head aches, etc.  By Thursday she was fine and could have gone to school, but Tim and I were at the 

hospital with Bethany for her surgery, and my mom wasn't prepared for the fight it would have taken to get Alix to go.  In her mind she was still sick, so it was definitely easier to let her stay home.  I am not terribly concerned about it since Alix is already ahead of where she is "supposed" to be :)

We talked to Bethy's surgeon about it and since she hadn't had any symptoms he said we should go ahead with the surgery.  We obviously did.

By Thursday night Bethany had a fever, but they told us to expect that as it is the body's natural defense to trauma- ie the surgery...

Miriam refused to admit she was sick.  She disappeared for a little while and this is where we eventually found her, asleep on the recliner :)

 Her fever would come and go as we gave her the pain medication the doctor had prescribed (whole 'nother post on that one!) since the Loritab had Tylenol in it too, but it stayed pretty low.

Friday Tim came home from work and felt really crappy.  The first thing he did when he got home was fill the jetted tub with the hottest water he could get from the tap.  He said his bath was the first time all day he was warm.  The jets also helped a bit with the aches, but he still felt pretty bad.  He rested with the three younger kids while Alix and I went to the fabric store to get batting for the Christmas quilts

 I've been working on.  While there I got a call Bethany's fever was up over 101, which according to the instructions we'd been given meant possibility of infection and taking her back to the hospital.

When I called and talked to the hospital they told us what to look for beyond fever, but they weren't concerned, especially since other members of the family had fever too.

By Friday night, Tim was really sick.  Saturday Bethany started throwing up which was really bad.  Not only was the throwing up really painful with her


throat, but it also meant she wasn't keeping down her pain medication.  By the afternoon Tim was feeling a lot better, but Miriam, Jonathan, and I were sick too.  I was just REALLY grateful that even though neither of us felt great, Tim and I felt our worst at different times.  That made caring for sick kids a whole lot easier!   By Sunday morning Jonathan was really bad and I ended taking him to urgent care.  His gunk had turned into croup... fortunately the doctor was able to give him some medicine that helped the swelling....

            

By Monday Tim went back to work, Alix went back to school, Miriam was doing a lot better.  Jonathan was still coughing really bad, but the bark had gone away.  But sweet Bethany was still absolutely miserable.  Her fever was staying up in the 102 range even with her medication.  The doctor at the hospital gave me more instructions over the phone, but when it  got to 103 in the early hours of Tuesday morning, I decided a phone consultation wasn't enough to ease my mind.  I took her in to see her regular pediatrician, but there were no signs of infection to be worried about. 

 

 A few hours after we got home from the doctor's office, this rash appeared.  One more thing Bethany had to deal with.... Fortunately it didn't seem to bother her at all.  It looked really bad, bit it wasn't itchy or painful. 



When I took her back to the doctor later in the week she said it was Roseola.  A virus that causes a high fever followed by a very characteristic rash.  Since the incubation period is 9-10 days, we figure she must have been exposed to it when we went to her pre-surgery class at the hospital.  We have no idea where else she would have picked it up.... Now we're just hoping the others don't end up with it, especially since it would put them sick right at Christmas.

This last picture was taken while the girls were "watching" Little Einsteins.  They both fell asleep, and I thought it was funny that they were in the exact same position :)