H1N1 in the house

On Monday Baby DIVA popped a fever. Pretty high hitting 104 at times, but not too alarming. Baby DIVA doesn't get fever often, but when she does she tends to have high temps. By Wednesday morning we had no relief, so I decided we best head into the peds. Fevers always get a Dr check in my world. Especially for a kiddo who rarely has them. Poor Baby DIVA.

The office was packed. All the tots in our great city seem to be sporting snotty noses and fevers and various other "cold" symptoms. Fun times. "Sniffle sniffle, no momma. Whine", was common sound while waiting for our name to be called. I was most impressed that Baby DIVA continued to feel sick and even kept her fever for the Dr appt. Most peds appt's usually make me look like and idiot. you know, a really sick kid miraculously recovers for the 15 minutes you are at the Dr, only to have a full "relapse" on the way home. Not this time though. Dr was able to see all her symptoms in full force and assured me something was definitely up.

We had a look over, checked for bunnies in her ears, birds in her throat and swabbed her nose for ugly green monsters. The verdict rolled in shortly after...H1N1. Swine Flu. Awesome! How the heck did we catch that? Not something you ever want to hear, especially about your Baby DIVA or while you are pregnant with a Critter.

A round of Tamiflu for my tiny tot and a round of Tamiflu for myself and Critter2 have now commenced. Baby DIVA seems to somewhat be doing better. Her fever is going down, but she is still whiney and miserable. This morning she only wanted to wear her favorite TUTU while being sickly on the couch. Unfortunately she barfed all over it and a wardrobe change was necessary. Now she snoozes and Momma sure hopes she wakes up fever free and feeling better.

We did receive Flu vax this year, so mommas keep your kiddos safe and clean their noses and hands! Germs are out in full force!

Snot, Fevers and a trip to the ER

Sick Baby and H4L

Baby DIVA has not been feeling well at all. We initially had that Hand, Foot and Mouth crap that knocked us down for a few days, resulting is us missing a fun filled weekend of parties, playdates and more, oh my!. Then she felt better for like 5 minutes only to be shut down with a fever last Wednesday, low grade but a fever no less. Low fever evolved into a 102 fever and some nasty green boogs joined in on the party. These boogers made Baby DIVA miss another fabulous party and the send off party to her cousin who is in the National Guard. BOO!!

These Green boogs are quite persistent, despite their eviction notice, and have been so mean to my darling Baby DIVA. The weekend was rough with fevers never getting below 102 despite Tylenol, Motrin, baths, fluids, everything under the sun that everyone on FB, my moms group, my 12th cousin 17 times removed by marriage to my 55th second cousin suggested. Sunday night fevers were tinkering on the 104 area. Pediatrician was disturbed. Spent Sunday night giving my child a need for therapy in the future: Poking a probe in her butt every few hours to steal her temperature, while she was trying to sleep.

Toe poke to check CBC

Monday morning first thing wee whipped on into the peds office. Dr. K was not in so we saw one of her colleagues. A lovely lady who makes the cool little bird sound when peering into the black holes of Baby DIVA's ears. ( I recall this from my childhood, and so I find it pleasing that some dr's still do this). Ears clear. Throat Clear. Tummy Clear. Lungs clear. CBC clear. Snot present. Fever present. Dr says we have a virus. Give her fluids. Give her Tylenol. Give her Motrin. Give her baths and keep her well hydrated. Call back if new symptoms come up or if her temp reaches 105. And off we are sent, to isolation of Pink Haired Momma house.

Waiting at the peds

Now if you recall we are working on two weeks now of isolation in Pink Haired Momma land. HF&M, and now a second something. Baby DIVA is about ready to go insane with all this momma time. Or is it Pink Haired Momma is going to go insane? Oh who cares!!

Back to Monday...4:30pm rolls around and Baby DIVA is especially hot, cranky and miserable. Tylenol and Motrin are not doing anything to ease the pain. A probe up the butt reveal 105!! Bags are packed and we are off the the ER.

We arrive at the ER, it is packed as anticipated. I am armed with juice, snacks, toys both for Baby DIVA and H4L. Baby DIVA is on fire. Triage is a joke. The nurses made us feel like the most incompetent parents or rather humans on the face of the planet. Anything we told them we had done, they said was wrong. Anything we said our peds told us to do they said was wrong. They gave her a double dose of Tylenol (which I don't really like) and told us to go park it in the waiting room for an hour, they would re take her temp then and decide if there was anything they could do for us, oh and the wait after that would be about 6 hours. By the way temp at this point is 105.

The double dose did seem to help. Baby DIVA became alert and started to want to play some. Well the green boogs and i guess the excitement of having a break from intense fever caused her to barf all over the waiting room floor. H4L went to tell the nurse. 1 so they would know a 17 month old with a 105 fever is barfing and 2 so we could get some help in cleaning up bodily fluids off the waiting room floor. Over 30 minutes later H4L is still standing over the barf, waiting patiently for cleanup. 4 people were notified. I took baby DIVA back in for her temp check and it was 99.9. Nurse said there was nothing more they could do for us. I had a few choice words and loaded my family up to go home, leaving the barf to fend for itself.

Double dose may have worked but as soon as 4 hours past Baby DIVA's fever is right back up. Today she is getting some slight relief in between Motrin doses. She gets about 2 hours of temps low enough that she can smile and play the nits sleep and high fevers again. Not hitting 105 today either, thank goodness.

I have no idea what is going on with Baby DIVA. I am so frustrated that everyone keeps telling me it is a virus and we have to ride it out. That is fine for a couple of days but we have had fever of 102 or higher for 7 days!! That's way too long if you ask me! And going to the ER is just a crock! UGH!

Please keep my Baby DIVA in your thoughts! This fever needs to obey its eviction order!!

Polka Dot Baby DIVA

A view of the nasty "Polka Dots" covering Baby DIVA's Feet, hands, and mouth.

I told you this last Friday that Baby DIVA was in lock down due to the yucky creepy bug known as Herpangina. Well that was in the early part of the day Friday. By 6pm, Baby DIVA broke out in this hideous rash all over her feet, then up her legs some, followed by her hands and then all around her mouth. This is happened in about a 10 minute time period.

I immediately jumped on the phone and packed my bag. I just knew the pediatrician was going to want us to whisk baby DIVA to the CDC and all hell would break loose. Then reality grabbed a hold of me and I calmly talked to the nurse and it was determined that my Baby DIVA has Hand-Foot-Mouth disease . UGH!

Hand-Foot-Mouth disease . Nice. Couldn't just be a sniffle or a ear ache, nope she has to have something weird, although common amongst the day care crowd, funky nonetheless. We began to tease Baby DIVA calling her the Polka Dot DIVA. Her mood was fabulous. Smiles and giggles with the occasional whine and cranky buttness, but overall I am really proud that she kept happy spirits.

H4L and I made sure Polka Dot DIVA was incredibly comfortable and then I went to work; Searching the net for everything I could find about this illness. Using Facebook to interrogate my friends and family about anything they may know, hitting my moms group like a crazed lady requesting reinforcements STAT. All this lunatic mom behavior paid off. Very quickly I had a list, survival guide rather, to Foot hand and Mouth, and I was off to the store to stock up:

Tylenol
Gentian Violet
Oragel
Pedialtye

Just to name a few goodies on my list. Armed with my arsenal of attack I returned home to find Polka Dot DIVA snoozed, for the night. WHEW!

The weekend went on without a hitch. We had bouts of cranky butt, happy smiles, giggles, moments of fire butt, because as we learned this illness also brings on the runny poo's, LOVELY! But overall Polka Dot DIVA is doing fabulous. She has basked in the constant 24 hour attention from mom and dad. Found herself at the center of the world and is so not wanting to give up her new found fame. We kept to ourselves and cancelled all of our weekend plans, dates, play sessions, parties, you name it. Although we are a loving and GIVING family, we just couldn't share this with the world. Selfish maybe! LOL

Update

Okay so Baby DIVA does not have Herpangina.

Instead we have developed hand, foot, mouth disease.

No fun!

Will post more later!

Lock down! We have Herpangina!

Baby DIVA is prone to fevers. Throughout her lengthy 16 almost 17 months of life she was spiked many fevers, in the middle of the night always, which resulted in this Pink Haired Momma parked at the peds office first thing the next morning. Only to discover there was nothing wrong with Baby DIVA, her temp had returned to normal and she made mom out to be a huge worry wort first time mom idiot, time and again.

So this Wednesday night, oh about 245am Baby DIVA screeched and the house awoke abruptly. A touch of her head revealed fever. The thermometer only proved my suspicion. A dose of Tylenol and playtime in the living room resulted in a slightly later than normal morning wake up Thursday morning. I assumed the fever would disappear as usual and we would continue on our lives.

No such luck. Mr. Fever hung out on and off throughout the day. Whines came and went. Friday morning brought us more fevers, so off we went to see the pediatrician. Of course Baby DIVA was full of life, smiles, and giggles, no signs what-so-ever of being sick while we were at the peds office, except for a red throat, a bit of ear pressure and some sores in her mouth.

Hmmm. Weirdness to me. The pedi Dr. poked and prodded a bit. Laughed with Baby DIVA asked a few probing questions of me and then decided to run a couple of tests, strep test, as she said among others. A quick Q-tip to the throat, one pissed off Baby DIVA and 10 minutes later Dr comes back in to share with us the fate of Baby DIVA's red throat.

Dr.: "Strep is negative, but it appears to be her vagina"
ME: "Excuse me Her Vagina what"?????? We stuck a Q tip in her mouth, atop her body, not below!!!
Dr.: "No sorry hun, HERPANGINA"
ME: "What the heck is that?"

The lovely pediatrician passed me a handout she had printed out explaining this ailment my daughter so graciously contained.

"Herpangina is a viral infection of the back of the mouth. The main symptoms include sore throat and pain swallowing, fever for 2-7 days, small ulcers surrounded by a red ring on the roof of the mouth and near the tonsils. And is very contagious."

Lovely.
Poor Baby DIVA. Fevers. Soreness. Blisters. My poor poor baby!
So we are on lockdown. All playdates, events and parties to be cancelled for the next few days. Baby DIVA must suffer though her virus with doses of mommy and daddy love, Tylenol and lots of center of the world attention. I am betting she doesn't mind too much!

Common Kid Virus

The other night at approximately 1 am, H4L and I were awakened by the shrills of a feverish Baby DIVA. Her temperature was running up near 103, and would not respond to Tylenol or Motrin. Although we were not panicked, it still is so not fun to have a feverish child, especially when you can not get the temp down. So first thing in the morning, we took her to see her peds.

It was there that the doctor brought to our attention a little virus that Baby DIVA may have. It is something I am not familiar with, although it is quite common for this age group. Therefore I want to share it with you, as many of you have children Baby DIVA's age.

It appeared that Baby DIVA had a simple virus known as Roseola. According to the Mayo clinic website, "Roseola is a generally mild infection that usually affects children by age 2. It occasionally affects adults. Roseola is extremely common — so common that most children have been infected with roseola by the time they enter kindergarten."

The symptoms are a fever and a rash. And The Mayo clinic defines the symptoms as such:
Fever. Roseola typically starts with a sudden, high fever — often greater than 103 F (39.4 C). Some children may also have a slightly sore throat, runny nose or cough along with or preceding the fever. Your child may also develop swollen glands in his or her neck along with the fever. The fever lasts for three to seven days.
Rash. Once the fever subsides, a rash typically appears — but not always. The rash consists of many small pink spots or patches. These spots are generally flat, but some may be raised. There may be a white ring around some of the spots. The rash usually starts on the chest, back and abdomen and then spreads to the neck and arms. It may or may not reach the legs and face. The rash, which isn't itchy or uncomfortable, can last from several hours to several days before fading.

Baby DIVA kept her normal happy and vibrant personality blooming all the while she was not feeling so swell. She was a bit testy but nothing out of the ordinary. Her temperature broke and we went on about our lives. A very easy and simple little virus to get through, common, but one to know about anyway. If you want to know more here is the Roseola link at the Mayo clinic!

Blogging while on flu meds

Hi!
Pink Haired Newlywed checking in.

Where have I been? Well my little happy Pink Haired family of 3 caught the nastiest flu EVER!! Great way to spend our second week married huh? Oh and seriously there should be some kind of genetic law that no mom should ever be sick with a fever of 102 or above at the same time as her child and her husband. (and don't forget the other law I think that should be put into place, you know the one that moms should not have to change poopy diapers when they have the stomach bug, if you don't remember just click HERE ). I mean that is just the worst possible scenario EVER!!!

There were several times this week I thought it was the end, begged for it to be the end. My goodness it was terrible. I don't want to influence anyone about their own medical care but let me state something. I have never been one to get a flu shot. I shy away from the idea. I did though get Baby DIVA her flu shot. Not the H1N1, as I do not think there is sufficient research at thus time to inject that into my child, but I did get the regular flu shot for her. H4L and I did not get the shot. Both H4L and I knocked on deaths door all week long while Baby DIVA fevered and snotted it up only for about 48 hours. Coincidence? I don't think so. Flu shots for this family every year from here on out! Seriously! If you are anti flu shot like I was last week, then let me tell you coming from a now first time flu victim. DON'T DO IT!!! Especially if you are a mom. I could barely pull my head up off the pillow this week because of the high fevers and body aches and all the flu symptoms, but I had to in order to take care of my beloved Baby DIVA. Not a predicament I ever want to find myself in again.

Lucky for you I think I am on the mend. Blogging here on a Saturday night dosed up on all kinds of over the counter medicine for cold and flu. None of which even make a dent. My best friend K-Teach has her Baby Shower tomorrow for Baby K, and I can not go. How awful is that? Not as awful as what could happen to her or Baby K if she catches this hellacious flu bug from me!!! I had to cancel Baby DIVA's first year pics this last Friday because we couldn't bear to get out of bed and I sure did not want to expose my fabulous friend and Photographer Jennifer of Jennifer Watkins Photography to this demon on a flu bug.

But now that we are slowly getting better we have some fabulous things to look forward to. Like BABY DIVA TURNING 1 YEAR OLD IN LESS THAN 2 WEEKS!!!! I can not believe my little baby is going to be 1. This year has flown by at warp speed. You always hear those words from parents "Enjoy it because it goes by so fast". You simply blow them off because you too damn tired after waking up all night from baby cries to give a crap about their enjoy it speech. Then you look up and realize you should have taken that extra moment to watch your sweet baby sleep quietly after she so rudely awoke you at 4 in the morning again with a poopy or bottle shrill. So you then spread the word to the next parent you encounter so they don't make the same mistake you did. And they of course look at you like you are stupid and shrug you off in the same exhausted slumber you did previously and so the cycle repeats itself over and over.

On top of the excitement of Baby DIVA and her first birthday...not that anything can top that, I mean Baby DIVA turning 1 is a show stopper all in itself...I have some fabulous reviews and giveaways coming up.
Fair Haven Health Agoo Apparel Relish A masquerade Ebeanstalk Bare Bellies
Just to name a few! As you know I only do reviews of products and services that I have first hand knowledge and experience with. I also give each review 100% of my my time and efforts. The above listed companies are all companies I have firsthand experience with and I look very forward to sharing with you my thoughts and experiences as well as some freebies for you!!!

And of course more importantly, I have GOSSIP!!!! about ME!!! Yep that is right!!! With a destination wedding followed by a hometown reception the very next weekend with some family drama thrown up in the middle of that and a sprinkle of the flu I have not had the opportunity to grace the world wide web with my fabulous wedding stories!!! I can not wait to share! And I even (NOW) have the pictures to accompany the stories!

That all being said, in an over the counter meds induces babble, I am going to go ahead and turn my computer off now. A nightcap of Benadryl cold and flu is in my immediate future and my pillow is calling out my name! But boy it is good to be back!!!

Toilet Bowls STINK

I am dying.

2 weeks until my big day. I have hundreds of things to do. I have "I's" to dot and "t's" to cross. But what am I doing? I am sniffing the inside of m toilet bowls ever hour or so as I barf up my toes! Yep that is right. I managed to catch myself a doozie of a bug. It is nasty. It is gross. I feel awful. I hate barfing! I am being forced to lie in bed or beside my friend nasty smell toilet all day and all night. Poor Baby DIVA wants to play and I can not. I scared her so much she pooped her pants when I heaved yesterday. Possibly sympathy? Ahhhh such a good girl. Moms are not supposed to get sick. It is too hard to be a mom and be sick at the same time. Seriously diaper duty while tummy bug is in full force should be outlawed!!! Maybe I will open a new company, if i ever stop sniffing toilets, that offers SAH moms daycare of their babes while they are sick!!

I am such a super mom! At least when I was pregnant there was a "prize" at the end of the game. Not with this toilet sniffing session. Nope! No prize. Not even a few pounds lost, cause yes I am checking!! I mean if you are are gonna get the barfs right before our wedding at least drop some pounds. Nope!

So I now leave you so that I can go drop my Pink Haired head back in the toilet for some nasty barf sniffs!

Toodles.