A Few Shout Outs

As we're wrapping up this H1N1 business here at the Peapod, (See how confident I am? No one else here is going to catch this thing...) I think it's time to thank a few folks who helped us through the week.

Starting with Aunt/Doctor Becca (my sister). We called her Monday night with the symptoms Brenna showed and she confirmed that it fit the oink-oink pattern. She also suggested we get Carrie out of the house, helped us figure out proper Tylenol/Motrin dosing, and explained to Brenna what exactly a fever is. Because she asked.

Next up - Michael's mom. She was willing to actually enter the sick house and stay with sick kids so Michael could get out. Not once. But twice! Thanks to her, he got to vote, keep a dentist appointment, go for a run, take lesson plans to school, and get groceries. If Daniel hadn't gotten sick too, she was even going to keep Brenna overnight so Michael could return to work.

Nurse Cindy at the doctor's office - We love Nurse Cindy! She is so good with the kids, especially the babies. When she returned Michael's call regarding child #2 with the flu, she was honest about the Tamiflu and, in the end, saved us another visit to the office. And the copay!

And a big shout out to my mom and dad - who let us (Carrie, Daniel, and I) stay with them for a week. Their normally quiet house was filled with happy baby squeals in the morning and mad baby screams at night. They both took turns helping me get Carrie through her 90 minute fussy fit every night. They played with her in the morning before work and they helped take care of her in the evenings. Dad brought his 'firm voice' out for Daniel when I was running low on patience and needing back up. Mom brought home dinner from Ukrops and also gave Carrie her bottle. On Saturday, after we'd been there all week, they were still willing to babysit Carrie so I could go to work. We are grateful they live close by and didn't mind us hanging out till the kids got better.

It's a bit frightening to have an infant so directly exposed to this flu. I'm still constantly checking her for signs of fever. The older two had what appears to be a mild version, but I know this thing can be awful. We're grateful to everyone who helped us through the week ... Carrie came through ok and that was most important!