Seriously though

I'm sitting here aimlessly surfing the 'net and listening to the breathing of my little munchkins, hoping they sleep well and can rest. My last post may have been a bit sarcastic regarding the dreaded H1N1 "swine" flu, but it has been no laughing matter at my house. Last weekend Holden came down with a high fever after church, and before I'm tarred and feathered, he was fine before he went. Anyway, Monday he started puking and running an uncontrollable fever. Later that day and into the evening, Haiden and Skylar joined him in illness. Holden went to the dr. Monday, Haiden on Tuesday, all 3 on Thursday. Here we are, now almost a week later and they are still running fevers, Holden is being dehydrated, Haiden is still puking, she is coughing so hard she can't breathe, and Sky is getting well but trying to get as much out of it as he can. I know he's getting better because all he wants to do is eat everything then complain it isn't what he wants. Thursday we were told that Holden HAD to drink more and urinate every 12 hours or he had to have IV fluids. I personally am not opposed to that. In fact, I favor it. It is hard to get a sick kid to drink. IV's aren't that bad and he'd be fine to sit for a few hours while getting some much needed saline drip in him. But, they still sent us home with instructions to make him drink small amounts every 30 minutes, and observe his urine. I think they like to punish the parents. We were also told to return if they were running fevers after 5 days. It has now been more than 5 days, BUT they aren't open tomorrow!!! They didn't say what to do if the kids were still sick over the weekend. So I'm unsure how concerned to be. Dear Haiden is puking again, after starting to get well and that concerns me very much. I don't know if it's the coughing that is making her puke or the virus. I am afraid she is developing pneumonia, as I thought I detected a faint crackle in her lungs when I used my stethoscope on her. I guess I keep her as healthy as possible until Monday when I can call the Dr. again. I guess the blessing in all of this is that we have met our family OOP deductible so it won't add too much to our medical bills. I only hope we get well soon! I'm tired of this mess!

Also, I'm doing fantastic and recovering quite well from my little surgery. I'm up and moving and shopping and cooking and cleaning and bending and some light lifting and even drove a few times when I had no other choice. I'm sure my dr. would kill me for it, but I am feeling well. I am trying not to over do things, but it's difficult with 4 kids. You can only take off so much time when you are the mom before the family decides they can't wait to need you anymore! I am so blessed for a wonderful husband who took care of me and the kids. I am blessed with wonderful neighbors who helped with the kids and meals. I am blessed with family who have helped with the kids and driving all over town for the last few weeks running my kids all over. I am blessed with a father who holds the priesthood and could give me a blessing of health and strength. These things have made my last few weeks so much easier, and I appreciate them very much. Now to just get over this dang flu!