Enough Already!

Since my last post where I took the girls to the clinic we have all seen our family doctor twice, had chest x-ray's for Livi and Evelyn, and taken Livi to the ER twice. The second ER visit was not out of necessity. We only have one clinic in our area that is open minimal hours. It was just as easy to go to the ER a second time as it was to wait in a clinic.

Livi and Evie got diagnosed with bronchitis and Sofie with laryngitis at our first GP appointment. Sofie started improving right away. Livi and Evie didn't. I had requisitions for chest x-rays to look for pneumonia. Getting an x-ray of a baby is barbaric! It was so hard for me to watch Evie in their contraption to keep her still. I took them back to the GP on Thursday for the results. He said they probably had allergies and the chest x-ray confirmed asthma. This diagnosis didn't sit well with me...

Why would Evie and Livi still be throwing such high fevers a few times a day if it where just allergies?
Allergies and asthma didn't explain their lethargy unless there was an oxygen saturation issue.

Friday Evie was a mess. Her eyes were red and swallowed in drippy tears. And the snot... oh the snot. So gross. In the afternoon, she had a short nap then woke up for 15 minutes and fell asleep in my arms again... That NEVER happens.  I was officially concerned but still trying to tell myself it was allergies, even though it was raining and should have improved that day.

Saturday, Livi woke up at 8:30am and was asleep on the couch just after 9. We moved her to our bed where she slept until after 12. She woke up and then fell asleep on the couch again right away. I was freaking out by now. We were coming on week 3 of these unpredictable days. Was it going to be a good day or a bad day? Thoughts of rare diseases and cancers came pouring in to my head. I took her to the ER again.

They did tests. Urine, blood and a swab. The diagnosis? A particularly bad strain of the flu, probably H1N1. It all made sense. Even though it means we can't do anything to help them because it's viral, it is an answer that makes sense. I had H1N1 a few years ago which is probably why I'm not sick now. Sofie has a crazy good immune system from her time in the orphanage and may have even had this strain of flu before too. Jon had the vaccine and Evie had half the vaccine a few months ago but I never took her for the second booster, which may be why she is sick but not as bad as Livi. Livi and Sofie and I did not get the vaccine this year. We will be rethinking that for next year though. Livi has asthma which is known to complicate the flu and especially H1N1.

Evie and Livi are on the mend. Evie is doing much better than Livi still. She still has a runny nose and is sleeping a lot more, two 2.5hr naps yesterday and 12-13 hours at night! But otherwise she is acting much more like herself. Livi is still having bouts of fever, weakness and crying. Her nose is still running and she has a nasty cough, but it is less than a week ago. She woke up yesterday screaming in pain because of an ear ache, which led to another trip to the ER since it was 5 am. They sent me home with a prescription for her but advised to hold off as long as possible since it is probably still just viral. Instead I am pumping her full of Tylenol and Advil.

I don't think they are contagious anymore but I do still fell like my house needs a deep clean. We will get there. It may be slow. This is not how I hoped we would be spending their spring break but thankfully they don't know much different. I bought them Frozen today and they are busy enjoying that with popcorn right now. Hopefully I can take them on a playdate and maybe bowling later this week. We are on the mend!