Editor’s Note: This column originally published March 1, 2016.
Six days. Six days have passed and finally both of my children are fever free. I wasn’t sure if this day would come.
I knew we might have some problems when I dropped them off at daycare a week ago and my provider told me several kids were out sick with the flu. She then said most of them had been down and out for several days, some up to a week.
I took a deep breath, crossed my fingers and hoped we would be OK. Well, none of that worked and the next day my youngest daughter’s temperature was climbing in the thermometer, and I knew we were in for it.
I held on to small pieces of hope my oldest daughter would plow through and not be taken down, even though she is surrounded by kids every day at school who have been sick or probably had siblings who had been sick. My hopes were dashed the next day when she woke up with a fever as well.
Every other time my girls have been sick, there has been an obvious reason. Ear infection, pink eye and bronchitis just to name a few. Those can all be treated with medication and we are usually back to healthy in a couple of days.
Not this flu. The only symptom the girls had was a fever. That made them tired and not very excited to eat anything. I was quite successful in maintaining their liquid intake through juice, water and chocolate milk.
Three days passed and I thought we were doing quite a bit better. My youngest didn’t have a fever and my oldest was pretty chipper, so off to activities they went. It wasn’t but a few hours later they ended up right back in bed and medicine and sleep waiting for them.
After our brief setback, I decided bed rest or at least staying home and resting was in order. My husband was in charge over the weekend and had strict orders to stay home, try to get them to eat and rest as much as possible.
I have to say he did a pretty good job as reports back included many naps, early bed times and meals that consisted of more than a chip or one bite of an apple.
As the new week approached, both girls seem to be on the mend and ready to get back to normal activities. Both were sent out into the world, and I just hope they don’t bring back the newest bug for another round.
One bright spot for this mommy while her kiddos were sick was the extra cuddles that I get, this time two at a time. I hate when they are down and out because they are so much more fun and happy when they can run around and get excited about the littlest things. But have a girl on each side wanting to be right up next to you is pretty sweet, too.
Contact Jamee A. Pierson
at jpierson@newtondailynews.com