The flu and other illness

So last weekend all 7 of us woke up sick on Sunday. Ray had a pretty good fever going on, I had a sore throat, Logan had a fever, the twins had horrible coughs, and I can't remember what Chase and Rylee were feeling. The twins cough was making me pretty nervous though. They were coughing hard enough that I was starting worry that it could be pertussis. I kept a close eye on them and on Monday I took them in to the pediatrician. The doc said he didn't think it was pertussis, which was a relief to me, but he wondered if it could be RSV. That was not what I wanted to hear. I had been trying so hard to avoid this from happening because I did not want to see them that sick and to also go through the hospital again. So he decided to do a nasal swab and have it tested for RSV and some other viruses and we would know by the next day. Well, low and behold, Brooke has RSV, para influenza (bronchiolitis), and rhinovirus. Abby got off a little better and only has the para influenza (bronchiolitis). The doc said to keep a close on them and watch their breathing. Thankfully throughout the week they seem to be making progress and their coughs are sounding a little better.

But as for the rest of the family, we've been put through the ringer. Ray kept his fever for 4 days and a nasty cough. I finally convinced him to go to the doc and he got a steroid to help with the cough and gross nose, but still ended up missing the whole week of school. Logan also fevered for about 4 days but didn't get the cough. We had to keep him home for 24 hours after his symptoms went away to send him back to school cause there's an epidemic of this horrible flu going around. On the news they say that hospitals are turning people away cause they're all full and doctor's offices are packed all day. The week before Rylee had an ear infection and all of the doc's offices were closed because of the New Year's so I took her to the Instacare and it was a 2 1/2 hour wait! Anyways, so after Ray and Logan quit being sick, Rylee and Chase both woke up with fevers on Friday. I also didn't feel great on Friday, but it didn't fully hit me until Saturday, but man oh man did it knock me on my hiney. The hardest part of me being sick was not being able to take care of the twins. Since we were all being sick and with the twins being very susceptible to everything, I quarantined them to their room and only I was allowed in there cause at the time I wasn't sick. But since I got sick, Ray had to step in and has been doing it all for me. It's been really hard to not hold or see them, but it's also been fun to see Ray bonding with them.

All in all, it's been a rough week and I'm really looking forward to all of us getting back to good health so we can act like a whole family again!