H1N1 flu, be careful!

Just days after my last blog post stating I'm fine and Tommy is fine, here I am landed in the hospital with "swine flu". Since I'm left with quite a bit of time on my hands, I thought I would go through my experience so far and also give you the info. I've gotten from my doctor about how NOT to get it. Trust me, you don't want to get it!

When I first heard about this flu I never thought I would get it. I never get sick. I want all of you to know that you most certainly can get it, and quite easily as it's passed from person to person with ease. All you need to do to get it is be in the same room with someone as they sneeze or cough, or touch something an infected person has touched and then transfer it through eating or even blowing your nose!

Swine flu can last a MONTH. Typically it lasts about 7 days for your average joe, but if your immune system is down for any reason, or if you're pregnant (yipee for me!) it can last much longer. You can have it for a good week and not know it, but that's a good amount of time for the virus to grow and mature and then WHAM! You wake up with the full blown symptoms. You won't even know what hit you.

The best way to stay flu free is to wash your hands as frequently as possible. Don't eat, drink, rub your face or eyes unless you've washed your hands. If someone sneezes, cover your nose and mouth and get out of the room. Of course, if someone you live with gets it, my serious advice is to stay out of the house until that person is most definitely well. You will get it, no question! Justin has coughed on all surfaces in our house, and no matter how clean I tried to keep everything, Tommy and I still have gotten it. Tommy's symptoms arrived today. Luckily kids have gotten over it much faster than adults and he is still his playful self. He is running a fever, which is sometimes the first symptom. For me, it was a cough.

Please pray for my family! Justin still has it and Tommy is just starting it, my poor baby. And be careful! It can't spread anymore if we are all aware of how to stay clear of it!

Sickness has hit our house!

Where do I begin! Our little family has been plagued by illness for about the last month. Started out as a small cold for all of us. First Tommy, then Justin, and finally me. Tommy got over it in about two days, and it didn't really seem to bother him. Justin got it pretty bad, and actually got sent home from work for two days. His cough has been lingering for the past couple weeks and now the full symptoms have returned with a vengeance.

Here he is in our bedroom, trying to sleep it off. Luckily he got another 3 days off this week to start feeling better. You can hate me for this picture later, Justin. :)

Tommy has managed to stay healthy through all of this, and I have only the normal pregnancy sickness. I threw up for the first time last night, so I can see the fun is just beginning! I live on animal crackers, watered down juice, and the occasional bowl of cereal. The upside to all of this is that our food bill has gone down some. No one but Tommy feels up to eating these past few days. I just try to remind myself that getting sick every now and then is healthy, and things can only get better once you're past the worst of it.

I have to admit the hardest part of all this is trying to figure out whose water bottle belongs to whom, since I don't want this spreading around. I found a sharpie fixes that problem beautifully.