Sick

Right now, there are two sick people at home: me, with morning sickness and Sakura with Swine flu. Sakura first, and then me...
We went to church yesterday, a little trepidatious because we'd heard of so many friends who had been having swine flu at home. I listened in sacrament, and heard silence instead of sniffling and coughing and noticed many people were absent. Good, I thought, the sick were smart enough to stay home so we decided to stay for nursery. (that and Sakura threw a fit when I tried to take her past nursery to go home.) At the start of Relief Society, a nursery worker came and got me to change Sakura's diaper. She was talkative and happy and playing. 15 minutes later, I heard her screaming in the hall, and came out. I was told she just started crying for no reason and wouldn't stop and she was feeling a little warm, so maybe she was coming down with something. I figured she was hot from all the crying and was crying because she was constipated. We sat on the couch in the foyer and she stopped crying and started looking listless. She was getting hotter, not cooler as I expected, so I grabbed Chad and we headed home. We took her temperature and it was 102. She was shaking and crying and complaining of being cold. Definitely the flu and since it's too early for seasonal flu, there's only one culprit: swine flu. Chad immediately looked up the dosage for tamiflu for a 2 year old, wrote a prescription, and headed to the pharmacy. (this is one of the only instances where Chad could legally write a prescription for a family member.) They only had adult doses and would need to prepare a suspension for Sakura, so it was going to be a few hours. By the time it was ready, Sakura was up from her short nap and her fever was raging, despite the tylenol we had given her. We took her temp under her arm, because she wouldn't let me near her mouth and it was 104. (it is the least accurate way to take temperature and is usually .5-1 degree less than actual temperature.) She got tamiflu and more tylenol and we tried to get her to eat or drink something. She would only take a few sips and then would lay there, breathing heavily, radiating heat, and heart racing; completely listless and unresponsive to anything except to cry when she didn't want something. After a few hours, her temperature was down to 100 and she was a little more responsive. Then she threw up and I grabbed a hanky and wrapped it around my face so I wouldn't join her. She lay quietly for a little while longer, but was obviously feeling better when she asked for a sandwich. Since she's been on the tamiflu, her temperature has been over 100 but has not gotten as high as it had and she has had more periods of chatting and eating and drinking (though not back to normal). I am certainly grateful that Chad was able to get the tamiflu for her right away. While he may be gone all the time, there are some wonderful benefits as well.
So what does all this mean for me? Well, getting the flu at this stage in pregnancy is not good. It can result in miscarriage or birth defects because of the high fever. So far I'm fine (my hands are chapped from washing them, but no fever so far) except for the morning sickness. It wasn't bad, but has picked up and will probably steadily get worse until I start losing weight from throwing up all the time or simply not eating, but then will steadily decline until I'm fine again. But we are all going to be eating a lot of sandwiches and take-out for a while until cooking smells (or any strong smells) stop making want to puke. Ah, the joys of motherhood. ;)

UPDATE: Sakura is doing well on the tamiflu - her fever has not gone above 100 in the last 24 hours and she is acting like herself again - tantrums and all! She's eating and drinking again and snacking on ice. :) I'm certainly grateful for modern medicine, priesthood blessings, and a husband who can administer both!