still have a fever

The boys are back at school. Oona went to daycare yesterday. Gemma stayed home but seems to be on the mend. Eric still hasn't gotten sick in spite of high stress levels and sleepless nights. And I still have a fever. That is pretty much my only symptom besides a minor sore throat - no cough, I can breathe through my nose, no headache. Just a fever and I'm really really frustrated about it! How long can a fever last for? Today is day 9.

sickness update

The boys are back at school today with no fevers. Patrick had a bit of a weird cough this morning but no fever so I let him go. Eric still hasn't gotten sick and I'm extremely envious. Oona has a mildly drippy nose and no fever. Gemma woke up with her eyes glued shut and a very very green goopy nose, though no fever. She has a doctor's appointment at 4 pm. And I still have a fever - day 7. I asked the nurse at the pediatrician's if I should make an appointment for me at my doctor's if I've had a fever for seven days and she thought I really should. So I have an appointment at 3:15 at the same place my husband has gone for his annual blood work checks. I don't have a doctor outside of my ob/gyn, though I guess I do now. Maybe I'll get my cholesterol checked, etc. I usually don't go for what western medicine has to offer and am generally healthy anyways so haven't had a primary care doctor. But if you need antibiotics you need them and I'm half hoping that I need them just because I want to feel better already.

I just so want to return to real life. I was feeling better yesterday and was absolutely convinced that I would wake up with a normal temp this morning. I was so sad when I read the thermometer this morning. It was almost normal yesterday afternoon. But I've been shivery and hot and then I feel fine and then I feel awful. It is very strange. And I'm pissed off and depressed and annoyed and sad. I want to knit with my friends. I want my girls to be able to play with their friends. I want to go to work. I want to clean my house. I want to be able to go to the grocery store. I want to go for walks. I want to be healthy! Please?

The family that gets sick together, stays together, right?

I started to write about when we had which colds or sicknesses this month but I don't think I could keep track of it all. I know there was a weekend where all six of us had a cold and we sat around our increasingly messy family room and watched movies. Then this past weekend and this week we've all, except for my husband, been hit with Influenza A which is assumed to be the H1N1 virus or in other words the Swine Flu. I'm still confused about whether Oona and Gemma had a cold last weekend or if they had the flu or if they're getting the flu now but their cases are more mild than their brothers which could be the case since they're both taking Tamiflu. Both Oona and Gemma went to my friend's house to be babysat last Saturday, in spite of the fact that Gemma had a goopy nose and Oona had a low grade fever all weekend. Nobody in my friend's family have gotten sick which makes me think Oona and Gemma just had a cold. But then even this week, their fevers haven't been as high as their brothers who have had fevers up to 102. Anyway, the general report is that this flu is like a flu but is not that big of a deal and though we all feel gross, we're not close to needing to be hospitalized or anything. The boys got sick on Sunday and have been out of school four days. We spent $100 in co-pays at the doctor with all four kids at the doctor at once in one room (an adventure, let me tell you...) on Monday and then another $200 in prescriptions - Tamiflu for all six of us, cough syrup with codeine, and Oona also had an ear infection and wheezing in her lungs so she got antibiotic and nebulizer treatments. I've cancelled two days of work. And we've watched The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Shrek, Shrek 2, Princess Diaries, Monsters Inc, Incredibles, etc, ad nauseum in an attempt to get healthy - resting in front of the TV. I'm looking forward to swallowing without it hurting. But other than that, could be worse! And we have had a lot of family bonding time...

Also, I finished a cowl (knitting) and a wrap/shawl (crochet). Sorry I don't have picture yet. I already gave the cowl to its recipient and the wrap/shawl needs some serious blocking before pictures will do it justice.

Best in health to all and if you do get the flu, fluids and rest and vitamin c and tylenol so you can sleep and medical intervention if necessary. I think the news reports have been really scary about H1N1 but from where I'm sitting, it's not so very terrible, not worse than the regular flu, and now I'm getting immunity which is a good thing.

turns in the road

We are drowning, or at least swimming, in, excuse the grossness, snot. All six of us (still boggles my mind that the number is six) are either sick or recovering from being sick right at the moment. I think I might hit a world record on number of tissues used between me, Gemma, and Oona. My recent project of fall cleaning - deep cleaning the whole house, yikes - is on hold until I feel better and we're existing in a very messy room with a movie on the TV. Thus, I'm writing on my blog, which has been sorely neglected of late.

We have also had new beginnings here. Jack started high school - a freshman - this year. Patrick started middle school. Gemma got a new teacher at her preschool/daycare. Oona has completely weaned (mostly a really good feeling, a little nostalgic and missing it but not too much.) Eric officially began as Associate Professor (a promotion). And I, Gretchen, started my first class in my planned very long journey towards becoming a craniosacral-doing-mid-wife. It will most likely take about ten years to accomplish that goal which is okay because then the girls will be old enough to understand when I'm not home in the middle of the night. I do have some hesitation about that part of the job. That and the giving shots part and having fellow students learn how to give shots with me being the guinea pig. I'm a bit squeamish about getting shots. But that has mellowed a lot since I've had babies. Anybody else noticed how having babies changes your life?

I had my first day of class yesterday. I got there early as did a whole bunch of other students. Nobody looked at each other or spoke. Everybody stared towards the front of the classroom, notebooks out, pens at the ready. That was a strange experience making me wonder what age people learn to strike up conversations with people around them and I also had flashbacks to being that age and not feeling comfortable talking to strangers, even if they were my peers. Strange. I wore a recently purchased backpack which helped me blend in. I don't think I looked obviously old. Of course, when I gave my husband a kiss, I felt like I had to explain that he wasn't having an affair with an undergrad - he's just married to one... Something about having that backpack on made me look and feel fifteen. I look young for my age anyway but that backpack was a clincher. The department head of the History department, who we've had to dinner at our house, didn't even recognize me as I passed him in the hallway. All of this brings on a bit of an identity crisis with how to be an older student at a school with students mostly in their late teens and early twenties. I'm good at identity crises though, having had many, complete with the question of "What do I wear?" How many times have I had the recurring dream of going through my closet and not finding anything to wear. For some reason when I'm trying to figure out how I fit into a new role, this time being an undergrad again, I start with wondering what in the world should I wear? What kind of clothes will overlap being a wife, a mother, a massage therapist and an undergrad student and will still somehow reflect me?

Life really does seem like an endless stream of transitions. I, for one, haven't felt like I go in one direction long before there's a turn in the road. I wonder when the next turn will be...