It happened. I never leave as I said in a previous post. We hibernate during flu season with winter babies. But I mean we do see people. and i always let other people hold the baby because its important for him to be able to go to someone besides me so that I can run errands, go back to work, and to decrease stress for him around others.
He was 7 weeks old when my daughters birthday came, which was Superbowl. We had a family party, just uncles, aunts, and grandparents on that Saturday and we had some friends over on Superbowl who all have small children and babies so we figured they too would be flu conscious. I put hand sanitizer on ever surface and asked that everyone just wash their hands when handling the baby.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions. And my good intentions were not rewarded.
My mother in law, unwittingly, brought the flu to us. She didn't have symptoms until Monday. I didn't know she had it and started feeling dizzy and developed a cough on Tuesday. Tuesday night my husband informed me 'ohh mom has the flu.' I freaked. I went immediately to urgent care and demanded a flu test which they thought was crazy because I didn't have flu symptoms. Well,I tested positive for the flu. I started to cry and asked what to do about the baby. I started tamiflu. I called the pediatrician for advice. I kept breastfeeding, disinfected the house top to bottom, worse a mask, washed my hands constantly, applied hand sanitizer as well for good measure.
I started to feel better and continued to wear a mask. My husband sealed our fate though one week after I got sick. He declares that the baby didn't get it. That afternoon he had discharge in his eye. I called the doctor. They said ohh its nothing if there's no fever. That night he came down with a high fever and we were sent by our pediatrician to the Emergency Room. A bunch of tests later, he also tested positive for the flu. It was so scary. We had to check in with the pediatrician. He developed a ear infection and every time he sneezed, coughed, snorted, whined I jumped. I would not take my eyes off of him. Grandparents came in to help watch him so I could do basic things because I was unwilling to even go to the bathroom without eyes on him. I was so scared he would choke or his airway would block and he would die. I was scared his fever would shoot up if i wasn't checking him constantly and he would have a seizure. I've said it before, I'm a worrier. But he is a toughy and we made it. We are both on the mend and I cant believe how well it went. I don't recommend it of course but the doctor said we had a best case scenario and its because we caught it so early and got him on Tamiflu early.
The following week my mother in law tested positive for the OTHER strain of flu. I politely told her we wouldn't be seeing her any time soon. I cant handle going through that again. But my worst fears were realized and we survived. We basically lost the month of February to illness but I can't complain because we made it through.
My best advise is act fast. if you think something is wrong don't hesitate, even if your husband thinks your crazy or even your doctor. you know best. Trust your gut. I wasn't able to prevent the flu but I was able to make sure we survived it, in one of hte most deadly flu seasons in recent history.
