H1N1, a sick baby, and the CDC

My greatest fear these past few months has been the swine flu. I watch the news religiously, and I've seen all the reports that pregnant women are the most vulnerable to the disease. I've talked to my OB, and he says that the risks are more secondary infections than the flu itself, but I've still not felt at ease.

Let me say here that if my trying to get the vaccine is any indication of what is going to happen when the government takes over healthcare, I want NOTHING to do with it!

I've called the health department, my OB's office, my endocrinologist's office, and everywhere in between. You would think that SOMEONE would have the dumb vaccine. Unfortunately, it's been nowhere to be had.

Last Friday Abby got sick. She had a low-grade fever, a cough and was really puny (as my mother would say). Jason and I took her to the doctor. Her flu test was negative, but she had an ear infection. All clear, right? Wrong. On Tuesday she was still sick and the cough was wicked. I took her back to the doctor only to be told that a lot of the flu tests that come back negative are in fact positive. For whatever reason, doctors are seeing a lot of false negatives. Dr. Poole was pretty certain Abby did in fact have swine flu. Oh my!

That diagnosis sent me into a panic. What was I supposed to do? Now I'd been exposed to the virus. I called around and finally got a prescription for Tamiflu (not after much begging and calling and calling and begging).

On Wednesday, the day after we found out about Abby, my sister-in-law called to say that her office may be able to give me the H1N1 vaccine. All my endocrinologist asked was that I get a release from my OB's office. Not difficult, right? Wong again.

I called my OB's office and the lady said, "We're getting that vaccine in a few weeks if you want to wait."

No thanks. I'd like to have it NOW so that I know I've gotten it.

Then she said, "Is it the single dose or the multiple dose because you can't take the multiple dose one. Oh, and you're on Tamiflue, I don't know if you can get the vaccine while you're taking Tamiflu. Call the CDC and see."

Now, don't these people get paid good money to know these things, but anyway.

I called the CDC - fun for sure.

I could take the vaccine while on Tamiflu. The dosage my doctor had was the single one, so that was a go as well.

I prayed on my way to Greenville that the stars would align and I would be able to get the shot. All went well and I'm now vaccinated.

Shew! What a relief and a hassle.

Let this be a lesson, NO GOVERNMENT HEALTHCARE!

Oh, and Abby's doing very well. The virus wasn't very bad for her. The cough still lingers, but in a few days that will be gone as well. Pray Jason doesn't get sick because I hear there's a shortage of Tamiflu now!

And Then I Couldn't Take The Suspense

Jason and I went on Tuesday for an ultrasound of Baby Looper. This time it was just to look at the baby's thyroid and make sure that everything was okay there since I have thyroid issues. I was wondering how in the world they would find such a small organ, but the ultrasound tech explained to us that they don't exactly look at the thyroid it's more that they look at the baby's neck and make sure there are no irregularities there. There were none, so we got the all clear from that doctor. Whew! What a relief that was.

Now all I have to worry about it H1N1, but that's another post altogether.

Anyway, I really posted to let you know that I'm weak. When I was pregnant with Abby, I had no problem not finding out her sex. I knew from the beginning that I didn't want to know. We had a gazillion (is that how you spell that) ultrasounds, and it never crossed my mind to ask what she was.

This time however....

I couldn't take it. I HAD TO KNOW!

I told Jason it was for purely practical purposes - know what we're having so that we can make sure to have the right clothes, bedding, etc. You get the picture. The reality is, I just really NEEDED TO KNOW!

I called my mom, my rock, and asked her if we should find out. She's always the one who says, "No! Of course not! Don't find out." This time she said, "Whatever you want to do." No help at all!

So, we found out.

Not to keep you in suspense any longer, Baby Looper is a BOY!!! It's exciting really. We now have one of each.

Now our problem is convincing Abby that having a baby brother is a good thing since apparently she has her heart set on a baby sister. Named Super Why. Or A-B-C.

What I learned from Abby

Monday morning we were rushing around, trying to get everything together to leave the house. As usual, I needed to be out by 6:40, but it was getting close to 6:50 and we weren't even close to leaving.

I had gotten Abby up and dressed, no small feat since she is very much like her parents and doesn't like to be disturbed in the morning. The worst part of the whole ordeal is brushing Abby's hair. It's a tangled mess to be sure.

Well, Monday, Abby woke up calling for her juice.

"I want juice, Mommy. I - WANT - JUICE!" She screamed, over and over.

I was in the kitchen working as fast as I could to get the juice ready when Jason called from the bathroom for Abby. He was going to brush her hair and put her hairbow in.

Abby stopped mid-scream, looked at me, turned on her heel and called over her shoulder, "Daddy calling me."

She turned and ran out of the kitchen, juice forgotten.

As I watched her go, I thought, "I wonder if that is the way I respond to my heavenly father? Do I stop in the midst of screaming for what I want and turn and run when I hear him call?"

I'm afraid that as a heavenly child, I'm not so quick to respond. It's kind of amazing what our children teach us.

May we all be quick to respond when the Father calls.

Sometimes we learn so much

Our church started a new "thing" a couple of weeks ago on Sunday night called E-Groups. I wasn't really opposed to it when it was presented. Seriously, Sunday nights are just Sunday nights around here, and Jason and I had been hosting the Truth Project by Focus on the Family in our home for about 3 months on Sunday nights, so there wasn't much to be opposed to really.

Let me back up and explain E-Groups just a bit first. These are groups that our pastor and staff put together. They're "random" groupings of people of all ages and walks of life. Each group has about 10 or so people in it, and it is NOT a Bible study. Instead, we gather on Sunday night, discuss the sermon from that morning, talk about life and what we are learning in our quiet times, etc. It really should be called a life group because that's what we're doing, experiencing life together.

Well, our group is facilitated by an older gentleman whose wife is a nurse, there's an engineer in our group, a lady who works at a local hospital, a former math teacher turned PhD student, me, Jason, another nurse, you get the picture.

I wasn't sure how our group would gel, but God is faithful. It has been one of the best experiences I've ever had at church to be honest. I'm not sure if it's that Jason and I don't have a Sunday School class since we teach the college kids or if it is just that God has placed his hand on this group, but I have really, really enjoyed it.

Let me put a plug out there for any of you who go to EPBC and read this. Please, please, PLEASE get involved. You won't regret it.

Now, onto what I've learned:

1. I really need a more consistent quiet time. It's hard to share when you're not keeping up with the daily reading (kind of like withe my students, but I digress).

2. God can use unexpected people to teach us wonderful lessons.

3. Godly habits are so hard to form and easy to break, but bad habits are easy to form and hard to break. Ironic, huh?

So, I say, open your eyes and see where God is teaching you. Feel free to share.