Decided

Get the H1N1 vaccination. I am with Mary on this (she commented on the undecided post). The flu vaccine is new every year, and I think this vaccine is as safe as all the others. I am the only person in my family to not get the flu yet. When we called the pediatrician asking if we could come in and get the kids tested last Friday, they told us not to. If you want to be tested, you have to go to urgent care or the emergency room. We chose not to.

Why am I decided? This swine flu is highly contagious. Just like the 1918 flu, our bodies have no immunity and if exposed you WILL catch it. Cooper's elementary school is having an unofficial outbreak. Today I took him to school late, after the morning coughs had passed, and 1/2 of his class is home sick today. HALF of his class. And the ones at school have already had it or are going to have it by tomorrow. The school office looked like a Dr office waiting room. There were kids wearing masks, coughing waiting for their parents to pick them up. An office worker was checking a girls temperature. She did have a fever and her mom was called. It is crazy!!!! This most likely will be the same picture in every one of our children's schools by the end of the year. Why? This is highly contagious and chances are you will get it.

Here are the sick kids making jack-o-lantern pizzas

The H1N1 flu has been really mild with our family. Cooper started with a painful cough, then the high fever and body aches. After 2 days he felt better, but still ran a low fever for 3 more days and a runny nose. He still has a dry chest cough which I imagine he will keep for a few more weeks. The CDC states you can leave your home 24 hours after the fever breaks. I took him to school today once he was feeling better.

Savannah has had the same symptoms plus a queasy stomach. Spence has had a low fever, body aches and a cough. He feels fine as long as he is on Advil.

This has been better than the stomach flu. It is manageable as long as everyone has Advil and a movie to watch. We are in the low risk category. The only annoying aspect of this H1N1 is the duration. It is long. Chances are you will have it for more than 3 days, and most likely by the time it has passed through your family it will have been over a week. This is why I say get the vaccine. It is not too bad on your body, but it is long! Spence has had to miss 2 days of work so far, and his office policy is "Do not come to work if any person in your family has the flu." This policy has worked great for me, but bad for our dwindling vacation time.

Maddux just came down with the fever last night and runny nose. He is miserable and a sad sad baby. He is fussing no mater what. He cannot be consoled he feels so miserable. For those of you who have not gotten this yet, you can still be vaccinated. Salt Lake County has 5 clinics which are open every day. They are out of the mist, but still have the shot, which is effective for under the age of 4. Take your little kids. If you have older kids, Davis county still has the mist and you can go to their clinics. When the vaccination is available for adults, Spence and I will still go get it. The CDC is saying if you have had the flu and suspect it was H1N1, to still get vaccinated. If this is not H1N1, and it is the seasonal flu, I cannot imagine how much worse the real thing would be.

I love this website http://www.flu.gov/ This link shows the differences between the flu and H1N1. Honestly, I am really happy we came down with this before the holidays. It is nice to have gotten it and be done with it.