H1N1

So yes, Coulson has the flu. It came quite suddenly - On Friday night around 11pm, I went in to check on the boys before bed as I always do (there's just something about watching them sleep, all the craziness from the day transformed into absolute peace). Both boys were sleeping fine and I didn't notice any warmth when I gently kissed their forehead. At midnight, Coulson woke up crying. Casey went to check on him and came back asking for the Tylenol because he had a fever. "I was just there an hour ago, he was fine." "Well, he's burning up now. Most likely the flu." (Although the general population likes to distinguish between the 2 different flus, the medical professionals are quite adamant that the seasonal flu has not yet hit, therefore all current cases of the flu are in fact H1N1.)

Coulson had pretty high fevers off and on Saturday and the occasional upset stomach. Even under normal circumstances (ie not pregnant) I have a very sensitive gag reflex when it comes to vomit. Once, when he was a puppy, Chester threw up in the living room when Casey wasn't home. I couldn't handle it, so I laid some paper towels over the mess, retreated back to the bedroom and just waited a couple hours for Casey to come home. When I was pregnant with Charlie, I was nauseous most of the first trimester, but didn't really throw up. Until Coulson got a stomach bug. I never caught the bug myself, but everytime Coulson threw up in the toilet, I was next to him throwing up in the sink. Charlie has inherited this reflex, but I'll spare you those examples. So on Saturday when Casey was away at work and Coulson's upset stomach first hit, I saw visions of horrible chain reactions plaguing our morning. Thankfully, so thankfully, Coulson mostly made it to the bathroom and the small amount that didn't wasn't too offensive and I could take care of it completely while holding my breath. The next time the tummy troubles hit, there was a bowl available and my husband was home to empty it. I would have totally lost it if I had to deal with the bowl myself.

Sunday (today) was much better. His fever went down a lot and eventually went away later this afternoon. All day long, he refused to take any medicine. After dinner, he proudly announced that he hadn't had any medicine all day. (I found this behavior odd, since I had never really noted a quality of stoicism in Coulson before.) When I told him that he wouldn't be able to go to school tomorrow, he said, "I know that. I can't go to school for a full day after my fever goes away without any medicine." "Is that way you didn't want to take any medicine today?" "Yes" he replied. My son, the nerd, being strong in the face of the swine flu just so he can go back to school. I love that kid!

Now, we're just waiting for Charlie get hot...

(And don't worry about me. Since I'm pregnant, I'm a candidate for Tamiflu, the highly coveted anti-flu medicine. Casey is jealous that I get to take the meds and he has to suffer the potential consequences of this exposure.)

P.S. Real Time Update - Coulson just now woke up with a very bad headache and he still refuses to take any medicine!