“I’m so sorry, this is probably a case of me clearly overreacting,” I said to the pediatrician as he walked into the exam room. “Baby E woke up this morning with a fever. I’m not sure how high because I couldn’t find the thermometer, but his cheeks were red and he wasn’t acting right. I gave him some medicine and called and made an appointment. But as you can see, he seems completely fine right now,” I said as I gestured to a very happy Baby E sitting on the exam table. “It’s just that I know he was exposed to the flu on Monday by a kid at daycare, and since Baby E has the seizures, I decided to bring him in.” The doctor politely listened to me as I rambled through my excuse.

“I’ll take a look at him.” He did the routine of listening to his lungs, looking in his ears, and down his throat. No fever. No signs of anything. “He looks great. No concerns that I can tell. I’ll run a flu test just in case, but he looks fine,” he said in a tone that indicated he was running the test more for my peace of mind than anything else.

I sat there with Baby E as we waited for the results. He was playing games on my iPad, laughing, and talking up a storm. He had been talking almost nonstop since we had left home an hour earlier. For all intents and purposes, he was acting normal.

After about ten minutes the doctor came in with a slight look of surprise, “Well, he tested positive for the flu!”

“What?!?” I really hadn’t expected that at all. The more I had been around him, the more I imagined if he really had the flu he would be miserable. The doctor prescribed Tamiflu and I asked him what I should be expecting over the next few days. He said, “Well, you caught this very, very early, so that’s really good. He might not get much worse than what he’s dealing with now. I thanked him profusely.

Since I knew Baby E had been exposed to the flu earlier in the week I had spent the past few days hovering for symptoms. When he crawled into bed with me in the middle of the night last night I knew his temperature was fine, so when he woke up with a fever I knew it hadn’t been there for long. I’m grateful they could see him so quickly and that I didn’t have to re-enact the great Tamiflu hunt of 2017. The first pharmacy had it, and since Baby E has taken it before, I knew he would tolerate it just fine.

Throughout the day he was been alright. Towards the end of each dose of Tylenol/Ibuprofen his temp raises a little and he acts slightly uncomfortable, but for now the meds are keeping it at bay.

I would greatly appreciate prayers that he recovers quickly and that, Lord willing, no one else gets it. I was all up in his face last night with cuddles, so there’s that. We decided to let him recover out at the new house, so I drove the kids out after school this afternoon. He’s asleep now, but I’ll check on him throughout the night. Please pray also for no febrile seizures with this illness. Those things really, really freak me out.

Thank you so much dear friends for your prayers!! Sleep well!.