Weekending: Influenza

Well, this past week and weekend were perhaps the most interesting of my life, and that is no exaggeration. Starting last Saturday (so over a week ago) Jackson started coming down with something. A visit to the Doctor told us it was teething and him cutting all four molars. So, we laid on the orajel and some Tylenol and hoped the pain would soon pass. The following day, he seemed even worse and started to spike a fever, which really did seem odd. By that evening i decided pretty confidently that I would be staying home from work with him the following day, and that is where it all really started.

By Monday, the poor boy woke up crying, with a terrible fever, congestion, and looking miserable. He literally did not move all day, and I decided to bring him into the doctor again. As we waited to be seen, my sweet boy literally could not lift his head from my shoulder or keep his eyes open. I can say with confidence I have never seen him look so terrible, and it is was scary. Finally, we saw our nurse practitioner who told us he had all of the signs and symptoms of Influenza A. Great. She told us it has been lasting 3-7 days, and we just need to keep him comfortable and hydrated.

Here is what I was NOT prepared for: the duration of this thing. I have always known true influenza is different than the 'stomach flu' that lasts 1-2 days, but having never had influenza or even recalling anyone in my house having it, I was oblivious to its severity. You guys, I literally had to stay home from work the entire week last week, and every minute he was awake, Jax needed to be held, bathed, and consoled. While I love baby cuddles, it was absolutely miserable and heartbreaking to watch. I think the hardest part was that we kept thinking one day he would wake up and just be pretty much better. Nope, not so lucky.

So, as we rolled into this weekend, our little guy was still sick, I was coming off of nothing besides working from home, and it didn't really feel like the weekend! On Friday morning my mom did come over so I could go to my 28 week doctors appointment. Finally I had a highlight of the week when I got the be-mail that I passed my glucose test! Wahoooo! I didn't my first pregnant and had to take the 3 hour test, which was pretty miserable so I was so relieved to see a number that wasn't even close to concerning. The rest of the day was spend cuddling, doing as much work from home as I could manage, and whipping up these babies.

 

If you like banana bread, you absolutely need to try these. The actual 'banana brownie' is delicious, but the brown butter frosting? To die for! You can thank me later.

Friday night we did watch the first episode of Fuller House! And....I thought it was terrible. I know I know, how dare I! But I'm sorry, if it wasn't a reboot, that should would get the plug pulled after about two minutes. I mean some of the cheesiness I could get with, but I honestly found it kind of painful. The Mary Kate and Ashley moment totally had me laughing though! I'll probably finish watching it when I can find the time, because I am a 90s kid and feel obligated to..but still disappointing.

On Saturday, Jackson woke up miserable again. At this point I felt myself beginning to lose my patience; not with him, but with the darn influenza. When they say 3-7 days, they mean up to 7 days before any sign of improvement, which I totally did not know. Poor guy had the same fever and symptoms Friday that he had Monday, it was just unreal. By some miracle though, Saturday morning we turned a slight corner when he decided to play blocks with his daddy. At that moment, this mama snuck off to the gym for an hour and rocked out a run. I felt so liberated in that one hour that I was honestly holding back tears on the treadmill. Those runs are just good for the soul, especially after a rough week. Once I got home, Jax decided to get moody and threw a tantrum. Who could blame him after a week of feeling like crud? Eventually after nothing would calm him, I strapped the screaming child in the car and drove until he crashed. 

Once he was finally out, he was down for a four hour nap, which daddy joined him for. Look at my sleeping boys. #allthehearteyes

While they slept, I did laundry, cleaned the kitchen, and just enjoyed feeling semi normal. We had record high temps in MN this weekend, and I decided to sneak away again during naptime, this time for a run outside. In shorts and a tank top. In Minnesota. In February. And that is the reality of our winters here. There are no cooldowns in the forecast really, with more temps in th 50s next week, so no complaining here! Fingers crossed this continues on because we couldn't ask for more perfect conditions to ensure our home construction gets under way as quickly as possible!

Saturday night Jackson rallied a bit, and hung it in our bedroom and watching cartoons. He was super excited to play on our bed, and just to see a smile on his face after a full week of zero smiles was the best.

He even started acting a little naughty by hiding everything he could find in th TV stand. I was so relieved to see him returning to normal, did I stop him? NOPE. 

Sunday we woke up to a little guy still not feeling great, but he was pretty playful shortly after. I snuck off to the gym again, followed by the most needed mental health run to Target of all time. Right now ladies sneakers and flip flops are BOGO half off, so I scooped up these and these, and am super excited about them! They will be great for spring and running around doing errands and playing outside.

Sunday afternoon Jackson took another ridiculously long nap, but woke up without crying!!!! And he ate a mountain of teddy Graham's. Like literally more food in that one snack than he had eaten in the entire five days before. He also finally ate a meal in his high chair, and it was real food. I have never been so happy to see someone eat a chicken nugget, for real.

Sunday night, we lounged on the couch, watched the Walking Dead, and shut the books on a long, long week/weekend. All I can say is, next weekend this mama is getting out of the house with hair and makeup done, and I already can't wait!

For those of you still with me, sorry for the long winded post. It is probably super uninteresting to most, but I think I will appreciate having it document just how bad getting the 'flu' really is! Here's to hoping none of your littles catch it!

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend! Linking up with Meg and Biana today!