Contagion

So ... some not-so-great news on the home front   When Sweet Pea and I boarded the plane to Pittsburgh last weekend, the man sitting immediately next to us told me that he had hand foot and mouth disease.  He also helpfully informed me that children are particularly susceptible.  

AWESOME.  With an overbooked flight, there was no way to move our seat.  And there's no way another passenger would switch with me, knowing that the guy was contagious.  WHY was he on a plane with 200 other people?!  Good question.  Jerk.

I wiped every surface within reach, and kept Sweet Pea as far away from him as possible for the entire flight.  And for a while there, I thought we'd dodged a bullet.  Nope -- last Tuesday she spiked a fever (typically the first sign). And Friday, sores appeared on her fingers.  CC and Little Man weren't far behind.

Sweet Pea and Little Man have fairly serious blister-type sores on their fingers.  All three kids have red dots on their faces.  And CC doesn't have any visible sores, although she's complaining nearly constantly about pain in her toes, fingers, and mouth.

We've basically quarantined ourselves, knowing how contagious this virus is (because, you know, staying away from others when you're infected is what considerate, responsible people do).  Yesterday morning we had an appointment with the pediatrician, who told us that we were lucky to get a mild case of the virus, and that we're already through the worst.  Even better, he said that the kids aren't contagious anymore.

That's great news, although I'm keeping them home a few more days just to be safe.  

In the meantime, we're all going a little stir-crazy being cooped up at home.  But we're hanging in there, and hopefully it'll be over soon!  Ah, the joys of kid diseases.