Back from the Brink

Once again sickness has kept me out. However this time it was not for me. Kent was diagnosed with H1N1. He is only 8 months old and I have never been so scared. On Tuesday, Lois called Superman after her doctor's appointment. She told him the doctor confirmed she had the flu and most likely H1N1. Superman then called me. Of course, my first reaction is fear. You can't turn on the news without hearing about another death and how horrible it is for young children to get. I ask a million questions and none of the answers made me feel better. When was she contagious? How long until someone else develops symptoms?


Lois was contagious and without symptoms during our family pictures on Sunday. Great, the one day we are all trapped in a vehicle going to the location to have family pictures made. The only thing that was better than that was she was sitting next to Kent the entire way. I immediately call his pediatrician and her nurse describes the symptoms we should be looking for. Kent has really bad allergies and has all the symptoms all the time. We decide to play it safe and make an appointment for the Wednesday.

On Tuesday Superman made sure Lexie was notified since she is pregnant and Lane could have carried it back to their house after the weekend with us. Superman then called Krypto. We were expecting a blowup. Clark had shown no signs up to this point and the doctor advised to keep him home if symptoms developed. At his age, she felt he would recover on his own. Krypto didn't even blink an eye. She did not express anything. It was like she was being told the weather report. No big deal.

Wednesday comes and Kent is running a fever and is fussy. The doctor confirms he does have the flu and since he has already received his seasonal flu shot more than likely it is H1N1. My heart drops. Worst case scenarios are running through my head. Oh my god, not my child. He was put on Tamiflu and we all hoped for the best.

When Krypto called on Thursday to check on Clark she was told Kent had contracted it. Apparently this caused her concern and it sounded like she didn't want to have Clark come to her house if he might have it. He told her of the symptoms he should be having and the symptoms should appear before Monday if he was going to get it.

By the weekend Kent was doing better and besides being cranky and unable to sleep it wasn't too bad. Saturday we were even able to attend Lane's choir concert. Crisis averted.

Making Plans

We are beginning to make plans for Kent's arrival. This is only complicated by the schedules of the kids. In a perfect world the kids would get to come to the hospital after Kent's arrival and get to have some family time before things get too hectic with bringing him home. I'm just not so sure it is going to happen.

We haven't even brought up the subject with Krypto yet. I am not looking forward to her reaction. She is still seething from the knowledge we are having a boy. I don't know if she'll be willing to switch days or not.

I think I need to step back from the situation a little. Even as I type this I realize it is not "we" who should be bringing up the subject. Ultimately it is Superman's responsibility. I think we have gotten to a point where he understands my feelings on the issues of the exes. I want to be involved in decisions that affect my home and our time as a family. I do need to let him handle the communication more without interference from me. Now if only I can get rid of my control issues all my problems would be solved.