Ill With a Capital I

Yes, it appears that I have been afflicted with germs.
And its not good.

On Friday afternoon, Chrissy woke up from her nap, and as usual was more miserable than when she went up in the first place. But as well as that, her little nose was bright red and running like a tap. My daughter has inherited my "curl up in a ball on the sofa and do nothing when ill" ethos, and so did just that. Until bedtime. When suddenly she refused to go to bed, and was up until 11pm.

Saturday came and she was now coughing, and wouldn't eat-not even biscuits. So off I went to Boots and asked the pharmacist whether there was anything for my poor girly.

At which point the dreaded S word was mentioned.

Swine flu. Eek!

However, after telling said pharmacist that her temperature was fine, her verdict was usual cold. So armed with a bottle of Buttercup syrup and a tub of Vapour rub, I tried to make her feel better.

Come Sunday morning, I felt a bit sniffly myself, but carried on regardless (as you do a a Mum, believe me, back BC (before children) I would have been in bed with a hot water bottle and a pile of books at the first sneeze). Off I went though to collect some garden floodlights, a steamer and some bits for Chrissy's toy kitchen I'd got from Freecycle, a half hour up the road.

We then went en masse down into town to get some bits.
Have I ever said I live at the top of a very steep Hill?
And then to top it off it started to pee it down with rain. So to make matters worse, Chrissy kept chucking her rain cover off (Qunny Zapp buggies are pants the rain covers break within seconds), and as I had no coat with me, I was soaked through.

By 7pm, I felt terrible-sore throat, ear ache, even my bones hurt-I was officially ill.

By 8.30, I gave up and went to bed, but by 10 I was sweating buckets one minute then freezing cold the next.

So, when Edward the Littlest coughed this morning, I was straight on the phone to the GP. They gave me the East Berks Swine Flu hotline.

I was on hold for 20 minutes, and then when I spoke to someone, I actually wished I hadn't bothered. They couldn't have got me off the line quick enough.

Despite the fact I said bout Littlest having Chronic Lung Disease (which is one of the underlying health issues that can make Swine flu ten times worse), she told me that despite having all the symptoms bar the temperature, because Maidenhead isn't a hot spot there's nothing wrong with us.

So I rang the docs again.

And our Doc was great, saying it was good I was being vigilant. He thinks it could be flu, or possibly the swine version, but as the current guideline is to consult with people over the phone to minimise risk, its hard to tell.

So now I am reduced to croaky renditions of Old Macdonald for Chrissy's (or she with the germs) amusement. She's much better today, so hopefully that means it'll be gone from me soon too.

And Edward the Eldest? He's fine! Bloomin' typical.

I'm off to die quietly now.....