Five on Friday - At Home Covid and Flu Tests, Things to Keep a Sick Kid Busy, and a New Year’s Eve Idea

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Happy Friday, y’all!  Well, our Christmas took a rough turn first thing Christmas morning, and the last couple of days haven’t been the greatest to say the least.  Olivia woke up with a high fever on Christmas morning and she tested positive for Flu A with an at-home kit before we ever even had breakfast. 

Since it was Christmas, everything was closed, but thankfully, her pediatrician was on call, and he called in some Tamiflu to the ONE pharmacy in town that was open, even though he hadn’t administered the test himself.  So very grateful for that since nothing was open except for the emergency room.  Brian was able to pick up the Tamiflu and give her the first dose by 1:30 on Christmas afternoon, but she couldn’t keep it down, and she ended up in bed the entire day and didn’t touch a single Christmas gift.

We missed out on my family’s celebration on Christmas night, we had to cancel poker night with our friends on Thursday, we’re missing our Straight No Chaser Christmas concert in Atlanta tonight (the second concert we’ve missed this month due to illness), and we had to postpone both of Brian’s family’s Christmases.

Needless to say, it was a pretty awful day, and it didn’t feel like Christmas at all because the entire day was spent scrambling to find an open pharmacy, getting Olivia the meds she needed, calling everyone and apologizing because she (likely) exposed so many people on Christmas Eve, calling to cancel/rearrange plans, listing concert tickets for sale, and caring for a very, very sick child.  I swear, Flu A is the older kid equivalent to croup or RSV.  Our kids get SO sick with it, and it is so very scary to see those high fevers when you have two kids who never run a fever.

Brian also came down with a cold on Christmas Day, so the four of us basically spent the entire day Christmas Day in separate rooms.  Poor Jacob was really sad Christmas night because he was so worried about Olivia plus, he was scared of getting what she has, and he was also sad about having to miss out on so much fun stuff even though he is well.

The last time Jacob and Olivia had the flu, both of them were down with high fevers for seven full days, so we’re settling in because it’s looking like most of our Christmas break will be spent stuck at home… this coming right on the heels of me being stuck at home for nine days when I had Covid earlier this month.  Ugh.

I try to keep this space fairly positive, but I also keep things real, so I’m not going to sugarcoat it… this December has pretty much sucked.  December is my favorite month of the whole year, but this year it was definitely one of the worst months of the whole year.  Since there’s absolutely nothing I can do about it, I’m trying to focus on the few good days we had, give the rest to God, and of course, keep things in perspective because things could most definitely be worse. 

Anyway, enough with all of that… it’s Friday, so I’m going to share a few favorites from the week…

 

O N E – 3-in-1 Covid-19 / Flu A / Flu B At Home Tests

Thank you, Lord, for these at home Covid / Flu A / Flu B tests… if we hadn’t had these on hand (leftover from when I had Covid earlier in the month), we likely would have had to take Olivia to the emergency room on Christmas Day which would have been much worse than being able to stay at home.  When she started running fever, I knew immediately that she had Flu A as that’s the only time she ever runs a fever now, so I was so, so grateful that we had these tests on hand.

These tests can be kept right in your medicine cabinet, and they test for Covid-19, Flu A, and Flu B all at once.  You just swab your nose similarly to the traditional Covid tests, add the swab to a tube of solution, twist it around several times, and then drop four drops into the test cassette, and you have results in just 15 minutes.  Or in my case with Covid, immediately, as my line turned pink right away. 

These were a total GODSEND since she got sick on Christmas.  Because we had them on hand, we were able to diagnose her right at home and get Tamiflu called in the same day so she could start her road to recovery immediately.  It would have been a completely different story if we hadn’t had these tests at home.

 

T W O – Diamond Art Bookmarks

Christmas Day, the first day Olivia started with the flu, she was in the bed all day, but the day after Christmas, she was up and about, and these diamond art bookmarks were perfect for her to work on while she wasn’t feeling well.  They gave her something to do, and they took up quite some time, but she didn’t have to use much energy doing them. 

These things are actually super cute.  Each set comes with four bookmarks.  You peel the plastic off of the front revealing a sticky residue, and then using the tool that comes with the kit, you place each gem on there individually.  They’re all numbered so you know which gem goes where, and when you’re done, you have beautiful, bedazzled bookmarks that nestle the top corners of your pages.

 

T H R E E – Digital Camera

This digital camera has also been a favorite from the week, because Olivia now has the ability to take quality pictures even though she doesn’t have a phone.  Prior to this she had one of the cameras that prints the pictures right away, but she was never able to save them to her computer.  Now she can take all of the digital pictures she wants and keep digital copies.

The picture quality is actually pretty great for such an inexpensive camera, and the camera comes in several different colors.  It also came with two batteries, a charging cable, an SD card, two wrist straps in different colors, and a little satin bag to hold it all.

 

F O U R – New Year’s Eve Idea

If you’re looking to get fancy and wear something extra special for New Year’s Eve, these glitter freckles are highly popular right now thanks to the Eras Tour.  They come in lots of different colors and they’re easy to apply, and they’re just so much fun! 

 

F I V E – Outpouring of Love

Thanks to everyone who has reached out to check on our girl these last couple of days… that has definitely been a favorite.  We’ve received loads of texts, phone calls, offers to go grocery shopping, homecooked meals, Christmas dinner to go (so we didn’t have to miss out), homemade cookies, and even a book for me to read since we’re stuck at home right now. 

We have a wonderful village, and I’m always so very grateful for each and every one of you!  Now we just ask for your prayers… that Olivia gets well soon and the rest of us manage to avoid getting sick for a very, very long time so we can enjoy the rest of our break!

 

Friday Funnies

On the Blog This Week

Our Week – The One with the Reindeer Run, a Lunch Date, Olivia's Class Christmas Party, Seeing Santa, and Looking at Christmas Lights

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays!

 

Happy Friday, y’all!

*Linking up with A Little Bit of Everything for Friday Favorites.