Flu

We just got a call from the NICU, and James has the flu. Ugh!!! It's type A influenza, and H1N1 (swine flu) is one possible kind of type A flu. They don't know if it's H1N1, but it doesn't matter because they treat all cases of type A flu the same way. In this case, they're giving him Tamiflu.

So, they were definitely wise to put him in the isolation room. We really hope that he didn't spread the illness to anyone else -- fortunately, people in the unit are very good about hand sanitizing. Right now there aren't other babies with fevers or flu in the NICU, so that's a relief.

It seems like the most likely way he would have gotten it is from us, but none of us have had fever or cough or really anything at all, except for a few sniffles yesterday that we attributed to dry air in the house. But we feel terrible that we might have somehow gotten him or others sick.

Of course this is a more scary result than a UTI, but the fact that it's been more than 24 hours since he had the initial fever and he still seems to be doing fine is encouraging; it's possible that this means he just has a mild case of it. (Let's hope so!) Of course, they're going to be watching him very carefully for any changes.