My experience with Zika

So since I posted on my FB that I had contracted the Zika virus I had a lot of people messaging me asking questions about it so I thought I'd just do a blog entry on my experience. Here is the CDC: Zika website with facts, but this is my personal experience. From what I read symptoms vary, but this is what happened to me:

So Thursday of last week I woke up with, what I thought was, a goose egg on the back of my head closer to my neck. It was pretty good size and very tender to touch so I spent some time trying to figure out when I had bumped my head! That afternoon I felt SO tired, like I could barely keep my eyes open. I decided to lay down and nap with Ian in the afternoon which I very rarely do. When I woke up I knew I had to get ready for my Spouses Org meeting, but I felt so achey that I just wanted to keep sleeping. I had to force myself to get ready. By the time I left for the meeting I felt like I was freezing and had a splitting headache. Our meeting was at an outdoor restaurant and I was shivering the entire time. I didn't last long, because I just wanted to go back home. I walked home, which in reality isn't a long walk at all, but it felt like it took forever. I was drenched in sweat, but freezing at the same time. I got home and immediately took some Benadryl and tried to fall asleep. Luckily Jordan had already put the boys to sleep. I could not sleep though..every joint ached, and I was shivering so my whole body just hurt. I took my temperature and it was 102 degrees. My fever finally broke around 4am and I was able to fall asleep.

 Thankfully on Friday Jordan didn't have class until 10:30am so he let me sleep in. When I woke up I felt better, but still had a headache. I had Jordan examine my "goose egg" on the back of my head in which he determined was a swollen lymph node. Obviously I was fighting some kind of infection, he figured it was either sinusitis or the flu because of the body aches. I carried on Friday and felt decent, until the evening I developed a fever again! Tylenol helped, but when I woke up Saturday morning I noticed I was itchy all over. I didn't think anything of it because I have sensitive skin anyway. It was a beautiful day so I took the boys outside to take some photos of them and that's when I noticed I had developed a rash everywhere. When I looked in the mirror I freaked out because my face was swollen, red and splotchy and radiated heat. I couldn't even capture on camera exactly what the rash looked like.

 I sent a picture to Jordan and he was like "umm yea you have some kind of mosquito borne illness" so we decided to go to the St. Maarten Medical Clinic to get checked out. I did labwork, but as soon as the doctor looked over my rash he said it was either Dengue, but 99% positive it was Zika. He even discouraged me to get tested, and I have a personal theory on why he didn't want me tested, but I will keep that to myself. For now there's nothing I can do except ride the virus out. I can't be out in the sun because it makes my skin swell and itch even worse so my poor kids are stuck inside with me :(
Oh, and I also had my broken finger x-rayed and it is still broken and I was referred for physical therapy because the finger doesn't bend, people. So yea, basically I'm a mess! Luckily the rest of my family is happy and healthy. Oh, island life.

Updates- beginning of 3rd semester

I can't believe it's already 1st block week! Being on the Spouses Board has kept me super busy so time is flying- which, to me, is a good thing. I have a quick minute so I figured I'd update with all that we've all been up to.

The first week The Spouses Org hosted a meet and greet for incoming spouses, I hosted playgroups and movie nights the past 2 weeks, and helped run a coffee cart shift where we sell coffee and breakfast items to students. This past weekend we hosted a luncheon for all spouses at the Sapphire Beach Club as a "welcome back." This week is the first bake sale of the semester, so I'm looking forward to that. So yes, it definitely keeps me busy, but in a good way.

Playgroup

Me and Ian at the luncheon- gotta love my broken finger!!

Bradley started his 3rd semester of preschool at the same place he's been going since we arrived in St. Maarten. He enjoys going so I will continue to take him. When we get back in the states next August I'm going to try to get him enrolled in a pre-k. He loves being around friends and learning. He's just like his dad- too smart for his own good. He makes me really proud!

Ian is now 10mos old and cutting teeth like crazy! He currently has 4, but his 2 front, top teeth have sprouted through. We have had a really rough turn in regards to his sleep the past month though. He only sleeps for about 2-3hrs at a time!! Yikes! I try to blame teething, but I honestly don't know what the issue is. He still nurses about 3-4 times a day and then 1-2 times throughout the night. He eats some baby foods, but still doesn't act all that interested in food in general. He crawls and pulls himself up on everything. I have also caught him standing alone, not holding onto anything a few times too. I've offered him a sippy cup a few times, but they just get used as toys :) He's such a sweetie.

I think that's all that's new with us. Jordan is still an anatomy Teachers Assistant (TA) once a week and joined the Emergency Medicine Student Interest Group (EMSIG). Studying is still his #1 priority, but still makes plenty of time for us too :)

Oh- last update: Blueberry, our car, is dunzo. Almost every week since we bought it there has been an issue..the last issue being the subframe is rusted/broken, leaving the A-Arms in bad condition and unsafe driving condition. In order for our car to pass the yearly inspection we'd have to get these things fixed and it is just way too expensive and unreliable at the moment. Being on such a tight budget, we've decided to just cut our losses and try to sell it to a local for parts. RIP Blueberry. We bought a new(er) car from another 5th semester student- a 2006 Hyundai Accent that should be more reliable for the next year we're here on the island.

2nd semester break

I can't believe we're already back to the 'ol grind :( Jordan started his 3rd semester (aka 2nd year) on Tuesday and is already back into his daily routine. We spent the past 2 weeks on break and it was awesome!
We celebrated Jordan's finals with dinner at Pineapple Pete's. Anyone travelling to St. Maarten I've found that Pineapple Pete's is one of the most kid friendly restaurants- they give your kids a toy car to keep and always bring their food first, and ice cream is included in the kid's meal..it's the little things..highly recommended!

Prior to break I had made a "to do" list of things I wanted to do so that we didn't end up just wasting time thinking "What should we do today?!" We surprisingly only went to the beach two times during the 2 weeks- once to Le Galion and once to Mullet Bay for a birthday party. We celebrated a lot of birthdays!! Bradley had 3 friends that had birthday parties so it was fun to get together with all the kids, and even meet some incoming spouses!

We ate out at least one meal per day which is such a rarity for us. We typically only eat out as an after block celebration so that was a real treat. One night we went to Caribbean Cinemas to watch Pete's Dragon which...was rough. Ian was pretty squirmy and Bradley ended up having an accident because he was so intrigued by the movie. We probably won't be doing movies, as a family at least, until Ian is quite a bit older. I also started watching Game of Thrones (Jordan actively watches) and we got through season II after the kids would go to sleep.

We went down to frontstreet in Phillipsburg for dining and shopping one day and got a flat tire so we had to get 2 new tires :( Jordan also had to do some car work on poor Blueberry. Sigh! Jordan and I were able to get in one date night over break thankfully! Special shoutout to Laura, Aimee and Gozzie for watching the boys. We ate at Jimbo's in Simpson Bay and it was delish. We went to the Princess Casino afterwards and didn't lose any money! Jordan and I were also able to have a Dad/Mom date with our friends Nicole and Ivan and their son Magnus (Ian's bff) which is always fun.

Overall, it was a great break and I was sad to see it end! But we've booked our flight back home for Christmas so I'm already looking forward to that!

**Edit!! I forgot to add that I broke my finger over break as well! I slipped down 3 slippery steps at a restaurant and my left index finger took the beating. Swelling and bruising is down significantly, but it's in a splint for roughly 3 weeks :(