The COVID Chronicles, Part One

I'm naming this Part One because I am assuming there will be many parts to this story in a family our size.  

*cue dramatic foreshadowing music*

On Tuesday morning I awoke with a sore throat and one stuffy nostril.  It was the left one.  I knew you were wondering.  I took an at-home Covid test and it was negative.  I went to work, sat in my office alone all day (left to go to the bathroom and take my walk at lunch) and went home feeling not unwell but not really well either.  I decided to skip my workout that afternoon, which is a rare event and signals to my husband that I might actually be sick.  I rested in bed, took lots of Vitamin C and Zinc, ate chicken soup, and woke up in the morning feeling better!

I went back to my lonely office on Wednesday, but as the day wore on, I felt more tired and like I wanted to lay my head down on a pillow.  I searched online for Covid tests happening near me and discovered that my town had one that day after work.  Perfect!  Maggie started having cold symptoms that day, so I picked her up and we both got tested.  When I got home, I again rested in bed (more Vitamin C and Zinc!) while Phil held down the fort.  I texted my boss to tell him that I was having cold symptoms and got tested and he let me know that he had just tested positive that day.  That night, I had a strange dream where I was in charge of ten babies and five of them had cold heads, so I was putting on hats, and five of them had warm heads, so I was giving them ice packs. I awoke with a startle up at 2 am realizing I had a fever and chills.  Phil stirred next to me and I took that as a sign he was awake and told him I had a fever.  He got the thermometer (finally we have a reliable one) and I registered at 102.5.  He brought me a granola bar and some ibuprofen (can't take it on an empty stomach) and I fell back asleep.

On Thursday morning, I woke up with congestion, a slight cough and an off an on fever.  I stayed in bed all day.  Dare I say it was glorious?

Friday was a snow day here, which meant school and work were cancelled, so I continued to rest while realizing I had lost my sense of taste and smell.  I definitely had Covid but no official test results yet.

Here's the thing(s)...

We live in a 2000 square foot, 4 bedroom, 2 bath home.

We have 9 people in our family.

There is literally nowhere for me to truly quarantine away from my family.

Plus, I am The Mom so ya other mothers know how that goes.

Also, the rules for all these kids returning to school while being a close contact vs. actually getting Covid made it seem like life would be way easier if they just got Covid.

I had already been infecting everyone before I knew I had it.  

Which is when you're the most contagious.

Case in point...before I *knew it was Covid (*due to lack of taste, no positive test result yet) I made all the kids multiple meals and cocoa after they went sledding and hung out/snuggled lots with them.

On Saturday morning, Maggie and I STILL didn't have test results yet, and I needed to figure out what to do for work and school on Monday, so I took another at-home test and it blared positive right away.

Told ya!

Sorry, Covid makes me cocky.  Ahem.

Maggie made the kids "playdough cookies" on Saturday:

On Sunday, we watched the Diocesan Mass on tv and it just so happened to be the Mass that our pastor had filmed weeks earlier where Xander had served.  I took this screen shot of Xander totally giving direct eye contact to the camera.  Superstar!

Brendan (age 5 and chief cuddler of mom) grew cranky had a fever, which we realized he had had off and on since Friday, but thought it was because he is growing his 6 year molars, and so we gave him a test and boom!  Positive...but barely....but still counts.

Some very generous and thoughtful friends brought us over a meal on Sunday when they heard we had started the Covid train - choo choo - oh wait this is no fun I want to get off!!

And look at the labels on the drinks!  Be Hoppy (we're trying!), 9 Lives (the number of people in our family) and The Prisoner (yup #quarantinelife). So clever!

Tomorrow is Monday morning, and my Day 6, which means I can go back to work in a mask...but I still have a lingering cough so I am going to work from home.  Phil is vaxxed and asymptomatic (how?) so he can also go to work.  JP is vaxxed and asymptomatic so he can also continue working while on his last week of college break, and the rest of the kids are schooling from home this week.  It looks like we're in it for the long haul....