Chicken Pox

It all started with what we thought were a few bug bites, until she came down with a high fever and spent the night in our bed waking up every once in a while moaning and crying. The next morning I debated about whether she should go to school or not; the fever was gone and she seemed ok - until she almost fell asleep sitting up on the sofa. So home she stayed, as I tried to think of what bugs she could have been exposed to that no one else in our family had. Bed bugs was my first thought, since her bed is her own personal space, and the "bites" seemed to match the descriptions I found online. Except for a few things - bites usually appear on exposed skin and in groups of 3 to 5. Hers were on her back and stomach. 

When I dropped Lucas off at school the teachers asked about Elena and as I tried to explain in Portuguese about the bites, they asked if it was maybe chicken pox. I didn't really think about it until later that afternoon. Elena hadn't been vaccinated against it, and after David called the school, they confirmed that a student had it last week. So we've spent the week relaxing at home and keeping Elena as comfortable as possible. 

She has been an absolute champ about the whole business. She had a fever for two nights, and a bit of a dry cough but has hardly scratched her pox at all! We're already on the way up and she's getting her energy back. 

Now you may be wondering about our other kids - Lucas caught chicken pox as a wee 6-month old when his daddy got shingles, soon after we arrived in Brazil.

He also had two days of fever, but that was about it for him. So now we are wondering when / if the twins will catch it from Elena. According to the stats, they almost definitely should, but we haven't seen any real signs of it on either of them. Lisa had a dot or two, but we can't say for sure they are chicken pox. Of course, the disease has quite a long incubation period, so next week might bring another bout of the pox for our home! 

I feel kind of bad about not having Elena vaccinated, but there's not much point worrying or agonizing over it now since it's too late. Hopefully her immune system will just be stronger for fighting off the disease naturally. If by some miracle the twins don't get it, we will get them vaccinated for it.