Chicken pox???!!

Yup, you read that right! We have chicken pox! Actually Sarah has chicken pox and we are praying that the other 3 do not come down with it (or is it them?). Yes, she's had the shot AND the booster shot. Sarah certainly seems to have a mild case with few blisters. Certainly not like when I was a child--I had them EVERYWHERE! As you can see from the photo she has a few on her abdomen, a few more on her back, none that we see today on her legs and the last few on her neck. She is itchy and just not feeling herself. We've taken Aveeno baths and Benedryl for the itching.

From what I read, the vaccine is 83-93% effective and if a child does get the "pox" then they have a pretty mild case. I also found out that it is 10-21 days for the first symptoms to show up once you've been exposed to the virus and the person is contagious for 1-2 days before the blisters erupt through 6-8 days after they are visible.

So, we have no way of knowing where Sarah was when she was exposed. However, we have a VERY good idea of how many kids she may have unknowingly transmitted the virus to--literally hundreds! She had the dance competition last week, has been at the dance studio all week and also to school.

Because there are not many of the blisters Sarah really did not become alarmed when she first saw them (a day or two ago). I saw them last night when I was helping Sarah get ready for her shower. Now that she is more "mature" I don't get to help with her bathing nearly as much as I used to (yes, I do miss it). I asked Sarah what the sores were and she responded, "Oh, I meant to tell you about these because they really itch". Right away I knew they were chicken pox. This morning I took Sarah over to our neighbor, who is a RN and she confirmed it. Dave gets to stay home as I only have 3 weeks (YEAH!!) left of school and have WAY too much to do.

So, if you and your children have been around my daughter, let me apologize in advance.....