Oh fifth disease....how I hate you.

Fifth (or fifths....the name seems inconsistent....so maybe I'll just call it Parvo...) disease has reared it's ugly head again in this household.

Back story.....when I was pregnant with Blaire (which was a bit of a surprise in itself....) I had progesterone issues. So she worried us the first 12 weeks. When we got to that point, we were very relieved. So we told our children, friends and family.

The next week, I found out I had been exposed to fifth disease. I had kept my friend's son for the night......bathed him, etc.....so I was pretty exposed! So off we go to the doctor to have titers run. Of course, fifths isn't like being exposed to German Measles or something that horrible....but after the previous weeks of worry....I was very anxious.

Two loooong weeks later, the results came back that I had previously had fifths...as a lot of people have. It's a very common childhood illness. So all was well. Justin got it a few weeks later, no big deal. And, as you know...Miss B arrived happy and healthy and ready to boss us all around.

Fast forward to present day. Last week, Collin got pinkeye. We had drops phoned in and I kept the kids in all week. Friday we had a culdesac party to celebrate the last day of school. Collin was symptom free and had been on drops for 4 days. So he was in the clear. We had a great time, visiting with our neighbors.

Blaire and Collin both had a bit of flush friday night.....but specifically NOT on their cheeks (fifths is referred to as "slapped cheek disease")....it was across their noses and below their eyes. Like a sunburn. As our culdesac party started @ 4pm....I thought they were flushed from heat. Heaven knows it wasn't actual sunburn, since I'm a sunscreen freak. Anyhow, kids were put to bed...and eventually, so were the adults.

Saturday, we wake up to Blaire with raging pinkeye, and both Collin and Blaire with that "sunburn" look times ten. But it still wasn't the "slapped cheeks" hallmark of fifths. We got in with our new pediatrician's office. I had both kids looked over, the pinkeyes and the rash. The doctor said, well...it looks like a viral rash, but it doesn't look like fifths. Just let it run it's course. Ok.

By Sunday afternoon, it was unfortunately clear that it IS fifths disease. This is a very long story to get to one point, sorry. One of our neighbors....with whom we hung out all afternoon and night on Friday, is pregnant. Nearly 16 weeks pregnant. So, talk about a phonecall I didn't want to make today!

I didn't call on Sunday, because I didn't want to freak her out....and her not be able to reach her OBGYN, and start googling. Because I know when I was in her shoes, the internet scared me to death, and the physician was like, "it's not a big deal". So I waited until today (Monday) to call. Based on what our pediatrician said, she should be in the clear, as the kids had the rash Friday (though we didn't know that's what it was!) and fifths is only contagious BEFORE symptoms appear. I HATE illnesses like that. Where your child can be spreading the love before you have any idea they HAVE germs to share!!!

So, hopefully the odds are good that this won't cause problems for our dear neighbor. She's been a teacher for many years, so we have our fingers crossed that this wasn't her first exposure. Hopefully her titers will show she's resisitant, and it will be a non issue.

Keep her in your thoughts. I'm sure she's very worried...and for once I can say I know exactly how she feels. And I feel horrible because we exposed her. Just horrible. I wish I could make this go away for her.

I do tend to be a sliver lining kind of gal.....and at least now I will be able to 100% reassure Princess B when she is pregnant that she is a-ok when it comes to fifths disease exposure. She had a rip-roaring case of it at 18 months.

She has the worst of it, Collin's is much milder. Sun and heat make it worse, naturally....which is fun since school is out for summer!! Hopefully in a week or so the rash will be behind us, we'll be at the pool, and good news will be had in regards to our neighbor.

Take care -

K