She went to have a blood test today. They will know the first of next week. The chances are very slim that she could have caught it from ds or I. But, please keep her and my brother in your thoughts and prayers. She has had terrible acid reflux the last few months of her pregnancy, and now she has to worry about this. If anything happens to the baby, I will feel horrible.

By Karen~admin on Friday, March 21, 2008 - 07:49 pm:

{{{{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}}}}


Was she around you during the contagious period???

By Karen~admin on Friday, March 21, 2008 - 07:51 pm:

Also, you did not know!!!!!! It's not like you deliberately exposed her and the baby to something! Please Debbie, stop beating yourself up. :-( I understand your worries - but you didn't know, and you DON'T know if there are any ill effects. I know this is very little comfort, but this is not your fault!

Does she even have any symptoms???

By Debbie on Friday, March 21, 2008 - 09:03 pm:

Karen, ds and I broke out in the rash while at their house, so we probably were not contagious. Ds never even had any symptoms, just got the rash. I had the flu like symptoms about 10 days before we went.

She doesn't have any symptoms. But, her doctor wants to do the test because some people don't get symptons, and this way they will know whether they need to watch the baby. Both her doctor and mine said there is just a slight chance she will get it. We were probably not contagious when we were there. But, her doctor would rather be safe then sorry, which I think is good.

My brother was great about it. I am just a little peeved at the school for not letting me know it was going around in ds' class. We would have cancelled our trip if we had known.

By Chai~latte on Friday, March 21, 2008 - 09:57 pm:

I know you must be scared, worried and concerned, but please don't be too hard on yourself you didn't know.

I was exposed in my last pregnancy and thankfully I had an uneventful pregnancy and a happy healthy baby boy who is two and a half right now and full of beans!

Hugs.

By Nicki on Saturday, March 22, 2008 - 12:42 am:

I'll keep your SIL in my prayers. Please don't be hard on yourself. I'll be praying all is well with the baby.

By Brandy on Saturday, March 22, 2008 - 07:28 am:

keeping everyone in my prayers...

By Karen~admin on Saturday, March 22, 2008 - 10:46 am:

I would be ticked off at the school, as well! They SHOULD have let everyone know it was going around, that is just irresponsible on their part, and putting a lot of people at risk. I'm sorry. :-(

By Tunnia on Saturday, March 22, 2008 - 02:41 pm:

I will keep your sil and brother in my prayers and you and your ds as well.

By Bobbie~moderatr on Saturday, March 22, 2008 - 02:58 pm:

Everyone is in my prayers.. We had a major (state wide) out break of Fifths when Dillan was in 5th grade. He of course got it but no one else in the family did.

Please listen, this is not your fault, and no matter what you did not do anything wrong. Fifths is one of those things you don't know you have it until you visibly have it... You didn't mean to expose her and honestly if you and DS have it how many other people around her have been exposed too? She has a bonus... She knows.. How many times do you end up with the flu etc.. from exposure through contact at a grocery store, for example, and you can never figure out how, when, or where you picked up whatever you are sick with up. She knows, her doctors know, and knowing is always half the battle in any situation... Once the rash is visible you are no longer contagious, try not to worry..

(((((HUGS))))), please keep us posted... And know that we are all praying.

By Breann on Saturday, March 22, 2008 - 07:18 pm:

((((hugs))))

Our school sends home letters immediately if there is something contagious like that going around. It will list the signs to be watching for, etc.

By Dawnk777 on Sunday, March 23, 2008 - 07:30 am:

{{{HUGS}}}

By Hol on Wednesday, March 26, 2008 - 05:52 pm:

How did your SIL's test come out? I hope everything is okay.

By Debbie on Wednesday, March 26, 2008 - 09:59 pm:

We still haven't heard. She should know tomorrow. Thanks for thinking of us. I will post when I hear. My brother is suppose to call me when they get the results. She hasn't had any symptoms, so that is good news.

By Pamt on Wednesday, March 26, 2008 - 10:10 pm:

Debbie, I want to thank you for posting this. I had aching joints a few weeks ago. So bad that I went to the doctor. He tested me for everything from lupus to rheumatoid arthritis. Everything was negative. A couple of weeks on antiflammatories and I was great. Then 2 weeks ago I got a lacy rash that didn't itch all over my calves and shins. I was just at the point of going to the doctor because it looked so horrible when it started fading.

I had no idea that adults could get fifth disease. However once I saw your post and read online about it and I'm pretty sure it's what I have. Then Tuesday one of the therapy kids I supervise came to clinic with the rash and his mom said he had fifth disease but was no longer contagious. I'm afraid that I may have given it to him. I went today to have blood drawn to be tested so I can alert the parents of the other kids I supervise that their kids may have been exposed/

So...thanks for sharing your story. And, I sure your SIL will be fine!

By Debbie on Thursday, March 27, 2008 - 10:03 am:

My SIL testing negative! She doesn't have it. And, she wasn't imune, so I am hoping that this means we weren't contagious then, since my parents were with us too.

Pam, isn't the joint pain terrible?? I am having horrible joint pain, and swelling of my hands and feet. My doctor said that this could last up to 12 weeks!!! Let me know how your test comes out.

Oh...and my youngest has it now. He got the rash yesterday. There are 3 kids in his class that have siblings in my oldest's class. So, now it is going around his class too. I also talked to a friend, that is a teacher at another school here, she said it is going around her school too.

By Karen~admin on Thursday, March 27, 2008 - 10:04 am:

WooHoo!!!!!!!!!!!! Wonderful news, Debbie! I hope everyone recovers soon!

By Bobbie~moderatr on Thursday, March 27, 2008 - 11:22 am:

That is great news...

By Dawnk777 on Thursday, March 27, 2008 - 11:39 am:

Woohoo! That's great news!

By Joy~bundles on Thursday, March 27, 2008 - 12:53 pm:

Yay!! That's wonderful news!!

Hope you're feeling better soon, Debbie!!

By Hol on Thursday, March 27, 2008 - 08:28 pm:

That is wonderful news. What a relief.

Springtime always seems to bring the childhood illnesses. When I was kid in the 1950's, there were no immunizations against Measles, Mumps, German Measles, Chicken Pox. You had to catch the disease in order to become immune. In fact, I remember having chicken pox at age 7 (I've had ALL of the childhood illnesses), and my aunt brought my cousin over and put her in bed with me so that she WOULD get chicken pox, so she'd be immune. They also used to test your blood for German Measles as part of the pre-marriage license testing to see if you were immune to German Measles, since it can cause birth defects.

Thank goodness, my DK's generation didn't have to have any of those diseases.

By Dawnk777 on Friday, March 28, 2008 - 10:23 am:

Measles at 2, Mumps at 4, and Chicken Pox, when I was 6. My kids had chicken pox in October of 1993. They just missed getting the chicken pox vaccine.

They came out with some of those vaccines, when I was an older kid, though.

By My2girlygirls on Monday, March 31, 2008 - 12:22 pm:

Ahhhh! My dd got up this morning with the tell tale rash on her cheeks! I normally wouldn't worry about it but this past week we had company who has a 2 year old and another friend visited with her 2 year old and we had a 2 month old over this week too. I have let everyone know, for the most part no one freaked out. My friend with the 2 year old also babysits for a 4 month old so they also informed the baby's parent's (who were not very happy). I feel bad but how was I to know? You don't even know until the rash appears and by then they aren't contagious any longer. Hopefully no one gets upset. My older dd has had it already so she should be immune. I sent her to school this morning because everything I read said that once the rash is there they are safe to go back to school.

By Tayjar on Monday, March 31, 2008 - 12:45 pm:

Great news that she doesn't have it. I was really worried about her. I hope you all start to feel better soon.

By Tklinreston on Monday, March 31, 2008 - 02:49 pm:

I too contracted this from my ds, whose school also did not alert us. I woke up with the most indescribable joint pain all over my body especially in my arms and legs that that I could barely move. After researching on the net I thought I might have Fifth Disease and sure enough I did. I'm just so thankful that kids don't normally go through pain like adults can. It's usually just a fever and rash for them. I learned that mostly adult women are prone to experience such pain. Well thank goodness your sil tested negative. That must be a huge burden off your shoulders.

By Debbie on Monday, March 31, 2008 - 03:17 pm:

Sarah, I sent mine to school with the rash too. You are not contagious once you have the rash. And, really there is nothing you can do because you don't know you have it when you are contagious.

Joyce, the joint pain is just terrible isn't it? I also got swelling in my hands and feet.

I am feeling much better. You can actually tell I have wrists and ankles now. I still can't wear my wedding ring. The joint pain is still there, but bearable now.

By Tklinreston on Monday, March 31, 2008 - 03:25 pm:

Oh yes.. my arms and legs were swollen esp my fingers, wrist and ankles. I went to sleep feeling fine and woke up feeling like I ran a 1000 miles marathon. The swelling and pain was so awful and I had no idea what hit me. It was very scary to say the least. It took several weeks for the swelling to go down. I'm so glad the worst is over for you Debbie!