Random happenings in the Haub house

The kids and I missed church again this week: Aaron was a snot factory (as I like to call it) and I can’t bear to bring my kids to the nursery when they are like that. I see other moms and dads do it, and it almost always means that later in the week we come down with something in our household. So, I decided that we should keep our sniffles to ourselves and instead we spent a nice morning with a good friend and her daughter (who was also sick and avoiding the nursery for the same reasons) here at our house.

We actually took the kids in to see Dr. Jamie this past week because of a strange rash on Mercy. It turns out that there is a 50% chance that she has Fifths Disease, a totally harmless virus that, while having no serious ramifications for the child can be life-threatening to unborn babies in women in the first half of their pregnancies. So, sometime today I will make my way to the OB yet again, this time for a blood test to determine whether or not I have contracted the virus. I was feeling pretty optimistic earlier since Mercy’s rash did not totally look like the pictures I found on the internet, however yesterday Aaron started showing a light rash that is much more in the traditional pattern of Fifths Disease. So, please pray that the virus has not found its way to me and my baby, and pray also for my dear friend who is also in early pregnancy and has been around me and the kids this past week.

Last night Doug took us (and Lauren, the other “mom” in our household!) out for a nice dinner at California Pizza Kitchen in Manhattan Beach. We had a great time, and every manager/assistant manager came to our table (and only ours) at least once to personally greet us and see how our meal was. We couldn’t tell if they thought we were someone we weren’t or if it was just random–there were lots of other families with kids and moms, so it couldn’t have just been the Mothers Day thing. Regardless, it was nice to be treated so well.

After the kids went down, I talked with my mom for a bit and then Doug and I curled up and watched “Akeelah and the Bee.” It is one of those heartwarming stories about the little ghetto girl who achieves the impossible, but it was sweet (made me cry) and fun to watch because so much of it was filmed in our immediate neighborhood. Laurence Fishburne’s house in the film is just up the street on Kenwood, and we remember when they were doing the filming. It’s always interesting to see what our hood looks like on the big screen!

7 comments

  1. ” It turns out that there is a 50% chance that she has Fifths Disease, a totally harmless virus that, while having no serious ramifications for the child can be life-threatening to unborn babies in women in the first half of their pregnancies.”

    Of course. Because getting a hernia, being hit by a car, and having a bullet in your phone line just isn’t enough!! Goodness, Erika.

    Praying for Mercy, you, and your yet-to-be-born little one!

  2. Thank you, Robyn and Jennifer. I am trying so hard to not dwell on this, and to not fear the worst. Someone said to me “well, the odds aren’t that high” (like 10% for the inter-uterine death) and I responded that I just can’t take much comfort in odds right now, considering the past months.

    But, Doug reminded me that while we have faced horrifying odds of losing this baby already, we (all of us!)have made it through those, so I do have reason for hope. All that to say, thanks for the prayers and for words of comfort right now.

  3. erika, did you not ever come down with fifths in spokane? i got it from the kids and was laid up for a few days…i figured you would have been exposed then/gotten it too. hope everything turns out ok.

  4. Well, Patty, I can’t fathom a Miller plague that I did NOT come down with during those years, so I will hope that indeed I was exposed. My OB says that if I had it before then I will be immune to contracting it this time, and that would be really great news!

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