Mono

The Girl has it.

The rapid mono test came back negative, but the doctor warned me before we did it that they have 25% false negative rates - even higher in kids. All the other symptoms (swollen tonsils, high fever, puffy red-rimmed eyes) and blood work (atypical lymphocytes with high white cell count) point to classic mono. The titers for Epstein-Barr will be back by the end of next week which should settle the matter (probably) and more blood work in three weeks should show the antibodies and confirm it once and for all. In the meantime our pediatrician is treating the Girl as if it is... because that's what our pediatrician thinks it is.

The Girl can expect misery for another week and general unhappiness for as long as a month.

Fortunately it's not an easy virus to casually share, so most people need not worry. Odds are my wife and I have been exposed in our lifetimes (most adults have) and so we should be relatively immune. The baby is still breastfeeding so she is getting her immunity from mom. The Boy is the problem. Since he and the Girl frequently share a bath, and all its intrinsic water fountain spitting at one another, I suspect he might get nailed as well. The damned virus has a 7-8 week incubation period so it could hit him in February for all we know.

As for the Girl currently - she's a trooper. From hardcore sweat it out fevers to teeth-chattering chills; from tonsils so swollen you can't see past them to eyes so sunken she looks dead; from a pale ghastly complexion to one nasty snotty nose (she has a secondary sinus infection), this kid is suffering, but taking it all in stride, and pretty grateful this means popsicles and apple juice. She doesn't even complain or whine. I'm just falling in love with my daughter for her hang-in-there spirit.

She napped for 4 hours this afternoon and wanted more when I woke her. She was off to bed an hour early tonight and asleep before I turned off the light. She is one tired 2 year old.

And I'm a pretty tired dad.