Warding off the Corona in an Empty Hotel

About a month ago Justin called me in the middle of the day from work and asked if I wanted to bring the kids and come live with him in DC for the month of March.  My answer was "no, not really."  He seemed a little shocked but I reminded him that flying cross country alone with three little kids isn't fun.  Justin wasn't deterred though.  After painting a picture for me, of us touring through DC not pregnant and morning sick, like the last time.  I relented and agreed, and we started making preparations for departure, but I had that nagging sense that this wasn't going to be quite as fun as we had imagined.  My father-in-law mercifully volunteered to arrange some of his business flights and meetings so that he could fly with me and the kids, and even put us up in a hotel in Denver the night before departure to make the whole airport thing go smoother.  He also basically saved me when at 11pm in Denver I reached the horrifying revelation that I had just doped my older two up with melatonin and then discovered that I'd failed to pack diapers for Evalyn.  Seriously, not a single diaper.  Oh, and don't let me forget to mention that Vivian had started running a fever the day before, and the pediatrician had basically thrown some antibiotics at us and wished us luck.  (Not my regular doctor, and one that I believe to be relatively incompetent.  A story for another time...)  So it was great having Grandpa along as we made our way to DC on the bumpiest flight of my life.  I was starting to get kind of nervous when after hours of bumping around in the sky the airplane was creaking and squeaking over the bumps, but we arrived in one piece with a feverish, pale looking Viv in tow.  Justin picked us up, Justin's dad treated us to an amazing dinner at Ruth's Chris, and then left for his business trip.  Both of Justin's parents were going to meet us here for the last week and a half or so of the trip, so we expected to see him again soon.

Our first day here the kids and I decided to spend the day at the hotel.  Vivian was still feverish, with no other symptoms, and while we joked around about her having the Corona virus I figured a day to just lounge in front of the TV was definitely in order.  Unfortunately the day in front of the TV didn't do anything for her fever, and the second day in front of the TV only resulted in everyone feeling a little crazy and a fever and cough for me.  We decided that it was time to visit an urgent care, where Viv tested positive for Influenza A, you know, the form that is completely preventable if you bother to get your flu shot.  It doesn't count if you just intend to get that shot for you and yours, unfortunately.  We returned to the hotel room armed with Tamiflu for everyone (except Justin since the army does his flu shot so he isn't victimized by my irresponsibility), and after a lot of discussion decided that a day outdoors would probably make everyone, even flu-ridden as we were, feel better.  We went to Gettysburg on Sunday and were practicing social distancing before I'd even heard the term.

At Gettysburg

The kids and I went with Justin to base one day so that I could do laundry while he was in class.  Vivian and I were feeling better, although the Tamiflu did make me feel sort of queasy.  For Ivan, the Tamiflu gave him crazy diarrhea, and I spent all day long running him back and forth to the bathroom.  I washed my hands so many times that they were cracked and crusty by the time Justin was done and we could retreat back to the hotel.  By that time I was kicking myself for not standing my ground and staying home.  That was the beginning of the week, but by the end of the week the Tamiflu had caused Vivian to break out in hives all over her body, all of Washington DC was pretty much closed, and the flu left me with a residual cough that could clear a crowded room. We spent Saturday at Harper's Ferry and Anteitam, where I actually did clear out a small group or two of people with my coughing.  It was a welcome reprieve to be outside for a little while.

Anteitam

At one point during the outing Justin got a message from work telling him to go to the airport and get himself home.  Five minutes later he was on the phone with his boss being told to stay.  That night we returned to an all but empty hotel.  It was around that time that I realized how truly fortunate I am to be here with Justin, to have our family together, especially as I tried to envision what life would be like right now at home with empty grocery stores, three little kids, a crazy cough, and worried about when I'd get to see my husband again.  Justin's parents ultimately cancelled their trip out here, and I spend my days here holed up in a hotel room with three small children (don't whine to me about being stuck at home with your kids, I don't feel bad for you).  Since the hotel is largely empty, I'm almost positive that there are no other guests on our floor.  Sometimes during the day we run races in the hallway.  The pool, gym, and outdoor patio were all closed some time ago.  It's been days since I saw anyone besides hotel staff on this floor.  As of this morning housekeeping is only handing in clean towels, and picking up trash.  I had to request to have a vacuum run through the room.  Since restaurants are all closed to dine-in guests we're eating dinner every night on our hotel room floor. 

Yesterday when Justin got released we took a mostly empty metro into the city to see the cherry blossoms on the mall.  The mall was actually full of people running, and people looking at cherry blossoms.  For a few blissful hours life felt actually kind of normal.  It was nice, really nice. 

As of right now Justin is predicting that his course will end early, and he has received authorization to drive us home when it does.  Neither of us are interested in boarding an airplane right now.  Once home again they've assigned Justin a work shift from 1pm-9pm.  I'm dreading this.  DREADING THIS, but at the same time telling myself that I need to just be grateful that my husband still has a job to go to right now, regardless of the inconvenience of the shift.  I'm praying that it doesn't last long, but anticipating that it will be a while before we get to have dad home for family dinners, bedtimes, and bath times again.  This whole thing is a super surreal experience.  Crazy times guys, crazy times.