Well, that title just about says it all.
p{color:gray}. Photo: “Will you pick me up? I promise (mostly) not to barf on you.”
Poor Rosie caught a bug that has been going around, surprising us with a jumbo upchuck on Monday morning. We were pretty conservative all day Monday — giving her sips of Pedialyte every hour or so, no solids, finally nursing in the late afternoon (after Mama pumped, so as to limit the available volume). Besides some diarrhea, she seemed like she was on the road to recovery. And I was hoping that our vigorous hand-washing/sanitizing/bleaching/sterilizing household regimen was going to help us escape further casualties. Alas, no such luck.
On the upside, we all had a good night’s sleep — Rosie even slept all the way until 5:00 am before calling for some milk, which is a record for her. But, around 6:30, we thought we heard a very quiet, peaceful puke from Rosie’s room. She didn’t even wake up from it, so we didn’t confirm our suspicions for another half hour or so. Not out of the woods yet!
Lucy and I took a trip to Jewel to stock up on some traditional groceries (peanut butter, cheese) and some sick-arsenal groceries (white bread, jell-o, more Pedialyte). Then, as soon as we walked through the door at home, Lucy promptly vomited right into Jon’s hiking boot. Poor girl! Poor boot!
I’m hoping the girls are on the upswing now. Rosie is having a marathon nap, peacefully sleeping after a small snack of mother’s milk, and Lucy herself had a barf-free afternoon nap. She is currently taking frozen Pedialyte chips every ten minutes while I write this (whoever invented the Pedialyte ice pops was a genius!), and we are watching “_Finding Nemo_”:http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005JM02/octothorppres-20.
One of the hardest things about stomach bugs for me is the anxiety that comes from waiting for the surprise belly eruption. When will it happen? Do we have a bowl nearby? It’s the worst when I’m trying to sleep, listening for the telltale “cough” and cry.
I’ve been extra-grateful for Jon’s help and presence today. It is one thing to care for sick kids, and another thing to do the clean-up _and_ comforting all on one’s own. Jon is such a champion — empathetic Papa, relentless sanitizer, efficient laundry man! But I also keep worrying — what will we do in a situation like this when Jon is no longer working from home? Jon has a couple of very promising “job opportunities”:/news/2009/convalescing/ in the works, but none of them have the sweet home-office deal we enjoy now. I know most other mothers are able to deal with it. What tricks do I need to learn?
I’ve also been surprised by all the flashbacks I’m having to the day before I went into labor with Rosie — the “only other time”:/news/2008/help-for-barfy-barney/ Lucy has had a stomach bug like this. I continue to be grateful that I’m not nine months pregnant, and I keep saying, “Well, at least I’m not “giving birth tomorrow”:/news/2008/baby-on-the-way/.” That was definitely one interesting twist to Rosie’s “birth story”:/news/2008/rosies-labor-the-cliffs-notes/!
Jon and I are looking forward to a (hopefully) quiet evening at home, ordering take-out in lieu of a canceled date night. Here’s hoping we avoid this plague!
Sounds possibly like Rotovirus….puking and diarrhea. Do you know the contagiousness of Rotovirus? I only know b/c I was in the emergency room with it one March several years ago and then again the following March. As gross as it sounds the germs are carried from poop to mouth…mmmm. And you are contagious up to a full week after your last symptom. You may know all this but I didn’t till that fateful night in the ER when the doc explained it to me. I’ve also met many folks who didn’t know this information either – so I’m passing it on just in case. Coincidentally, both Marches, I was babysitting and changed a poopy diaper from the same exact child. Round two was not even prevented by a very thorough, sudsy and warm 2 minute hand washing followed by germ-x. Those are tough germs! The good news is that Nathan did not catch it from me either time even though we slept in the same bed and used the same bathroom. So, they can be killed! Ann, your cleaning instincts are more than justified in this instance! Good luck!
Eric and I both had that bug, too! It was intense, but only lasted 24 hours for us — hopefully yours passes as quickly!
Ooh, hope everyone gets better soon!
Oooh – peaceful puke. Only really little kids can have those. I hate barfing so much I’d just about cut a limb off if I could trade it for not barfing. Your story sounds so very exhausting. I understand the anxiety – “What if I get horribly sick, when the girls are horribly sick, and Jon is gone or horribly sick?” Terrifying, and yet if it were to happen, you’d make it. Parenting certainly pushes us to our limits. Hang in there, we’re praying for you today….
Take care of yourselves so you don’t get it too! Hope the girls get better quickly!
Quick update: Mama caught it last night, but I’m on the mend. I think we all are. Rice and soy sauce tastes surprisingly good when you haven’t eaten anything solid in 24 hours.
I hope you cant’ spread it through the blog! it sounds like no fun. ick. get better.