Stomach Virus Visiting (and Re-Visiting)

Thank you all so much! What a wonderful, supportive group of people you are! I hate to move from my really great news to the stomach virus the Pumpkin has, but that's what I'm doing. It's not all sunshine, rainbows and unicorns in the caramama household, you know. This week, it's been vomit, sleepless nights and extra fussiness.

Want to hear about it in graphic detail? Sure you do!

Sunday night, I was putting the Pumpkin to bed. I tried lying down with her and giving her the bottle, but after the bottle was done, she still wasn't asleep. So I picked her up and started pacing the floor. She started making a weird noise, so I sat down on the glider to look at her and try to figure out what was going on. And she threw up all over me and her. All down my shoulder, boob, arm and her chin, arm, chest and stomach.

I called for Londo, thinking that if I didn't move, he might be able to help me clean up before it got everywhere. And then, she threw up again. And it was everywhere. I dashed to the bathroom across the hall, trailing chunky vomit across the carpet of her room and the hallway. She threw up more in the bathroom. Poor girl! She was very confused and unhappy about the throwing up. No one likes to throw up, but it must be worse when you don't understand what's going on.

Once she stopped, I undressed us both and got her in the tub, where I poured water over her. I sponged her and myself down until we were clean. Then, I put new pajamas on both of us. Meanwhile, Londo cleaned up the glider, the carpet and the bathroom.

At this point, the Pumpkin acted fine. Like nothing happened. She didn't feel feverish, and she was talkative and happy. So I tried to put her to bed again. She wanted to lie down, so we did. But then she said, "Mommy, poo poo potty?" This is her way of saying she needs to use the potty. I thought maybe she had some diarrehea to go along with the throw up. I put her on the potty, but nothing. Then she wanted to get down. So we went back into her room, and I started pacing the floor with her.

You know what happened next, right?

I heard her start to make the noise and took off for the bathroom. She started throwing up before we got there, but not much. Most of it was in the bathroom. And all over us. It was even in our hair. No rinsing off would be enough this time. Once she was done and seemed to be feeling better, I took her for her first shower in the master bathroom.

She loved the shower. She played with new bottles and a container to put them in. She didn't seem to mind the water falling down on her head as long as she didn't look up. I got us all clean, dried off and in another set of new pajamas. Londo cleaned up the rugs and bathroom--again.

But this time, we didn't make it out of the master bathroom. She looked at me and said, "Mommy, poo poo potty?" I realized that it wasn't poo poo that she was going to do. It was that her stomach didn't feel right, and probably the closest thing she could figure was poo poo potty. Sure enough, within moments she was clutching her stomach. I grabbed a towel and caught the throw up before it could get on her, me or the floor.

As a side note, I'm an expert at catching throw up in towels. My dog has a stomach problem so that when she goes too long between meals, she throws up. This is almost always in the early morning hours. I know the sounds and movements of her about to throw up. It wakes me up immediately, I jump out of bed, grab a dog towel and hold it under her while she throws up. If I don't catch it in the towel, it's on our bed because that is where she sleeps and you can't move her when she is about to throw up. Then we have to strip the bed and remake it before going back to sleep, which totally sucks. So I'm really good at catching it in the towel. Apparently for my sick toddler, too.

We called the after-hours nurse, who basically said to try to keep her hydrated, watch her and call the doctor in the morning if it got worse. As Londo was talking to her, the Pumpkin threw up again.

We set up a big beach towel in our bed between us--the spot where the Pumpkin has taken to sleeping once she wakes up lately (that's another post). I put a pile of towels next to me. We all got into bed.

It was 11:00, and the Pumpkin threw up for the 5th time in 2 hours. Immediately after throwing up, she closed her eyes and was out. She threw up again at 12, 1, 2 and at 3, she dry heaved once and was done.

Do I need to tell you all how worried we were? After the third throw up, the Pumpkin was miserable and not acting fine. But she didn't have a fever or any other symptom. The nurse at the pediatrician's office said it was a virus that was going around and that we should limit her food, give her bland food and make sure she drank a lot of water. Which we did. She seemed fine by morning and all the next day, except tired and more fussy than usual.

She threw up just once the following morning, but otherwise has seemed fine and is back to eating regular foods, although she doesn't have a big appetite.

And then last night, she threw up in our bed a little after 1. Londo cleaned it up, changed the blankets (she didn't get it on the sheets, thank goodness) and put down a beach towel for her. I stripped us down and cleaned us off. Then at 2, she threw up again. It was everywhere on her and I. So we showered again. Which of course just woke her up more! When we got out and Londo had everything cleaned again, she did not want to fall back asleep. Londo paced with her and finally got her calm enough to fall asleep in bed. She didn't throw up again.

We are so exhausted and there is so much laundry!!! The Pumpkin doesn't feel well and is really tired. She is being so frustrating with the fussing, temper tantrums, and constant "no"s. We feel bad that she's been sick, but we are so tired it's hard to keep our patience.

This is why I'm not posting much this week. I'm just too tired with this on top of everything else. I'm really glad it's Friday, and I plan to nap a lot this weekend!