Paging Dr. Mommy…
What a night and what a day so far. After I had spent three hours hunched over my laptop working on a project for work last night, I heard the Pumpkin crying from her crib. At first, I didn’t respond, as she sometimes cries in her sleep – it’s brief, and then she drifts off again. But this time, she didn’t stop. It got more persistent, and when I went into her room, the smell hit me.
She’d been sick. As in -Reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeal sick. The Princess, of course, was procrastinating bedtime (it was 90 minutes past light’s out but she was in her room quietly playing), so I sent her downstairs to get Hubby. I no sooner picked up Pumpkin, and she puked all over me.
I’m not easily grossed out by bodily fluids – I once watched some friends clean out a deer without flinching, and I can watch the grossest of scenes on E.R. without covering my eyes or turning the other way. I credit my years of working in a hospital emergency room – a few shifts of blood and ooze and drunks peeing on themselves, and you can pretty much get through anything.
Except… Getting puked on. Those are the moments when you realize what love truly is – when a baby is tossing her cookies, and you hold on tighter, offering reassurances and trying to soothe her. Hubby helped me change her sheets, and we bathed her (after which I cleaned up – the smell of me was grossing me out), and put her back down. Within an hour, she did it again. We repeated the process, and tried to give a bit of Pedialyte. Repeat. By the third time (and the third bath!), we called the after hours nurse who advised a clear liquid diet for the next day or so – letting us know a stomach bug was indeed going around. We gave her a bit of water, put her down in her crib, and she snoozed until 6 a.m.
Hubby got up with her this a.m. and when I made it downstairs, he’d just finished giving her a bottle of formula (clear liquid? Eh, not so much). We quickly saw that come back up. Good Morning.
Another bath. Another shower for me. Off to the store.
Now, I’m pretty much stocked up on popsicles, Pedialyte and Jello. Pumpkin has two sippy cups (water and Pedialyte) and two bottles (water and Pedialyte!) in the living room. I have them stashed on the floor all over the place so she can easily get to fluids – I even have a sippy of water in her crib where she is currently napping. She really liked the Jello, but didn’t seem crazy about the popsicles. The Princess is at a playdate, and for the time being, I’m getting caught up on washing every baby sheet we own, since we used them all last night.
It’s no fun to have a sick baby…. Poor little thing.
About sarah
Oh I’m so sorry. That’s the worst. And I totally get what you were saying about how getting puked on turns into not really a big deal…you just want to make the baby feel better.