A Win. But a heavy hearted, life lesson one at that. Today Squish and I emerged from the 24 hour stomach flu victorious. Exhausted, tired, weary, but not worse for the wear.
Friday seemed like any normal day, we packed up to go to our regular mommy mixer, and then lunch with our friends. After lunch we walked around the outside mall for a little bit, I commented to my friend “Squishy seems so mellow today.”
Not 30 minutes later we were both sitting in the back of my car drenched in throw-up. I had never seen throw-up travel that far, but even at that point I wasn’t sure he was sick – or maybe just a onetime deal.
45 minutes after that – I was sure he was sick. By the time we had got home, Squish was drenched in puke, and sitting in quite a blow-out.
Without even thinking – I stripped the car seat cover and threw it in the wash, called the Pedi – and threw him in the bath (which turned into 3 baths thanks to more throw up and 2 major bath time poops)
Thankfully not too long after I managed to get my son clean, no small task I may add, the Pedi nurse called back and told me to stop nursing him and to do pedialite for 4 hours – 1-2 tsp every 5-10 mins. If he makes it through that, I can nurse again, but if he throws up again to go to the urgent care – or if he has more than 8 stools in 8 hours to go, we were already at 7 at that point.
As soon as I hung up with her, I knew I had a problem, you see my husband is deployed, and I couldn’t find anyone who was able to help me. Most of the people I know out here have children of their own, and I really didn’t want to subject them to what we were dealing with, and no one else seemed to answer their phone. I had no choice, I had to call my neighbor, which is a huge deal for me, bc it is really hard for me to ask for help from my family, let alone a person who I have only lived next to for a couple of months.
So I called, and at this point I am crying, he not only goes out to get the pedialite for Squish, but won’t let me pay him back. I am completely humbled. I am a city girl and not used to the kindness of neighbors, he said this is what neighbors are for, but I have never experienced that. He even took it another step further to call me the next day while they were out at the store to see if I need anything else. I am completely blessed to be living next to such a wonderful family. (When this is all over, he and his wife will be getting some nice baked goodies and a Thank you note.)
So Squishy makes it through the night – and the next morning. He has stopped throwing up at this point, but still has diarrhea. I still feel bad for him, he just wants to cuddle, and be with me. Well, then we took another turn. I got sick. I got really really sick. For 6 hours I couldn’t do anything but run back and forth to the bathroom. I managed to get Squish fed before it got really bad, and then he went to sleep. But not 3 hours in, he wakes up and is screaming for me. But I couldn’t leave the bathroom. For the first time, I had to ignore my baby’s cries. I could not help him, at this point I could barely help myself. I can’t tell you how awful I felt listening to him cry and not be able to comfort him. Eventually he fell back asleep, and managed to stay that way until I was over the worse of it. I honestly can’t remember a flu being so violent and awful. I am so so so glad it only lasted 24 hours.
So here we are, Sunday night. We have made it through. (With the help of my neighbor, and several calls to my Mom.) Squish threw up again today, but only once. I called the nurse line again, and she told me it was par for the course. I hope he sleeps tonight, bc I know I need it, and so does he.
Doing this by myself has really humbled me. I miss my husband on a daily basis, but never wished he didn’t have the job he did until last night. I know this is just the first in many long nights and illnesses (children get sick) but I hope that he will be home for the next one, and I hope I never have to listen to my baby scream like that again.
It was really hard to see him sick, and even harder to let him scream and cry. I have more respect for my Mom now than ever before, and all moms out there, who are doing it on their own. Whether it is bc that is their family situation, or bc their husbands are out working. It’s hard. I know that now more than ever. I did make sure to give him some extra cuddles and attention today. Even though I was/am exhausted, he really needed it, and so did I.
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