No Sleep ‘Till . . .

The husband went out of town so I skipped town too, with the kids and my mom and dad. I thought I would have a relaxing weekend (shopping, napping, running on the beach) while my mom and dad played with the kids. Oh, how wrong I was. Just after lunch on the first day . . . VOMIT. My five-year-old let it out right on the carpeting of my parents’ vacation home. Ok, now I’m with her holding her hair back and holding her all day while my son goes to the beach to play. All night we toss and turn because my two-year-old won’t sleep in the pack and play and the three of us are trying to sleep on a full size bed. Why we didn’t move into the next room with a queen bed I don’t know. Anyway, the next morning, everyone is well. Pancakes and a walk on the beach. Then a nap for my son and me. After the nap, we went out for ice cream. I should have known there was something wrong with my son when he refused to eat his ice cream. An hour later . . . VOMIT. Right on the sidewalk. He continued to vomit until I drove him to the ER at 4 a.m. We waited in a yucky crowded waiting room for over an hour and a half. He threw up bile in my hand and one of the security guards had to get me a towel and a little tray for him to throw up in. The room they finally put us in was a “trauma” room, so people kept coming in and out to get stuff or to restock the room. Then, there was a shift change so we had to wait even longer. No one was coming in to help us. I just wanted them to put some fluids into him to get him to feel better. When our nurse finally arrived, she was more concerned about doing tests. They put a catheter in to get urine (did you know that a guy can be in pain for days after that? I just found that out the hard way, poor little guy). They took blood and then finally hooked up an IV. All tests were negative and they said he had the stomach flu. The poor guy went from sleeping on my lap to screaming about something. First it was the rectal thermometer, then the catheter, then the IV, then the vitals instrument they put on his toe. One time, he was sleeping soundly and the nurse came in with a Tylenol suppository for his 100.5 fever (our doctor does not even consider that to be a fever). I asked her to wait until he woke up, but NO, she said she had to put it in in case his fever got worse. That started another long bout of screaming. We were released as soon as he kept down a bit of pedialite. A quick stop at the drive-thru for coffee and my son and I went back to the vacation house and got packed. I just wanted to get home. My breasts were killing me b/c I hadn’t nursed for about fifteen hours. I was even leaking a little bit, something that hasn’t happened to me in over a year! He slept the whole way home and my daughter was quiet and patient for a change. At home we turned on the tv for the rest of the day while my son flopped down on the couch and drifted in and out of sleep. My husband was back in town by then and helped me out as soon as the work day was over. My son slept in bed with me and I had another sleepless night. He only threw up once though so that was good. The next day, diarrhea — right through the diaper and his pants and onto my couch. Ewie! A trip to the doctor in the afternoon confirmed he wasn’t too dehydrated and that my nursing helped tremendously since it was the only thing he would take in. At 2:30 a.m. this morning, he sat up for the first time in days and asked to watch TV. It is now almost 10a.m. and he has been up ever since. I am elated and exhausted at the same time. He finally smiled and laughed after days of listlessness. My boy is back! Yeah! Oh, and did I mention I had my period during this time and it was a bit-h! When will I get to sleep? When the kids go off to college, I guess. 🙂