Welcome to Virusville

It has been quite a ridiculous 48 hours here in the Wagner household. Thursday started as usual. The boys and I were confined to the house for the third day because Marc's car is in the shop again, and it was in the 20's outside, so we were a little short on things to do, but no biggie.

Around noon, Ethan was down for his afternoon nap, and I was laying in bed with Caleb, telling him a story before his nap. We were sharing a pillow and laying face-to-face in one of those daily intimate moments that I love. All of the sudden, Caleb coughed once or twice, and then projectile vomitted right into my face. It was undoubtedly the most disgusting moment of my life. There was vomit literally dripping from my eyes, nose and chin. And then Caleb was vomitting again, this time all over his comforter and himself. Then he was crying and wanting to be held, but I HAD to get the vomit off my face or I was going to lose my lunch, so I told him he was okay and I'd be right back. I stepped across the hall, and stuck my head in the shower for about 15 seconds, just enough so that I could open my eyes and dry off my face, but certainly not enough to get rid of the smell or to feel even remotely clean. The whole 30 seconds I was gone, Caleb was wailing "MAMA!" I got back to him, gave him a hug and reassured him while I carried him into the tub and stripped him. I cleaned him up, rinsed out the tub, and then ran him a bubble bath to cheer him up. While he was playing happily in the bubbles, I stripped his bed and threw all the clothes and bedding into the washer. As I dressed him after the bath, he was happy and energetic, so I hoped that the vomitting was simply a one-time thing. I finally got Caleb down for his nap just as Ethan was waking up from his.

I called Marcus to tell him about the vomit nightmare, and when I got off, I heard something upstairs. I went up and stood outside Caleb's door. The familiar smell accosted me even before I got to the door. I opened the door and Caleb was literally lying in a pool of vomit. There was nothing on his bed except the waterproof mattress pad (the bedding was still in the washer), and so he lay there clutching his blankie, crying and soaked from hair to socks with vomit. I actually had to strip him on the bed to avoid dripping vomit on the way to the tub. Keep in mind, Ethan is still downstairs in the play room, and cannot be left unattended while I clean up this mess. I put a naked, crying and still vomiting Caleb in the tub, throw a towel around him for warmth, and run downstairs to get Ethan. Once upstairs with us, Ethan focuses all his efforts on getting his body into the tub (one of his favorite places to be). He pulls up on the side, wedges his tummy onto the side, and catapults himself head first into the water, all while I am beside him trying to calm and clean up Caleb. I catch Ethan just as his crown hits the water, and plant his bottom back on the ground. He immediately starts wailing at the top of his lungs at the unjust thwarting of his efforts. This scene replays itself twice before Caleb is clean enough to remove from the tub and dress again.

Since Caleb threw up huge amounts twice within 45 minutes, I realize that it is probably not over. I bring both kids down to the playroom, grab a large plastic bowl in the kitchen, and then throw an old blanket over the recliner in the play room. I'm literally seconds from depositing Caleb into the sick station chair when he says "Mama!" and starts throwing up all over the play room carpet (I did manage to catch the second and third time in the bowl). I throw the blanket over the mess to keep Ethan from crawling through it (which he immediately attempted to do), wrap a towel around fully-clothed, vomit-covered Caleb, and call Marcus. Our conversation took place around 2:00 pm and it went something like this.

Rachel: You have to come home. Take a sick day, do whatever you need to do. Caleb has thrown up twice more since we talked, there is vomit everywhere, and we are running out of towels and blankets. Help me!
Marcus: Okay, I'll see what I can do.

He walked in the door about 30 minutes later. By the time he arrived, I had changed Caleb again (no bath this time, I realized it was futile) and had him curled up in the blanket-covered recliner with a bowl in his lap and Peter Pan in the DVD player. I had also started one of the nine loads of laundry that I would be doing in the next 48 hours, but there was still vomit in my hair, all over Caleb's room and on the playroom floor. After Marcus got home, we spent the next two hours holding the bowl for Caleb while he threw up bile every fifteen minutes. He was beyond miserable and my heart was breaking for him. He kept begging for a drink, but Marcus held firm that the treatment for vomitting is to withhold liquids until the vomitting has stopped. That is so much easier to accept when your child isn't looking at you with wide, sunken eyes pleading, "Do we got some water, Mama? A little bit of water, please?"

At 4:30, after 4 1/2 hours of Caleb vomitting every 15-30 minutes, I called the pediatricion because I was concerned that he was becoming dehydrated. They told us to bring him in right then, which we did. Dr. Hardwick saw us right away (maybe because Caleb was throwing up when we arrived). Dr. Hardwick was primarily concerned about Caleb's hydration level and gave him 2 ccs of Pedialyte. He asked us to wait there for 15 minutes to see if Caleb could keep it down. After the 15 minutes had passed, he told us to give Caleb 2 ccs of pedialyte every 10 minutes, for as long as we could keep him awake, and if he threw up again after we got home, we needed to go the ER for IV fluids. He also gave us a script for an anti-nausea drug, which we filled on the way home. Caleb threw up once in the car and once more after we got home, around 6 pm, but after he took the anti-nausea drug, he started keeping the pedialyte down and began to improve.

Marcus camped out at his computer in the guest/office room with Caleb in the guest bed (and Peter Pan on the portable DVD player) so he could give Caleb his fluids every 10 minutes. By 10:00 pm, it seemed we were in the clear with Caleb and would not have to go to the ER. At 10:15, I was downstairs loading the dishwasher when I heard a familiar sound in the baby monitor. Sure enough, Ethan had just thrown up all over his crib. (Side note, it is AMAZING to me how much vomit these tiny bodies are capable of producing.) For the next seven hours, Ethan threw up every hour. The messes were even bigger than with Caleb because he had no ability to aim whatsoever. The bright side was that it was at night and he slept between each episode. Also on the bright side, he was not vomitting as violently or frequently as Caleb had, and therefore didn't become dehydrated. I also breastfed him when he wanted during the night. He threw up for the last time around 5 am and then we both slept for a couple of hours.

On Friday morning, both boys were feeling better, though queasy. Ethan had diarrhea all day, and we kept both boys on clear liquids (and breastmilk for Ethan). Last night we went to bed early, exhausted, but relieved that the drama was over.

Then I heard Marcus in the bathroom for the first time around 2:30 am. It is now 2:30 pm, and he has been in bed feeling nauseous and miserable for the past 12 hours while I've been taking care of the two recovering boys (who are feeling much better, but still have no interest in eating anything but juice and popsicles).

To end with a little humor, here are two conversations of note that occurred this morning.

(After we just finished playing an animated game with Caleb’s set of toy gears.)
Mommy: Caleb, how are you feeling? Are you feeling better?
Caleb: (lips pursed, thinking deeply) Umm, I’m not better, Mama. I’m still real sick.
Mommy: What still hurts you?
Caleb: I don’t know, but I throw up a lot, so I need to watch some TV cause I’m real sick.
Mommy: Oh, you need some TV?
Caleb: Yes, I really need some TV to make me better. Maybe ‘bout 30 minutes? You got 30 minute TV, Mama? I think I’ll be all better in ‘bout 30 minutes. (Can you guess what daily TV limit he hears a lot?)
Mommy: Caleb, I think you are a little opportunist!
Caleb: Mommy, I not opportunist! I just really really really need some TV!

(While holding his "just-in-case" vomit bowl)
Marcus: Rachel, I feel terrible! I've had this constant nauseated feeling for hours! Can you go get me [this and that]? I can't get up or move around or I might throw up.
Rachel: Carry that bowl and that feeling around the house all day every day for SIXTEEN WEEKS while taking care of a two-year-old and a house and you'd know what it's like to be pregnant!