March~ We Made It!

Whew. We survived! We actually got through the February doldrums, and here we are on the first day of March. Success! Luckily we had some birthdays to help us get through the seemingly longest (though shortest) month of the year. Which helped in a great way!

 

And, like the Balrog who cracked his fiery whip as he fell , just in time to twist around Gandalf's ankle and drag him down to the depths below, a no-good, terrible, horrible, very-bad sickness struck one of us as we fled to escape the February days. And the one struck was none other than Kateri.

 

Yes, poor thing. She got sick last night, late last night. Or late to me (which is pretty much anything after 10 pm). She began whimpering and crying at about 11:00 pm, right after we had hopped in bed. I went in to find her in a pool of vomit.

 

So, to spare you all the wonderful details,  we spend the next 4 hours or so giving her multiple baths, comforting her as she was sick again and again and again. Seriously, the hundreds of people I've been blessed to care for as an RN over the past 7 years (cancer, cardiology, pulmonary, hospice, dialysis patients) couldn't prepare me for how hard it is to take care of a little baby who can't even tell you how she feels or if anything hurts! It is so hard!

 

She was such a little trooper the whole time. I didn't take any pictures, but after she was sick and then cleaned up, she would smile and talk and just want to snuggle, and then smile some more. The other major trooper (and hero) was Pat, who cleaned so many sheets, floors, pillows and clothes last night that he deserves some medal of honor.

 

Finally, around 3:30 am, the vomiting slowed down and all three of us crashed on the couch. I realized there was no way on earth I could sleep in that position, holding a baby and awkwardly trying not to move and wake her up, no possible way. Not when 26 weeks pregnant! So I woke up Pat and he went to sleep in bed since things seemed to be settling down, and I went to sleep on the floor in K-bears room just so I could keep a close eye on her. She did sleep a few hours, which was good.

And then little Kateri was sick again in the morning. I was so worried that she had pyloric stenosis, because of the symptoms she was displaying.

Finally, we came up with a strategy that seemed to work (very very small amounts of water over long periods of time) and the sips stayed down! Though she was incredibly upset each time that she could only drink such a tiny allotment. It was such a relief to see her keep something down! And now, there have been no more bouts for the past 5 or 6 hours, which is very encouraging indeed. She has been able to hold down 3 oz of pedialyte at a time which is also oh-such-wonderful news.

So we will try something more solid this evening!

So, some things I am thankful for:

1. PEDIALYTE:

So thankful she could keep it down!

2. Pat's dental saga continues and he had another appointment this morning. Afterwards, he brought these beautiful flowers for Kateri and I:

They brighten the whole room!

3. Kateri just had her 1 year doctor appointment a day or two ago. She checked out to be healthy, and Dr G. said she no longer has any dietary restrictions as long as there isn't a choking hazard.

So. Kateri took that statement to heart.* Who says one year olds don't listen?

*No paper was consumed by any child during (or after) the taking of this photo