Slammed with a Stomach Bug

I’m trying to sit as still as possible as I type this – meaning, I’m trying to just type without moving the rest of my body. I feel so-so when I’m still, and I feel queasy, lightheaded, and just plain awful when I get up to walk around. I have felt this way all day long. I have no pictures from the day as I personally look horrific, and I didn’t have the strength to take pictures of everyone else.

Last night I was hit with a violent, horrible stomach bug. I went to bed feeling a little off, but figured I’d sleep it off and feel better in the morning. Instead, I woke up at 2 a.m. feeling extremely ill and sprinted to the bathroom to throw up.

The toilet seat was down, so my puking destination was the bathroom sink, unfortunately (I barely made it). Better than the floor… but still pretty gross. Especially as I kept throwing up – over and over again – and didn’t have the energy to move to the toilet. I wouldn’t recommend it because after I was done puking, I had to then stick a wood bbq skewer down the drain to help it all drain down. Yuck……………….. (don’t worry, I used a hefty amount of Lysol on the sink after skewering the drain).

Is this too much information? Probably for some of you – I’m sorry. But I’m too sick to care.

I threw up about 10 times last night – basically everything I had eaten that day and then some. I debated sleeping on the bathroom floor, but it was too cold and I had the chills. So I climbed back under my covers and miraculously fell asleep.

This morning, I woke up at 6 a.m. to the sound of Charlie crying, ready to get out of his crib. I nudged Ben and asked if he was going to work, and he asked if I thought I was okay. I hadn’t sat up yet, but I thought I could manage somehow if he went in. So Ben got out of bed to shower, and I slowly got out of bed to go get Charlie.

Ugh. When I pulled my solid little baby out of the crib (who was crying, throwing himself around, kicking my stomach… I really wish he would wake up happy for once!), I was hit with more nausea and exhaustion and realized this wasn’t going to work.

So Ben stayed home today to take care of the kids so I could stay in bed and try to feel better. My favorite quote of the morning was when he happily said, “I really needed a vacation day.”

HAH! Is that what my life is?? Eternal vacation days…? : )  (I know he didn’t mean it like that, but it still made me laugh)

The morning was smooth enough. I went back to bed, Eli went to preschool, Charlie took a morning nap, and Ben did some work from home. But Ben was slammed with a nice dose of my weekday solo parenting reality when:

1. Charlie only napped for an hour in the afternoon and was crabby afterwards. It was only 2 p.m. at that point.

2. Fussy, persistent Charlie went up against tired, emotional Eli, who didn’t want his little brother to get in his face and interfere with whatever he was playing with. This turned into quite the tearful battle between the boys.

3. Eli went to the bathroom (on his little potty), but refused to pull his pants up. So he waddled around for about an hour with his pants around his ankles. At one point in the afternoon, Ben went upstairs with Charlie to change his stinky diaper, then came down to find that Eli had pooped on the dining room floor. I was upstairs resting and heard Ben make the discovery….. ohhhhhhhh I was trying really hard not to laugh – because that made me feel more queasy.

4. Around 3 p.m., Ben was feeling stir crazy and decided they needed to get out of the house. I suggested they go on a walk, since the sun was shining and the temp was in the high 30s, which feels pretty warm after our cold February days. So he attempted to get the boys ready to go out in the stroller, but I could hear Eli whining, “I don’t WANT to go outside… I want to stay HOME,” which is what happens to me every single day. He is my homebody while Charlie likes to go out.

5. Eventually, they made it outside, had a nice long walk and came back refreshed and happy. Eli made me the sweetest “Get Better Soon MAMA” sign and brought it up to my bed. He gave me a big hug and said, “I’m sorry you’re sick, Mama.” Charlie was also excited to see me and kept repeating, “Memememe” over and over, which is unusual since he prefers to say “Dadadada” a million times (which drives Eli crazy :)  It’s nice to be missed!

After the boys went to bed for the night, I attempted to come downstairs with Ben in hopes of finding something besides 7-UP and saltines that wouldn’t make me more sick. Ben commented that now he understood why after the kids go to bed at night, I’m always running around the house, cleaning up and finishing stuff up that I wasn’t able to get to while they were awake. He’s going back to work tomorrow, so I am crossing my fingers that I’ll wake up and feel back to normal.

Good job Mr. Mom! I think you were fabulous today. I’m looking forward to my vacation day tomorrow :) Yeah right!!