Monday, January 14, 2013

Sick Little Boy

On the weekend after Christmas Ruckus fell ill, to a very persistent stomach bug.  He began vomiting about every 12 hours or so starting at around 3 am Sunday morning.  I woke in the night to the smell of it permeating the house, and went to investigate.  This is not something I recommend.  But, it had to be done.  I found him lying in a pool of sickness which he had sprayed all over his crib, so I scooped him up and changed his clothes, and wiped him down as well as I could at that hour with a house full of sleeping people.  I changed his sheets and started laundry, all before four a.m.  He seemed otherwise fine, and a little confused about what was going on.  I put him back to bed, clean and dry, and went to bed as well.

When we all woke up again everything seemed fine, but I kept with the no-food-after-puking rule until around noon when I gave him a few crackers and juice, and later, some milk.  That afternoon, around 3, he threw it all up, this time on the living room rug.  Clean up, round two.  More laundry was started, and some blotting of the carpet.  Milk vomit is very stubborn and smelly.

Things seemed fine, again, for many many hours, and he went to bed as normal that night without a lot of fuss, in spite of having a mostly empty belly.  Still, that night, it happened again.  Juice and some bits of soup reappeared hours after he'd eaten them, seemingly undigested, and I was washing things in the middle of the night again, tired and grossed out. 

In the morning I called his pediatrician who was of course closed because of it being New Year's Eve.  They tried to cheer me up, saying how good I was doing and to hang in there.  The cheerfulness of the nurse grated on my frayed nerves but I tried to put on a brave face and acknowledge that this too should pass.  This time, I kept him off of food much longer and felt like I was starving the poor kid.  He cried and tugged on me, basically begging for food.  I stuck with it though, and gave him only Pedialyte for the rest of the day on Monday, and just a few light things sprinkled through the day when I couldn't take the crying any longer.  Small children do not understand that their tummies need rest after being so sick. 

Tuesday came and all seemed okay, for the most part.  Slowly, I resumed feeding him some mild things, and soy milk because it is a little easier on the digestion than regular milk.  He did not throw up at all, and I was encouraged.

Wednesday dawned bright and cheery and I figured the worst was over with, and that it was time to resume our normal routines.  I packed Ruckus off to daycare with instructions to push juices and headed off to work.  I waited all day for them to call me and say he had vomited, but nothing.  Wonderful!  That night I picked him up and he seemed alright, so I took him home and fed him dinner.  We were just settling down for our bedtime routine when the gates opened up and huge amounts of baby sick came pouring out, all over the living room, again.  Dang it!

It seemed that none of the food he'd eaten over the past day had digested at all, and that the kid wasn't too good at chewing things either.  I recognized the breakfast I'd fed him 16 hours before, along with his lunch and various snacks.  After the cleanup efforts I put him to bed and we all had a fairly restless night.  In the morning I phoned his doctor and found that they were still closed, taking a long holiday, so I took him to daycare so I could attend to a few things.  I fretted all morning over what to do, then decided to pick Ruckus up from daycare and take him to a doctor, any doctor, to sort out what was going on.

At that point he had been throwing up for five days, and hadn't pooped in more than three, so we all feared the worst.  I took him to his doctor's office and found that they were opening shortly after 1 pm so we sat and waited outside the door and then went inside to beg to be seen.  We were brought in right away once they heard what was going on, and his doctor recommended a complete rest of his stomach for about a day, with no food at all, only Pedialyte and perhaps a spoonful of broth for dinner.  This seemed incredibly harsh, but I was determined to do whatever it took to get him better.  She was concerned about a possible bowel obstruction and we were all very worried.

Friday came and he still had not thrown up, and seemed to be staying hydrated.  Relief!  I spoke with her on Friday morning, and she said that we could resume feeding very bland foods a little at a time throughout the day, so I gave him some cream of wheat and a half a banana.  I spoke with her again in the afternoon and things seemed to be holding, so she said to continue with the mild feedings and that she thought he'd poop sometime over the weekend, assuming that he kept the food in long enough for it to be digested. 

Sure enough, after some very gentle foods and a lot of effort, Saturday brought with it a poopy diaper and we all celebrated a little.  The danger had passed, along with the worst stomach bug I hope to ever experience with Ruckus.  By Sunday, he had moved on to a new cold and teething, so all seemed back to business as usual. 

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