Welcome to the vomitorium

By Anne-Marie

Circumstances make you teach your kids funny things. Recently on two separate occasions, Nathan threw up red Jell-O and red medicine on the living room carpet. To get the stains out required a professional carpet cleaning. So when Nathan threw up his breakfast on the kitchen floor last Tuesday, I was proud of him. For once he had listened to us and didn't puke on the carpet.

Still he doesn't understand that when his tummy is sick, he shouldn't eat. That day he kept asking for things like ice cream, ham, and cheese slices. For a kid who never eats much, he was unusually ravenous. It was a battle to make sure he ate bland things like bananas and soup. He was fine by that evening.

Late Friday night, Lucie woke up, violently threw up all over her crib, and started screaming. Feeling miserable, she puked twice more on me that night. She was sick again Saturday morning, took an early nap and was her normal self by noon.

Luckily my husband and I didn't get sick. We were just a little more sleep-deprived and loaded down with laundry than usual. Nathan must have picked up a bug somewhere, maybe from a shopping cart, and then given it to Lucie. I didn't think twice about it.

However, yesterday the vomitorium reopened for business. Nathan threw up twice on the kitchen floor and once in the back hall. (Well, at least my floors are cleaner now.) He said his tummy hurt, and he wasn't been able to keep anything down. Now I'm waiting for Lucie to get sick. I'm sure she will, as she hasn't had much of an appetite, is acting clingy, and napped earlier and longer than usual. It's inevitable and all plans to go out have been cancelled.

So I sit here wondering what the hell is up. Am I not keeping the house clean enough? Should the kids wash their hands more often? Maybe they're drinking too much bathwater. (I know, gross.) And after reading an article about getting hepatitis A from imported produce, I'm thinking that I shouldn't let them eat fresh fruit.

It's ridiculous what a little throwing up will do to your confidence as a mother.

Comments

[NoKids4Me_EVER]

Wow--the original post in this thread is the best birth control I could ever read! Who needs condoms or BC pills with testimonials like that!

**Thank GOD** I'm infertile!!!

[Courtney]

Don't worry, it's not you! Something is definitely going around! Two families I babysit for have stomach bugs, and it was the same thing-It got passed from one sibling to another and then back to the first. It's definitely not your fault, sometimes there are just weeks like that.

[VJ]

Wash your fresh food, keep children's meds nearby and call the phone nurse (if you have one) and restore your confidence in your parenting skills. It's not you, I'm sure.

[Goldberry]

We still have our daughter at home and dreading the daycare illnesses. She has only had a fever from teething and a cold or two. Actual vomiting hasn't occured in 18 months. I keep thinking to myself that the one thing I need to have on my refrigerator shelf is Pedialyte. I hear it good for sick children, but I have yet to test that theory.

[Anne]

Okay, so I'm obsessive and I wipe down shopping cart handles and seats with a baby wipe. Plus I give restaurant high chairs and a tables a once-over too. Does it make a difference? I have no idea. He seems to get the same germs as every other kid we know, so go figure. Still, I'm never without those silly wipes . . .

[Rachel Ann]

There are weeks like that; kids get sick one after another and then because they have a weak immune sickness they get the next illness....
It may also be the heat; if the weather has changed or they are eating something new or different.

It will pass.

hugs and wishes for good health...

[Susan]

It must be those double X chromosomes that make you think you are doing something wrong when your children get sick. You can't shield them from getting sick. You can do your best to give them a clean environment, but since germs are invisible without a microscope, there's only so much you can do.

I remember 2 years ago when my children starting going to pre-school for the first time. Before that my husband was a stay at home Dad, so they were not exposed many to other children (and all those nasty germs). Within a week of starting school, which was the week after Thanksgiving, they were both sick. They got worse every day instead of better. This was the worst month of our lives. We wre awoken every hour to vomit and diarrhea. We literally changed the sheets 5 times a night. On some nights we ran out of sheets and they slept on towels. It ended with a hospital stay for both of them (they shared a room), 3 days before Christmas. They both had fevers around 105 degrees and needed oxygen. It was a terrifying, exhausting experience.

I had so much guilt over that. I felt like a horrible mother for putting them in school. As ridiculous as that sounds, I couldn't stop myself from blaming myself. The good news is that once they were discharged, they didn't have another serious bought of sickness again for over a year.

I hope your little ones are feeling better soon and you and your husband maintain your immunity. :)