The Plague

Just because I can't do a post without pictures. I am including the following from a hike we went on to enjoy this fabulous fall weather we are having. I do have a huge summer post underway but decided to do this post out of order.This is Anna's new impromptu smile when asked to smile for pictures. It makes me laugh every time!

Now on to the purpose of this post.
Warning: This is not for the sensitive stomach, so beware! Also, this is a crazy long post so you might just want to skip it for that reason alone :)

Ever since Scott and I have been married he has always tried to convince me that the stomach flu is better than getting a cold. I normally whole-heartedly disagree. Even if I have to suffer for a couple of weeks with a cold I would rather that than the typical "24 hour stomach flu" And our current situation is not helping me change my mind!

I don't get the stomach flu very often, as a matter of fact before I was pregnant with Anna I could count the number of times I had thrown-up on one hand. Thanks to morning sickness that is now impossible but still it's a rare thing. Scott has had it 2 or 3 times since we have been married and until last week I hadn't had it.

So last Monday night I was sick and it was as miserable as I remembered it being but it did end quickly. I still spent a couple days on the couch in survival mode. During this time I succumbed to more "binky breaks" then usual, which means Anna has to be in her crib but is aloud to have her binky. I really try to not let her do it too much because we are trying to get away from the whole binky thing, which is why it is limited to her bed. But, I am a total pushover when I am sick so she ended up getting a lot of what she wanted; I'll be honest.

This all leads to the fact that SHE LEARNED TO CLIMB OUT OF HER CRIB! Life as we knew it was over. I have to say I had fair warning since she has been climbing into her crib since April (I'm telling you she really likes her binky) but I just hoped that we could hold off a little longer. And why did she have to learn when the stomach flu was among us? Still she was only climbing out during her "binky breaks" and was not climbing out when I put her down for naps and bed time. So I decided to keep her in there until I was feeling better to deal with the transition. Also, if she got sick I knew it would be easier if she was still in her crib. But, no such luck.

Friday night, five days later I really thought we were in the clear when at two in the morning I heard a horrible cry, the "something is wrong" cry. So my heart sank as I made it to her room and of course, she was sick! Dang! I knew I couldn't be so lucky to escape anyone else getting it. So we spent the next couple of hours waking up with Anna every 20-30 minutes, doing TONS of laundry and reading her lots of books. After I put her back to bed for what I really thought was the final time for the night, I went back to bed to once again to try to fall asleep and a few minutes later I heard a little hand on my door knob and when I sat up I could see Anna's little silhouette in the door holding her throw-up bowl. It was a sad little sight but mostly I was just horrified since this was the first time she had ventured out of her crib in complete dark in the middle of the night. I knew our crib days were over. I was worried she would fall eventually if she continued to keep up this practice.

So the next day she was feeling much better and we decided to make the transition into the "big girl" bed. She seemed excited by the idea at first, maybe too excited since she had a hard time falling asleep. But all in all it really hasn't been that bad, sometimes she will try to come back out but I just tell her to go back to bed and she will.

At this point I was really thinking my troubles were over, there was a chance Scott could still get it but I felt like we were getting over this and as the weekend went on I thought for sure we were done. So I decided to do a celebratory sanitizing of my entire apartment for the second time that week and it felt good.

Then Monday night came around and this time I was awoken around the same time with a cry followed by "DIRTY!" I knew that she had to be sick again because that was the word she kept saying last time she was sick. So I ran into her room to begin the routine, change the now full size bed sheets and clothes and back to tons of laundry. (Did I mention I am grateful for my washer and dryer? I don't know what parents do without those things!) I have to admit this was kind of depressing. I really thought she was better and I didn't know what could still be making her sick? And so many days later?

But once again we move forward, she was feeling better and I sanitized some more. Do you see where this is going...it is pretty much the stomach flu from you know where! Then Wednesday night rolls around this time it is 10:00pm, at least I am not asleep yet right? She was sick again, same routine. This time she was at least down for the night by 12:30. Still, I don't know what she has but it is horrible. And trust me I did spare some of the more horrible details. We are actually going to take her to the doctor today, I sure hope they can tell us something because I think I am losing my mind! I am more than open to any advice because I am kind of a throw-up amateur as previously mentioned. So please share!