Saturday we woke up to a very distinct noise. As a mother of four children I have heard it many a times and I have learned to spring into action the moment I hear the first wretch. It was the sound of James puking at five or so in the morning. The poor guy had thrown up all over his little make shift crib and himself. I gave him a bath and got him into some fresh clothes and was rocking him in my arms when all hell broke loose.
I have experienced some pretty icky yucky disgusting things in my eleven years of motherhood but this next experience takes top prize. If you are eating read no more. At least not until you are done.
I was rocking James in my arms and was holding him belly to belly style. I felt it get real warm real fast and then sort of wet too. Then the smell hit me. God, the smell. James was pooping like a fountain. I am talking projectile diarrhea. I can now say that the amount of poo was almost comical. It seriously looked like someone just dumped a gallon of liquid on me and James. I didn't know what to do. It was dripping onto the floor so I ran outside. Then he started going again. More fountain. More dry heaves (that was me dry heaving). It smelled like someone just smashed a dozen rotten eggs in my face. I handed poopy boy over to Mike, stripped off my poo covered shirt which was now dripping on my big toe and ran for the shower. Mike got the overwhelming job of cleaning up James and his mess.
This was the beginning of a long six days.
After the initial mess, James threw up a couple more times and had more poo at least twice an hour for the entire weekend. I kid you not that poor boy went through at least 80 diapers in those two days. His poor little rear was so raw, he would scream when we would change him. His skin would literally peel off when we wiped him. It was really awful.
By Monday he wasn't really drinking much anymore and his energy was gone.
I took him to the ER.
He was seriously dehydrated and very low on electrolytes. We had just weighed him at my mom's house the week before and he had weighed 29 lbs. When he was weighed in the ER he was only 24 lbs! He lost nearly one fifth of his weight! They tried to get him hooked up to an IV and after the third poke, they found a vein. I guess being a cute little chubster has it's down falls. It's hard to find your veins. Then he got his first ambulance ride to St Joe's hospital since the other hospital didn't have a pediatric intensive care department. He loved the ride. He stared out the back windows of the ambulance and chewed on Jed the EMT's stethoscope. I never learned the name of the other EMT but he looked just like Steve Zahn. Same hair and everything.
He was admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit where he was issued a pint sized hospital gown and a metal crib. He was hooked up to an IV which was really annoying at first because they put it in the crook of his arm. Every time he would bend his arm (which was very often) the IV meter would beep like crazy and I would have to call in a nurse. All, through, the, night. On Tuesday when that vein collapsed they moved it to his hand and we didn't have the problem anymore.
As soon as he got some fluids into him he started perking back up. The doctors decided that he needed to stay until he was taking in more fluids than he was letting out. That worked out to be four very long days. Especially for a one year old. I felt so bad for him since he couldn't really do a whole lot. He wanted to crawl around on the floor so bad and explore but I wouldn't let him. It was either his metal jail cell, being held by mom, or sit with me on the teeny tiny couch. They did have a playroom full of toys but since he was contagious he wasn't allowed to go in. I was allowed to bring him back some toys for him though which was cool. His favorite thing to play with was this bag full of cheap little plastic animals. He would take them out one at a time and throw them on the floor, then I would pick them all up and he would do it again. They also had wagons that I could pull him around in every once and a while when he was really stir crazy. They would make him a little bed with pillows and blankets and disconnect his IV and I could take him for a ride. He liked to people watch as I pulled him and he loved to see the fish tank.
Every morning he would flood his bed with diarrhea and it would continue for the rest of the day. He finally seemed to be getting better early Wednesday and we thought he might get to go home, but in the afternoon he threw up again and then the diarrhea started back up so he had to stay.
Finally, on Thursday his output was slowing down and they decided he was good enough to go home that night. He was so happy when they took out his IV. He spent the next five minutes just clapping his hands together. My mom took us home. James fell asleep in his car seat on the ride home. He loves his car seat. He was so funny when he saw his brothers. He started screaming, giggling, and wiggling like a wild man for me to let him down. He missed them a ton. I missed them a ton too. I hadn't seen Jason and Marcus since Monday morning!
It feels so great to be back under one roof again. James is feeling much better now. He is on a very restricted diet for a while until his tummy heals but he is going to be okay now. I am so glad. I am borrowing Ryan's computer to post this and I wish I could post some pictures from the hospital too but I can't. Once we get into the new place I will add them so you can see James in his little jail cell in his cute little gown.
They never did figure out exactly what it was and I definitely hope he or any of the other boys get it again.
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Words to live by
We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we are frustrated that the kids aren't old enough and we'll be more content when they are. After that we're frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with. We will certainly be happy when they are out of that stage. We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, are able to go on a nice vacation, when we retire.
The truth is, there's no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when? Your life will always be filled with challenges. It's best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway.
For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.
This perspective has helped me to see that there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way. So, treasure every moment that you have. And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time...and remember that time waits for no one.
So stop waiting until you finish school, until you go back to school, until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, until you have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until you get a new car or home, until your car or home is paid off, until spring, until summer, until fall, until winter, until you are off welfare, until the first or fifteenth, until your song comes on, until you've had a drink, until you've sobered up, until you die, until you are born again to decide that there is no better time than right now to be happy...
Happiness is a journey, not a destination.
Thought for the day: "Work like you don't need money, Love like you've never been hurt, And dance like no one's watching."
The truth is, there's no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when? Your life will always be filled with challenges. It's best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway.
For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.
This perspective has helped me to see that there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way. So, treasure every moment that you have. And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time...and remember that time waits for no one.
So stop waiting until you finish school, until you go back to school, until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, until you have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until you get a new car or home, until your car or home is paid off, until spring, until summer, until fall, until winter, until you are off welfare, until the first or fifteenth, until your song comes on, until you've had a drink, until you've sobered up, until you die, until you are born again to decide that there is no better time than right now to be happy...
Happiness is a journey, not a destination.
Thought for the day: "Work like you don't need money, Love like you've never been hurt, And dance like no one's watching."
1 comment:
I'm so glad that you guys are home and he is doing better. I can't imagine trying to entertain a 1year old in a hospital for 4days... :( Its good everybody is back together!
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