You guys,
George got sick for the first time with a 24-hour stomach bug.
Every time Sam and I gave him his formula he projectile-vomited. By the third eruption and second hot load of laundry, we were on the phone with the pediatrician who nicely told us to stop giving him milk.
Right.
But George was dehydrated and needed Pedialyte. Unfortunately he wouldn’t drink it. Because it’s disgusting. So the doctor said Gatorade was the next best thing.
Sam was about to run to the store but I texted our three neighbors and asked if anyone had a bottle of Gatorade. Five minutes later, one neighbor brought over a bottle of red Gatorade, blue Powerade and four little bags of individual Gatorade powder that you can mix with water. As she was giving me the run-down, my other neighbor approached with six Pedialyte freeze pops and a bottle of yellow Gatorade. As I walked back inside, our next-door neighbor - the ER doctor - was calling. Bill heard what was going on and wanted to check in. He basically gave us a consultation and answered all our questions.
Two hours later we woke up George, equipped with all kinds of fluids. He got a couple milliliters down of Gatorade. Minutes later he was puking.
Ten minutes later we tried a little water. He drank a few sips. I held George in my arms as I paced around the room until he fell asleep. Five minutes later, he was throwing up. Only this time there was no milk to throw up and he kept gagging until he was convulsing. Panicked, I called Bill.
He told us not to worry about forcing the fluids. When George was really dehydrated, he would drink something. It was okay to let him sleep.
I changed George’s diaper and pajamas. He laid there crying, his face white as a sheet. I quickly scooped him up and held him in my arms as his whole body shook. Then I sat in the rocking chair and held him for a long time as he slept. I didn’t want to leave him.
I put him in his crib around 10:30pm and Sam and I prepared to be woken up during the night. But George slept until 7am and didn’t throw up once the next day. We had made it through. He wasn’t himself and needed to be held all day but he was better.
For the entirety of the ordeal everything else stopped. All I thought about was George and how we could make him feel better.
A sick baby is the worst.
Also, I highly recommend investing in wonderful neighbors if that’s something you’re able to do.
Essay of the Week
The dreaded annual family vacation is here! I want to do a better job of creating boundaries with kindness, rather than just seething and venting to my husband behind closed doors.
I wrote about my approach to this week.
A Tough Baby
I finally met my 5-month-old niece. I held her in my arms and in no time she rested her head against my shoulder and fell asleep.
Is this… something babies do??
For the longest time, Sam insisted George was a tough baby and I insisted he wasn’t. George is perfect.
But my niece is so chill. She barely makes any noise and lets you sit down when you hold her. I didn’t know babies did that.
George is feisty and whiny and never cuddles and always needs to be facing out. He cries if you put him down and he’s just reached a new phase where he cries if anyone besides me or Sam holds him.
But he’s mine. And he’s got the biggest, toothy smile and the meanest mug. And he cracks me up. So he’s still perfect.
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Until next week,
Charlie