A very nasty stomach virus

Wow, what a week it has been. On Wednesday at 9:50 a.m., Miss Lisa called me at work to tell me Lacey had thrown up twice. I left work to go get her. She had thrown up again before I got there. And, again in the car on the way home. Once we got home, she actually seemed okay for a few minutes and played, but throughout the day continued to vomit until there was nothing left.

On Thursday, the fever started. Butch stayed home with us to help out (thankfully). We went to the docs that morning and her temp was 102.9* at that point. They said it was going around and to focus on keeping her hydrated as much as we could. Butch went on to work around 1:00....he had something that evening, so he had to go.

Well, through the day, the fever got worse. The highest was about 104.3*. For kids her age, I think 105* is the really awful number, so we weren't far off. They had told us to avoid Motrin b/c of her upset stomach, but Tylenol wasn't cutting it. So, the nurse gave the okay to alternate Motrin & Tylenol. With that, I could get her fever down to about 102.7*....no lower. I had been putting cold rags on her head, but started on her neck, too. I called the doc via her beeper around 6:00 and she said we were getting close to an ER visit and it might be better to go then rather than wait until midnight. Her concern was mainly that the fever wasn't budging. I called Butch in tears and he came home early. We kept hoping to get the fever down, but at 9:30 decided to head to the ER.

When we signed in, there were 7 people ahead of us. While we were there, we dealt with annoying loud people - very frustrating when you have a sick and exhausted toddler. About 2.5 hours after we got there, her fever started coming down. And, the diarrhea started. Lovely. All over her pants. All over my pants. All over my shirt. Since she hadn't had vomiting in a while and no diarrhea, we hadn't brought a change of clothes. Oh well. Since her fever broke, I called Dr. Jill again and she said we could go home since the fever had broke. (When we checked out - 3 hours after arrival - there were still 5 people ahead of us.)

She slept for 5 hours straight that night, but Friday brought more issues. She didn't want to drink anything. She & I rested a lot. And, I walked her a lot. Up & down the stairs. Around the house.

Friday night, we called Dr. Jill again. She said we really need to push pedialyte since L wasn't drinking voluntarily. (Dad & Rick even brought a slurpie that day, which she had no interest in.) So, we gave a dropper of it every 10 minutes or so for about an hour. Then, we let her sleep. She slept for 2.5 hours, then when she woke was thirsty & had some water and a couple of crackers. Slept again for a couple of hours, and we were back to pacing around the house.

Saturday morning, she was crying out in pain - I guess abdominal cramping and gas. We called the docs' office again. They sent us to the ER b/c she just wasn't getting enough fluid (still refusing to drink). We tried Calvert Hospital this time. Much nicer waiting room - with comfy couches. And, they weren't as busy. We still waited 2.5 hours to be called back. During the time in the waiting room, Lacey really picked up quite a bit. She was talking and smiling some. Still not drinking, though.

Once we were called back, the doc came in to check her out. We were in that room for about 3 hours. He didn't want to rush into an IV since it can be so traumatic with a child. She still refused to drink...no apple juice, no popscicle, no water, no ginger ale. Nothing. But, in the end, we decided against an IV. The doc thought she was starting the road to recovery and she was still making tears and fighting back, so not dehydrated yet. If we didn't push her too much, she might drink on her own. So, we left the ER around 4:00 and headed home. She had some water in the car. Last night, she & I fell asleep in the chair at 7:00 and at 7:30, I put her in her crib. She (and I) slept until 2:00. Then, she woke up wanting water & to watch Lazytown (her newest TV obsession). We watched a couple of episodes, drank water, and talked until 3:00. Then, back to bed until 6:30.

She's been off & on today. Throughout the day, we've had about 2-3 good hours with her playing happily. Her bad spells aren't as bad as they were. She's been drinking some milk. (Dairy is a no-no with diarrhea, but the ER doc said to try skim since it's less fatty, if that is what she was really wanting. And, Butch bought Lactaid at the grocery store today, too.)

Butch is staying home with her tomorrow and probably on Tuesday. She can't go back to daycare until the diarrhea has finished. Maybe she'll go back by Wednesday.

I can't believe that Butch & I have stayed healthy, but I'm thinking she must have rotavirus, which is something that almost all kids will get before age 5 and then your immunity is pretty high for it. Nasty stuff. They now have a vaccine, so baby girl will absolutely be getting that.

She has just been so sad. It breaks your heart to see her this way. I can't wait to have my happy, healthy toddler back.