You know it if you have a kid.
Barfing...liquid substance on sheets and carpet...then crying.
As bad as that is normally, for us it has taken on a new and special horror. With vomiting, comes the possibility that the dreaded Stomach Virus has arrived in our house. Of course, no one wants to have the stomach virus, but with a child with MCADD, a stomach virus would a guaranteed ticket to the hospital.
When Laney threw up on Saturday night, we hoped it was just an upset stomach and she wouldn't start the barfing-every-20-minutes cycle that we are all too familiar with.
Unfortunately it became clear 20 minutes later that we were dealing with a virus.
Blech.
And that meant that it was up to Mark to stay up with Laney and help her through it while I kept Everly as far away as possible. Even though that sounds like a pretty good deal for me, it was so hard to hear her crying and feeling sick and not jump in and be Mom. I am surprised how hard it was to let go and let Mark do the nursing. But he was amazing. He slept on the floor and changed sheets and got the barf bowl where it needed to be...all night long.
When morning came, Laney was exhausted. Mark was exhausted. And we hoped that we would escape without further problems.
It was not to be.
It was the beginning of 9 days of vomiting. The virus took its turn on each one of us.
ONE AT A TIME.
And yet we were determined to do everything in our power to keep Everly from getting these germs. We soaked ourselves in Hand Sanitizer (or as Anna would say: Hanatizer) and we wen't through buckets of and buckets of disinfecting wipes.
And we were blessed with a miracle.
Despite living in the same house with 7 barfing people for 8 days, being nursed by a mom that only moments before was throwing up....
Everly didn't get sick.
SHE DIDN'T GET SICK!
And that meant that she didn't have to go to the ER and get stuck by needles.
And that made it an awesome Thanksgiving.
And so I will count a few blessings.
1. I am so thankful for my friend, Courtney, who braved the germs and delivered a big pot of Chicken Noodle soup when I texted her to cancel on our Thanksgiving plans. It saved us. And it was the healthiest thing that the kids ate for many days.
2. I am thankful for Mark. He took advantage of the brief hiatus between sick kids to initiate the Thanksgiving cooking. It was so fun to hang in the kitchen with him and work as a team. I am amazed that I am saying this...but, vomiting aside, it was one of my favorite Thanksgivings ever.
3. Thankful for the Thanksgiving Eve cooking we did. It made the actual day alot more relaxed.
Also...the Pumpkin Crunch Cake didn't make it through the night.
4. I'm thankful for Sarah teaching me how to make cranberry sauce from scratch many years ago. It's so rewarding to watch all those berries burst.
5. SOOOOO very grateful that there are sisters that can laugh and play and that jammies and undies are perfectly acceptable attire.
6. OH. I love technology. It's possible that one or more children weren't as miserable as they otherwise would have been due to unfettered access to ipads, iphones and ipods.
7. So grateful that we were able to eat together on Thanksgiving.
8. I am also thankful for digital cameras that allow me to see that this blouse is...uhem...less than flattering. Yikes! Upper arms and belly pooch! Ack!
Which affords me the opportunity to add a cardigan with cute sleeve buttons.
9. Thankful that Anna never feels obligated to wear pants.
10. And I am thankful that we are now all recovered and Everly never had to go to the hospital.
All is right with the world.
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