Fun Day to Sick Day

Last Sunday we made the hour drive west to spend the afternoon with D's side of the family. D's brother's family was there too so the cousins got to spend several hours together. The weather was really nice and D's parents live on an acre and half so there's tons of space for the kids to run around and get messy and just be kids. As they are getting older the cousin get togethers are getting easier from a parent's perspective. They actually interact now and require less instruction from the adults. They are capable of making up their own fun. They pushed these little snow shovels up and down the long driveway over and over, they colored rocks with chalk and splashed in the puddles leftover from the snow. LB had a blast.

Don't LB and the dog look like they are in deep conversation? LB's relationship with this dog has not always been the best so it was good to see them sharing a moment.

We drove home after dinner, put LB to bed and D and I plopped ourselves on the couch and reflected on a fun day. A few hours later, LB woke up screaming in pain. D went to get him and LB puked all over D. What was awful and scary about the whole thing was that LB was grabbing his stomach and screaming bloody murder. He was almost convulsing on the floor because he was in too much pain to sit still. He kept puking and then screaming and repeat. We decided we would rather be safe be sorry and made the quick drive to Children's Hospital. Thankfully, they gave us our own private room pretty quickly so we didn't have to spend much time in the waiting room. We saw a nurse right away but ended up having to wait five hours to see a physician. LB did eventually stop screaming and grabbing his stomach but the puking continued the entire five hours we waited and at times he was puking once every fifteen minutes. The nurse kept checking on us and told us it was just a crazy night in the ER with lots of traumas so there was nothing we could do but wait. The nurse was very sweet and told LB, "If you are this cute when you are puking all over the place then I can't imagine how cute you are when you are healthy." I thought that was a nice compliment. We kept telling LB that he was being strong and we were proud of him. He was the saddest thing I have ever seen. When he could tell another round was coming he would say in his sweet voice, "Oh no. Again." Then after each episode he would say, "My all better. My so proud." It broke my heart. I think it's funny that at one point during the wait both D and I snapped photos of LB and the other parent without them knowing.

We were all exhausted. Finally we saw a doctor and they gave LB some anti nausea medicine and that stopped the puking. We aren't sure if it was a violent stomach bug or food poisoning but I'm glad we went to the ER because who knows how much longer he would have puked without the meds. As we were pulling out of the ER parking lot at 5:30 in the morning, LB said, "My do a really good job." I love him. 

It took LB several days to regain his energy and almost all week to get his appetite back. He was a sad little munchkin. It was a good reminder how quickly little ones can go from running laps on the driveway to puking all over you. Let's hope we won't be returning to the ER any time soon.