So, if you have a weak stomach, or don't like/want to hear about puking and pooping, you might want to come back later in the week when I'll most likely have something more pleasant to share. That being said, allow me to tell you ALL about my Columbus Day Weekend.
Friday afternoon, Josh got home from work early and cooked dinner, and we ate and we played outside. I had noticed that Deacon hadn't really eaten as much as he usually does at any of the meals he ate that day, but I figured it was because he was getting to that point where his growing rate slows down, so his eating rate does too. So, we were outside in the heat (it still gets to about 85 degrees here every day) and Deacon was seriously drooping and yawning. So I said, "That's it. I'm going inside and I'm taking Deacon with me. I think it's too hot out here for him." I brought him inside, we sat down on the couch, Deacon was on my lap facing out, with his head resting on my chest. All of a sudden, Deacon bolted upright and spewed, and I mean projectile vomited with a force like I have never seen from one so small, everything he had eaten all day, all over him, me, the couch, the rug, and the pillow lying nearby. Oh yeah. This was at 6 o'clock.
So, Josh came in, saw what happened, scooped Deacon up, put him in the tub, promptly stripped him down, and started bath water. I peeled off my capris and changed my shirts and gave the boys baths while Josh cleaned up the living room. My hero. He volunteered for clean up as he knows what little tolerance I have for throw up and I guess he didn't want me joining in the festivities. Festivities, which lasted for quite a bit longer. For the next few hours Deacon continued to throw up. And throw up. And throw up. Eventually he ran out of food and started throwing up bile.
Around 8:30/9:00ish, I had Deacon on my lap after yet another mess having been made in his bed when I heard Zeke crying. So I pointed that out to Josh who went to check on Zeke. "Oh baby!" I heard Josh exclaim from Zeke's room. "Did he throw up too?" I asked SO afraid of the answer, which was "yes". And BOY did he throw up! So I plopped Deacon down in Zeke's room and helped Josh strip Zeke. We put Deacon back in bed since he seemed to be doing okay at that moment and I held naked Zeke (he had a diaper on, so I guess he wasn't completely naked) under a blanket on the couch while Josh once again cleaned up a major throw up disaster. Sigh.
The rest of the night went like this: eventually they both fell asleep. Josh went to bed around 11:30 or so. For the next two hours, the boys took turns keeping me from getting any sleep. Zeke's version of this bug decided that it didn't want to come out in the form of throw up, but in the form of burning diarrhea. I deduced that it burned by the AWFUL hiney rash Zeke developed after the first little bit escaped his body into his diaper. And by the SCREAMING he did when we tried to wipe his bottom while changing his diaper. This meant that, every time he felt like he had to poop, instead of just going and letting it all out of his system, he would scream and wriggle and climb up me and cry until the feeling passed. So, Zeke would have one of these "episodes" I'm calling them. I would hold him and soothe him and when it would pass I would put him back in bed where he would mostly fall asleep. I would go to bed myself, only to have Deacon start crying just as soon as my head hit the pillow. I would take care of Deacon (he had stopped throwing up by this point, but was dehydrated and craving drinks so I was giving him little glasses of Pedialyte), put him back to bed, then go back to bed, only to have Zeke start with another "episode" again. For two hours.
Finally, around 1:20am Deacon had hydrated enough to make it through the night without waking up again. Zeke, however, was in the throws (I'm sure that's spelled differently) of another "episode". What made him feel better was if the two of us went out the couch and I rested against the pillow, and he laid down on me. Not really wanting to go through all of it again and again, and hoping for some sleep, I brought him into bed with us.
Here's the one bit of humor we had during this fabulous night. Ani was staying with us again for the night and she was sleeping by my side of the bed on the floor. So when I brought Zeke into my room, he was crying and carrying on until he saw Ani. At which point he stopped crying, said, "Hey. Dog." Then started up again. It was sweet.
Back to the fun times. Two hours later, and a few more "episodes", Zeke FINALLY fell asleep, which meant I could FINALLY fall asleep, and Josh could fall back asleep (he woke up when I brought Zeke in). And sleep I did from 3:30am until 4:30 am when it all started again with Zeke. Yes! By this point I had started giving him Pedialyte as well, but he was still refusing to all out poop. Stuff would sneak by occasionally, but it was rough going (hahahaha) for awhile. Plus, Josh's alarm went off around 5am which made sure Zeke was wide awake and feeling all his pain again. Awesome. But Zeke fell back asleep (as did I) around 6:30 and we slept until 7:30 when Deacon woke up.
Now, at this point, both boys seemed to be looking and acting better already. Praise God! But we still weren't all the way in the clear. Neither one would eat anything. I had made them both toast and they wouldn't even touch it. So, we watched cartoons and just relaxed. I put them down for their morning naps at their usual times, took a shower, and got them up at 10:30. Josh got home (he had taken my car to the Volvo dealership in Oklahoma City for it's timely service, hence the 5am alarm on a Saturday), and we decided to try some milk with the boys since Zeke was asking for it specifically, and Deacon was too, only instead of words, he would just freak out whenever anything else was presented to him. Zeke did great. Kept it all down, ate a little cookie or something, and was well on the road to recovery. Deacon, on the other hand, well, he threw up his milk almost as soon as he finished it. Along with the Ramen he had for lunch. Not so close to recovering apparently.
The rest of Saturday was pretty uneventful. Zeke got drastically better as the day progressed and was pretty much back to normal by dinner time. Deacon was doing better, you could see it, but he was still not quite there all the way. But he kept down the little bit of dinner he ate, kept drinking Pedialyte, and slept through the night.
Sunday came and went and the only incident was when Deacon threw up his milk again, but we think that happened only because we gave him too much too fast. Hey, he was freaking out for it. Next time we'll take the freak out. But after their afternoon naps, it was as if no one had ever been sick (except for the smell coming from the one couch where Deacon threw up twice). Yay!
But now Josh is sick. Yup. When the alarm went off this morning, I heard him moaning, asked him if he was okay and he said, "My tummy hurts. I have awful diarrhea, and I've been pooping since 4am." Three hours. Yuck. So, I left him in bed, made juice for the boys and have been going through the day today taking care of my healthy boys and my sick husband. Let's just pray that whatever it is stays clear from me (I did feel a little poopy this morning too though...get it? poopy?). I am worn out.
So, how was your Columbus Day Weekend?
