We have learned so much in the past month. First and foremost, we have learned that if a child throws up in the least amount and you were planning on a trip out of town, just go ahead and cancel the trip. If I had only heeded my own advice…
It started two weeks before Thanksgiving. I had heard of some “bug” going around at the kids’ daycare, so I
wasn’t surprised when they started with the runny nose and the coughing. Ben was the first to show symptoms of something not being right. He had fever, diarrhea and little appetite, off to see the Pediatrician we went and sure enough, he was diagnosed with a double ear infection. He was put on antibiotics for 10 days and by the following week he was feeling good again.
Then, it was Ryan’s turn. The weekend before Thanksgiving, he started with fever, vomit, diarrhea BUT his appetite was still great... (For some reason I only get really worried when the kids stop eating), so I
didn’t think much about it until Monday. Zach took the day off to take him to see his Pediatrician who diagnosed him with “the bug going around”, no ear infections no nothing.
So then we move on to Tuesday. Zach heads on to medical that morning because by now, everybody has the “bug”; we’re all coughing and feeling pretty bad. I stay and work from home while taking care of the kids too (
isn’t it amazing that women are able to multi-task??). Zach is given 2 days of
SIQ (Sick in Quarters) which means he gets to stay home for two days. GREAT, that means he gets to take care of Ryan while he is still sick. So since Ben is doing better, Ryan is feeling
ok and Z has been given medication, we continue with our plans to go camping at Roosevelt State Park in GA, with Z’s Mom and Dad and spend Thanksgiving weekend with them.
On Wednesday, I pick up Ben from daycare and head back home, by now; the two kids have such bad cases of diarrhea that it’s almost impossible to keep up with all the diaper changes while packing. Does that deter me? No. When I get set on a mission, I don't always recognize all the symptoms of that message that says, "Hello, dummy, will you just notice me?" I kept packing and making sure we
weren’t forgetting anything. And at around 8pm, we hit the road.
We drove for just over an hour and had to stop to do the first
poopy diaper change… ROYAL mess. We get on the road again and about another hour into the drive and just outside of
Valdosta, GA, all of a sudden we hear a loud
WHAAAACK…. Ryan threw up everywhere. He soaked his clothes, vomit went all over the car seat, the blanket he was using and even under the seat. We took the nearest exit and found a gas station with one of those $0.25 vacuums. So,
without thinking, I get out of the van with no sweater on and start cleaning Ryan up. The weather was so COLD that I could not stop coughing after
than. While I was using lots of paper towels, Zach was trying to figure out how to get the vacuum to work, when he finally did, I was able to clean up some of the yucky mess but it stunk pretty bud. Zach pulled out some clean clothes and managed to change Ryan while Ben was just sitting back enjoying the show.
At this point we started having the discussion about canceling the trip. We get on the road and finally decided it was better to just head back home and not spread around our germs, specially to
Z's poor Mom who gets sick almost everytime she's around Ryan. We got home around midnight, after 4 hours of driving. The kids were asleep and went straight to their beds. By then I was coughing really bad and so congested that I was having a hard time breathing... but at least we were home.
So, we ended up spending Thanksgiving between changing
poopy diapers, washing load after load of
poopy clothes, lying on the couch, playing with the kids and watching cartoons all day.
But at least we were together and that’s all that matters. This is one Thanksgiving we won’t forget.
