It's a right of passage

It happens to every parent. Children get sick just like everyone else, and well, they don't understand to aim for a bucket, run to a non-carpeted area, or hug the toilet. They do what their bodies tell them to do and it doesn't matter where they are.

Let me step back for a moment before I reveal all the glorious details of Madeline's current illness and say that watching my daughter get sick is so hard. It's a helpless feeling to see her vomit all over herself while strapped in her car seat. She doesn't know what is going on yet and can't tell me where it hurts. I want to take her pain away, but I know the illness needs to run its course. So, I hold her when she needs to be held, I read books to her, cuddle and sing to her.  She will get better eventually and my helpless feeling with subside.

OK, so Madeline has had a rough week, which means we have all had a difficult week. Monday evening, immediately before I was going to start feeding her dinner, she unleashed a volcanic eruption of vomit that went everywhere. All over her, her high chair, the wood floor, her shoes and me. I was just about to put her tray on (which I really wish I had been able to do prior to the spewing), so I can close enough to catch some on myself. I had no idea she could hold that much in her stomach! We were both in shock a little and while she started crying, I jumped into mom mode and tried to quickly clean off her front before I got her out of the high chair. I sent Craig a text to come home now then I stripped her down right then and there, and left all the mess downstairs because she was really upset at this point, and dumped her in the tub. I did take her temperature prior to the bath and she was hot. After a quick bath, she was beyond ready to go to bed so I nursed her and she went to sleep. During that time, Craig came home and cleaned everything up. And it was a very big mess. Oh, I should also mention that I think the cats decided to partake of Madeline's stomach contents and then it made them sick on the carpet. Lovely. Craig cleaned that, too.

The next day, Madeline was just running a fever. She ate relatively well and while I knew she was not out of the woods because she was still running a fever, I felt she could be back on the upswing. Nevertheless, I called the pediatrician and asked what their holiday hours were.  Madeline took a long soak in a lukewarm bath last night, it dropped her temp, I gave her a dose of acetaminophen and decided if she was still hot the next morning that I would take her to the doctor.

Well, this morning, she was still hot and the fever continued to rise as the morning went on so I made an appointment and took her in a 9:45. She was really irritable and I could see it in her eyes that she wasn't herself.  About five minutes from the pediatrician's office, she vomited. All. Over. The. Place. I just watched her in the mirror and tried to sooth her by singing. I was on the freeway and couldn't do anything. I kept an eye on her to make sure she didn't choke, but otherwise kept driving.

When I pulled into the pediatrician's office, I could see the mess. I didn't have a change of clothes for her - I did have an extra top, but since she was running a fever, I didn't even bother putting it on her - so I stripped her down to her diaper, shoes and socks (that miraculously stayed clean) and took her into the office. It was funny how many people commented on the "naked baby."

When she was done with the doc (that was no help at all - Madeline's pediatrician is vacationing and the substitute was pretty blah), I grabbed a towel from my trunk, placed it in the car seat, put her shirt on, and drove her home.

Obviously, I now had a mess to clean up. Man, Britax doesn't make it easy to remove the cover and straps at all.  Seriously.  But we now have a clean car seat and I'm just praying we can put the thing back together.

This virus, or whatever it is, is taking a toll on her and she's really not herself. She's had colds that stuff her up with the thickest snot, but she's still happy and playful. But this time, it's different. She's really sick and doesn't feel well. I really hope she gets better soon!

So, I know baby, or toddler, bodily functions happen and they inevitably end up on the parent. But at the end of the day, puke laundry can be cleaned up and a car seat can be washed. Life happens. It's just a right of passage.