Last night, for the first time, Will was sick.
Jessica and I were hanging out in the front room. We heard Will cry out (“Ma!”) and Paul walk over to check on him. (Note: it is not uncommon for Will to suddenly awake a few hours into his nightly sleep, call out my name, and then go back to sleep. We think he may be waking up from dreams? Usually, one of us checks on him and he quickly goes back to sleep.)
This time it was different. Paul had heard sounds of retching and walked in to find Will, covered in vomit, shaking with fear. For the first time, his little body had betrayed him and been sick — he was certainly feeling poorly and very scared. I quickly picked him up (covering us both in drippy mess) to comfort him. After a minute of calming him, we both stripped down and Jessica helped to get us both clean again. Paul got to work on cleaning up the room and crib. We got both of us dressed again and I commensed holding and cuddling my baby. It wasn’t long before he started throwing up again. It would last until about 3am. Fortunately, he never ran a fever and was fine today.
What was the worst sound? Hearing Will call out my name, saying “No, ma-ma, no” and “Uh-ho” before throwing up. I’d hold him over the sink, support his body and head, and Jessica used a damp, cool cloth on his neck. Still, being sick was frightening and Will fought it, trying to swallow back what was coming up and having confusion about what was happening to his body. I could tell that he was trying to say, “Mommy, I’m afraid. I don’t feel good. Please help me. Please make it stop.” It was heartwretching. Jessica helped me do my best, remain calm, and keep a normal mood. I didn’t want to make Will feel like something was wrong (after all, being sick is not completely abnormal, and we felt confident that it would quickly pass.)
We are so relieved that he is fine today! He is not really eating (a few Pedialyte pops and a some saltines) but has been happy and energetic for most of the day. Maybe we did get a 24-hour stomache flu (aka: rotovirus) and not food poisioning?
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