the yuckies

There's been a stomach virus thing going around, and it looks like Judeabug has been its latest target. He woke up from a long nap yesterday afternoon and was a little more whiny than usual - crying easily when he fell, throwing a fit when he didn't get something, etc. We had dinner as a family, and Jude didn't eat a whole lot, which was strange but not unheard of. Because he was being so whiny, around 7:00 I just held him on the couch as we watched the Olympics. After a few minutes of chilling with me, he sat up, took his pacifier out of his mouth, whimpered a little, and projectile vomited.

I've always thought being with your kid when he's throwing up would be one of the grossest parts of motherhood. I had a feeling I'd be one of those Moms who kept a two-feet distance from her vomiting child and would then follow him around with Lysol and a gas mask. While it certainly wasn't the most pleasant thing I've experienced, I surprised myself by just holding Jude tightly - not caring that my hoodie had just been vomited on and that we both suddenly reeked - kissed his head, and told my sweet boy that it was okay.

It was just about bath time anyway, so we gave him a bath (during which he vomited again, and after which he vomited as well). Jude would be a little whiny right before he got sick, but once he got sick, he'd be almost normal. After putting in a call to our Pediatrician, we were told it was most likely a stomach bug (he didn't have a fever and hadn't really eaten anything that could've gone bad), and to wait until morning to give him food or liquids. They told us that if he wasn't keeping water down by 10:00 the next morning to take him in.

So we attempted our normal bed time routine - changing him in and out of vomited on pajamas, taking breaks to clean up the carpet, and watching him wriggle out of our arms to play in between spewing session - and after a whole lot of work, Jude went to sleep around 8:30.

I was really hoping that once he went to sleep his little body would sleep it off - the throwing up was already becoming much less projectile, and more like painful spit up. He did sleep until about 11:00, and then was up about every 45 minutes until 3:00. The sweet boy would wake up and spit up a little. Shawn and I took turns going to his room, wiping his mouth, giving him back his paci, covering him with his blanket, and "ssshhhh"ing him back to sleep.

Jude's known by everyone who spends time with him as a little mover, and quite the independent child. Before my eyes, I saw him transform into a boy who just needed his Mommy. As I was rocking him before we laid him to sleep at 8:30, I couldn't help but tearing up a little. My little man wanted his Mommy. He wanted to snuggle with me, he wanted my arms around him, and I made him feel safe. I was struck with what an honor that is, with how much he trusts me, and with how important I am to his world.

Jude woke up around 3:00 and despite the many things we tried, would not go back to sleep and instead opted to scream his head off. We tried rocking him, we tried "ssssh" ing him, we tried putting cartoons on so he could zone out, we tried singing to him, we tried walking around the house with him, we tried changing his jammies into something warmer, we tried giving him a cracker, we tried changing his diaper, and we tried letting him cry it out.

Finally I grabbed a sippy cup of water that was about 1/4 full, and gave it to him. The poor kiddo drank it like it was gold (not that you can even drink gold...but you know what I'm getting at), and then began screaming again once he emptied the sippy. In order to hear each other above Jude's screaming, Shawn and I discussed what we should do next:

"SHOULD I GIVE HIM MORE?" I asked.

"DO YOU THINK HIS STOMACH CAN HANDLE IT?" Shawn replied.

"I REALLY DON'T KNOW. BUT HE SEEMS TO WANT IT. IT'S THE ONLY THING THAT'LL CALM HIM DOWN!"

"I GUESS SO..."

So we gave him another 1/2 sippy cup of water, and the three of us cuddled on the couch (and watched the Olympics...did you even know the Olympics are ON at 4:00 in the morning?!) while Jude finished his sippy. Where the air had been filled with piercing screams, there was now silence. Beautiful, golden silence. Jude finished his sippy and instead of screaming this time, held it in his arms like it was a teddy bear, and laid in his Daddy's arms. We stayed in the living room for about 35 minutes because we wanted to make sure the water wasn't going to upset his stomach. We looked down at Jude, and he had fallen asleep in Shawn's arms. I can only name one other time that Jude has fallen asleep in our arms without crying, so we knew he must have been exhausted.

We enjoyed the sweetness of his resting face and the silence of his sleeping for a minute or two, then laid him down - fully expecting him to be up in an hour feeling sick again. Thankfully, Jude slept for about three hours - until 7:40 this morning.

Besides being ready for naps earlier today and the stench of vomit I'm currently working on ridding the house of, you really would not have guessed that he'd been so sick yesterday. As soon as I picked him up out of his crib, he wriggled out of my arms and tried to climb on top of his baby piano. We're taking it easy with crackers and mostly water (I'm just now giving him little bits of his milk) today, lots of cuddling and early naps, but it looks like we've weathered our first stomach bug.

If you think of it - please pray that neither Shawn or I get this. Shawn quite seriously prays to die when he's throwing up, and I'd just as soon not deal with vomiting/caring for a toddler/working/being pregnant.

So the next time Jude gets the yuckies, we now know to try a little bit of water once the worst of the vomiting has passed. Maybe it won't take us an entire hour to figure it out next time!