I figured out within the first 15 minutes of getting out of bed that something was awry around here. I got Anna Grace up and fixed her favorite breakfast (cheese grits) and went to check email. I come back and she hasn’t eaten a single bite. I then try to get her to eat and she near about refuses. I did get a few bites in her but that was it. This immediately gave me pause. It was very odd behavior for her.
(This would be a nice place for the TMI/Squeamish among you to just bail out on this post)
I proceed with our day. Getting myself ready, getting AG ready and heading out for her speech and OT session. In the middle of this AG starts crying. When I look over she has had a major diaper blow out and she’s all upset. She had gotten a bit sick to her stomach apparently. I put Anna Grace in the tub to get her cleaned up and I gather all the laundry. I think we’re going to cancel therapy but I wait a bit to decide.
After I get Anna Grace cleaned up and dressed she seemed fine. She’s running around, torturing the cats, smiling, etc. So, I figure she just had an upset stomach and she’s past it. So, we load up the car and head to therapy.
We’re less than half way to therapy and Anna Grace starts crying. Then screaming. I cannot figure out what is wrong with her. She hardly ever cries in the car unless she’s been going for 2 hours or more. I’m looking for a place to pull over so I can check on her and she quiets down a bit. I pulled over and turned around to check on her. She’s asleep. Also very weird behavior for Anna Grace. She falls asleep sometimes when we’re getting close to naptime but never at 8:30 in the morning.
I continue driving to therapy and thinking about all the weird things that are going on. I had a strange feeling that this day was going to go way bad.
We get to therapy. I’m thinking I’m just going to walk inside and tell them she’s sick. Anna Grace had other plans. She wakes up. She’s happy. She’s trying to get out of her car seat to go inside. So, reluctantly, I take her in. AG does great. She’s laughing, playing. After 30 minutes, however, you could tell something was amiss. She wasn’t focusing on anything and just wasn’t herself. Anna Grace then walked over, sat down in front of me, laid her head on my lap and said "all done".
I took her home.
On the way home I usually give Anna Grace a snack (that I give her in very small increments) to keep her awake on the ride home. Today I had her all time favorite thing in the entire world: Cheeseballs. (Like a cheeto but in the shape of a ball). She refused to eat one. It was then that I knew my world was going to come crashing down at some point today. That child will usually stuff herself of cheeseballs.
We get home and Anna Grace starts playing and acting like nothing is wrong. I offer her food. She refuses. I offer her drinks. Nope. I try cookies, candy. Nope. I decide to just go on with our day. I start doing some housework. AG is watching a bit of T.V. Then she starts whining and crying again.
I can’t figure out what is wrong with her. But, the crying etc all stops if I sit in the chair with her while she watches t.v. So I did. We did this for quite some time. Anna Grace eventually started looking like she was feeling a bit worse. I take her in the kitchen in hopes of convincing her to eat something and then it happens.
Anna Grace gets sick and just explodes all over the kitchen floor, herself, me, the kitchen cabinets, the countertop, everywhere. She’s crying and vomitting at the same time. She can’t seem to stop vomitting. Eventually I got her back in the bathroom and put her in the tub (the second bath of the day). She is none too pleased to be in the bathtub again.
After all of this I put her in her pajamas and I attempt to start cleaning up the mess. Nope. She wants me sitting right beside her. So I do. In less than five minutes though she is nodding off. I put her in her crib for her afternoon nap (2 hours early) and she goes right to sleep. I go right to cleaning.
Number of baths for child: 2
Loads of laundry due to illness: 3
Number of floors mopped: 3
Total time to scrub kitchen top to bottom: 45 minutes.
I knew when she didn’t eat her cheese grits that it was going to be a very bad day. So, we’re stickin’ to liquids around here for a bit and I figure she’ll tell me when she’s hungry.
Oh, no. Poor girl. It’s really hard for them to not feel good and not know what’s going on. I hope she got it all out of her system (so to speak) and is all better soon. (And at least the major vomiting was in the kitchen, and not on, say, the carpet…)