You know how you have the next day all planned out and Great Things Will Get Done because the stars have lined up and the parental schedules are all nice and configured and there’s plenty of time set aside…. Yeah, my shit got fucked up right from the start.
I woke up late, only by about 30 minutes, but still, it was a little bit of a setback in getting my day started. Nothing too serious though. I got a couple of minutes worth of work done, then Ciaran woke up. That’s fine, but man, his diaper stunk. Wow. Something was rotten in there that was trying to get out.
Yeah, okay, fine, then Déla and August get up and we get the usual morning routine going, but something is off. Déla is complaining about her tummy and not eating her breakfast. Neither is Ciaran. After quite a bit of going back and forth (and a temperature check) we decide to keep Déla home from preschool today. It sucks because there’s only 3 days left, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry. It was an 11th hour decision, right as I’m getting ready to leave to take them. This change of plans solidified and we are back on course.
Then Ciaran throws up. Twice.
It’s amazing how much came out of him considering he didn’t really eat any of his breakfast. We cleaned up the floor, and Ciaran as much and as quickly as we could, then dealt with the aftermath of trying to get one kid settled in front of the television, another to preschool and another simply subdued. Since Déla wasn’t going to preschool, we placed her in front of the television (watching Noggin) so that she wouldn’t be moving around. She had her big bowl next to her in case she vomited. August was at preschool, and it was mostly Ciaran that needed to be dealt with.
We decided not to put Ciaran down for his morning nap, just in case he threw up again. He has been moving away from needing two naps a day anyway, so this was a natural thing for us to do. The test was simply not him vomiting again (or not) but seeing how he did without the down time.
Then he threw up again.
Between taking care of Ciaran and keeping tabs on Déla I barely got anything done all day, and that’s with my wife in the house. In the afternoon we put both Ciaran and Déla down for afternoon naps and Laura went out to do some errands, but nap didn’t last long at all and was dealing with both kids again, this time by myself.
Laura picked up August who was acting a bit out of sorts at preschool today, according to his teacher. He joined his sister in the basement for some Noggin viewing while Laura and I dealt with Ciaran, who was feeling hotter and hotter.
Then he throws up again. That’s when we decided to call the doctor’s office. They couldn’t find his medical records, so they transferred us to the consulting nurse who told us to do all the stuff we have been doing (small amounts of liquids every 30 minutes, blah blah blah – he’s my 4th kid, I know the routine). Man, we were hoping for “Bring your sick kids in, President Obama has helped usher in a new age of medical care where we can actually fix your kids.”
I was wrong of course.
While I’m fixing dinner for the one kid who I know will eat a little something, Ciaran decides to throw up again. Yeah, there’s no way I’m going to even TRY and give him any food. Déla may eat something (she hadn’t eaten any breakfast or lunch) and I was worried about August’s possibly upset tummy. I make macaroni & cheese and August ate a decent amount and Déla actually ate some. I wouldn’t let her eat as much as she wanted though.
And Ciaran’s temperature got up beyond 102, so we had to give him some Feverall. If you’re a parent, you know just how unpleasant that can be.
So now the kids are in bed, and I have monitors on, listening for the slightest indication that something is wrong. Any sound out of place… it’s been a long day and I’ve been growing more aware as the day goes on that my own stomach doesn’t feel quite right.