The face of the stomach flu

The stomach flu swept through our home the week after Easter and was a milestone we had previously managed to avoid. Sure, we had had the occasional spit-up that bordered on puke, and then there was that one strange incident during a visit to Austin when Carter got sick out of the blue and then was completely fine, but never had we dealt with an actual tummy bug before, and let me tell you, it ain't pretty!

I'll spare you the details, but let's just say it struck in the middle of the night after Little C had spaghetti for dinner. I was so thankful we still were using the baby monitor otherwise, I'm not sure I would have heard the strange coughing sound that preceded everything.

As first-timers we made some classic mistakes. We foolishly though the first round would be the last round and put little C back to bed in his carpeted room after clean up was completed. An hour later, we were dealing with round two, and the scrubbing/bathing/washing frenzy re-commenced. Then we (maybe in exhaustion??) repeated our put-Carter-back-to-bed-in-his-room insanity. An hour later? Yea, you get the picture (we called Stanley steamer shortly there after to cover our bases). We finally wised up and (since we were out of clean sheets and pj's at that point) set Carter up on a pallet of old blankets and towels in the living room in an old t-shirt of mine (big neck hole, mean easier removal without dirtying the hair). By the end of the night, Carter was still having episodes, but had emptied his stomach, and it was heart braking to watch his little body shake and heave and not be able to do anything but hold him. Morning came, though, and we survived.

The next day we took it VERY slow eating very little except the occasional cracker dipped in applesauce. Then, for dinner I thought chicken and rice soup might be ok. Notsomuch. Apparently we were dealing with a 48 hour bug, not a 24 hour bug. Luckily, we were pros at that point, and Mr. C whisked Carter off to the bath while I got busy scrubbing and the mess was contained and cleaned up in no time flat. By the third day, Little C's appetite had returned and he was back to being the little Tasmanian devil we know and love.

Mr. C shined as the amazing husband he is throughout the whole process. He got up during all three rounds that first night to help me with clean-up despite the fact that he had work the next day. We even managed to laugh about things in the heat of the moment, which just goes to show you when you're with the right person, average and ordinary becomes memorable and special.

I ended up with my own stomach flu souvenir which thankfully hit over the weekend, so i was able to take a sick day while Mr. C covered for me (again, he is just amazing!). Sadly, we had to miss out on Aunt B and soon-to-be Uncle J's wedding shower, because of all the illness, but I know they had a blast without us and our germs :)