Drinkin' From the Downspout

A few weeks ago Mike and I headed to Vegas for my step sister's wedding and Addy Marie stayed in Allentown with my mom.  We were all so excited.... until Addy got sick.  Yup, a few short days before our big trip Addy got some type of stomach bug that resulted in her having vomiting/diarrhea for 5 days!  Needless to say, we were worried to leave her.  Especially Mike.  He even threatened to not go to Vegas if she wasn't better by that morning.  It wasn't the fact that she had a stomach bug that worried us.  It was that it was lasting for a lot longer than the predicted 24-48 hours.

She started her sickness on Saturday (I worked Saturday and Sunday, so Mike was with her those days).  It wasn't that bad; just diarrhea, no vomiting.  But she wasn't eating very well.  Then on Monday morning she woke up covered in vomit and diarrhea.  I quickly bathed and changed her, but she was looking a little dusky to me and was acting very subdued.  Plus she had a pretty nasty rash on her back too.  So at that point I was nervous and called the doctor.  We made an appointment for that morning, where I was reassured that it was a viral bug causing both her GI symptoms and her rash.  The doc said we had to let it run its course and it would be gone in a day or two. 

I got her some hydrocortisone cream for her back because I could tell it was itching her like crazy.  She would rub her back against the couch and try to scratch it with her spoon.  Poor baby.  Nothing like feeling sick and being sooooo itchy in a spot you can't reach!  The hydrocotisone cream helped a lot and the rash was almost gone by Wednesday. 

But that pesky diarrhea hung on for a total of 5 days!  And Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday she woke up covered in both vomit and diarrhea.  Mike and I gave more baths and washed more sheets/clothes that week than I care to count.  The thing that made me feel better about the whole situation was that for the most part Addy was acting like her normal self.  Running, playing, laughing, even eating.  I would have been a whole lot more worried if she was having these symptoms and laying around like she did when she had that fever a month or so ago.  But she was our same playful, smiley little nugget.  And mornings were her worst time.  After the morning scrub down we'd have some breakfast and she would promptly vomit that too.  But then the vomiting would be done for the day.  The diarrhea hung on all day, but just a few times a day (maybe 4-5, and usually mostly early in the day).  We gave her Pedialyte (which she did drink, thank goodness), and every evening I swore she was getting better.  And then the next morning we'd start all over again.

This continued right up through the morning we left for PA.  Woke up to the same mess, Mike bathed and changed Addy, while I did her laundry.  Then she threw up one more time right as we were about to hit the road.  Needless to say, we were a little off schedule that morning, and left at 9:30 instead of 8.  Which led to hitting rush hour traffic in DC/Baltimore.  Which led to our trip to Philly taking 9 hours instead of 6.5-7.  Fun times with a baby and a dog.

I had these fears of vomiting and diarrhea in the car the whole way north, but guess what?  None of the above happened!  She got it all out of her system at home and we were free of bodily fluids for the whole trip.  And Addy was relatively content too; watching her DVD's, playing at the rest stops, and rocking out to some salsa music in Arby's.  Yup, she was dancing in her high chair.  I love that little girl!

We got to Philly, put Addy to bed, and Mike confirmed that she seemed to be on the upswing, so he felt better about flying cross country and leaving her with my mom.  And my mom woke up to a nice, clean Addy on Thursday morning!  Yay!!  We felt so much better being away, knowing that she wasn't so sick anymore.  There is nothing like the worry of flying across the country while your child is sick.  But, we called my mom as soon as we arrived in Vegas, and she confirmed that the vomiting and diarrhea were over, her rash was gone, and Addy was having the time of her life. 

Mike and I breathed a sigh of relief and headed poolside to meet my sister, Jay, Sam, and Chris.  We pondered what might have caused her GI bug in the first place.  And then a thought came to us.  We had a good friend watch Addy on our anniversary so that we could go out for dinner.  It was raining, but she was losing her mind when Mike and I left, so our buddy took her outside to play in the rain.  She immediately became happy as a clam, dancing in the rain and splashing in puddles.  Then our friend looked over, and Addy was drinking out of the downspout.  Hmmmmm..........