Roto-what?
My dad and my youngest sister were here this weekend, plus we had friends over Friday night and went to a birthday party Saturday. So it should have been a good weekend.
And parts of it were.
Friday was our second Serenity session—I’ll post a recap later this week—and it was much fun. Things are definitely moving apace. My lovely wife made corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, and soda bread in honor of St. Patrick’s Day (her actually being of Irish descent and all) and we all feasted. The only downside was that we didn’t start the game until after dinner and so it ran pretty late. Sorry, gang.
My sister showed up partway through the game and took my daughter downstairs to hang out and watch videos. We could hear them squealing with laughter (yes, both of them), which was very entertaining. We all got to bed between 1 and 2am.
The next morning we spent more time with my sis and my dad, who had gotten in Friday night but went out to the beach. We all had breakfast and hung out for a while, until our friend Joe came to pick us (the wife, the kids and I) up so we could go to his son Ray’s party—Ray is my daughter’s playmate and best bud. She’s been talking about this party for weeks, and was thrilled to go, to see Ray, and to wear her new dress and new shoes. We had a lot of fun there, chatting with the other adults and watching the six kids play together. Our daughter had a blast.
We got home around 4:30, put her in for a nap, and relaxed a bit ourselves. Not much else went on that day, as we were all exhausted. My sister got back in the wee hours, having been to see friends in the city, and I stayed up to greet her—if you can count falling asleep on the couch downstairs as “staying up.”
And then things went downhill.
Sunday I was woken up by the sound of my daughter crying. Why? Because she’d thrown up all over herself, her stuffed frog, her bedsheets, etc. I gave her a bath and got her into clean clothes, but she threw up again shortly after I brought her downstairs. And that pretty much set the tone for the day. She couldn’t keep anything down, food or liquid, and was listless and miserable. The doctor said it was probably a roto-virus, and that half the kids in the city had it right now. She also said we’d have to take my daughter to the hospital to get an IV if she couldn’t keep anything in her stomach. Fortunately my dad and I went out and got her popsicles and she managed one, plus some Pedialyte. My dad and I took my sister to Penn Station so she could catch her bus back, and then headed back and helped take care of my daughter. After the popsicle she seemed better, and managed several more of them, plus more Pedialyte, until she finally fell asleep that night, utterly exhausted.
We thought that was it. Boy, were we wrong.
Yesterday my daughter woke up miserable again. Not from throwing up—that seems to be over, thank goodness—but from a really high fever and severe stomach pain. She spent most of yesterday screaming in pain, or turning to me and saying “Daddy, ow!” in the most pitiable voice imaginable. Those of you with children will understand when I say that it tore me apart every time she said that. We gave her several baths to cool her down—and despite normally enjoying baths she screamed every time—and tried to get her to drink and eat popsicles to keep her hydrated. Again the doctor said we might need to go to the ER, this time if her fever didn’t drop. But around 11pm we gave my little girl one more bath, followed by Tylenol, and she fell asleep the instant she crawled into bed. She slept through the night without waking, which is great—several times during the day she had dozed off, only to wake up screaming in pain.
I took yesterday off, in part because my wife and I were also under the weather from this thing (my wife much moreso than I) but mainly to be there for my daughter. Today she was sleeping fine when I got up, so I came to work. I’ve talked to my wife since and my daughter is up and eating and drinking—she’s still sore but her temp is below 101ª, which was where the doctor said we needed it.
Not surprisingly, I am tired and sore and stressed. But my daughter seems to be on the mend, which is the important thing.
And parts of it were.
Friday was our second Serenity session—I’ll post a recap later this week—and it was much fun. Things are definitely moving apace. My lovely wife made corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, and soda bread in honor of St. Patrick’s Day (her actually being of Irish descent and all) and we all feasted. The only downside was that we didn’t start the game until after dinner and so it ran pretty late. Sorry, gang.
My sister showed up partway through the game and took my daughter downstairs to hang out and watch videos. We could hear them squealing with laughter (yes, both of them), which was very entertaining. We all got to bed between 1 and 2am.
The next morning we spent more time with my sis and my dad, who had gotten in Friday night but went out to the beach. We all had breakfast and hung out for a while, until our friend Joe came to pick us (the wife, the kids and I) up so we could go to his son Ray’s party—Ray is my daughter’s playmate and best bud. She’s been talking about this party for weeks, and was thrilled to go, to see Ray, and to wear her new dress and new shoes. We had a lot of fun there, chatting with the other adults and watching the six kids play together. Our daughter had a blast.
We got home around 4:30, put her in for a nap, and relaxed a bit ourselves. Not much else went on that day, as we were all exhausted. My sister got back in the wee hours, having been to see friends in the city, and I stayed up to greet her—if you can count falling asleep on the couch downstairs as “staying up.”
And then things went downhill.
Sunday I was woken up by the sound of my daughter crying. Why? Because she’d thrown up all over herself, her stuffed frog, her bedsheets, etc. I gave her a bath and got her into clean clothes, but she threw up again shortly after I brought her downstairs. And that pretty much set the tone for the day. She couldn’t keep anything down, food or liquid, and was listless and miserable. The doctor said it was probably a roto-virus, and that half the kids in the city had it right now. She also said we’d have to take my daughter to the hospital to get an IV if she couldn’t keep anything in her stomach. Fortunately my dad and I went out and got her popsicles and she managed one, plus some Pedialyte. My dad and I took my sister to Penn Station so she could catch her bus back, and then headed back and helped take care of my daughter. After the popsicle she seemed better, and managed several more of them, plus more Pedialyte, until she finally fell asleep that night, utterly exhausted.
We thought that was it. Boy, were we wrong.
Yesterday my daughter woke up miserable again. Not from throwing up—that seems to be over, thank goodness—but from a really high fever and severe stomach pain. She spent most of yesterday screaming in pain, or turning to me and saying “Daddy, ow!” in the most pitiable voice imaginable. Those of you with children will understand when I say that it tore me apart every time she said that. We gave her several baths to cool her down—and despite normally enjoying baths she screamed every time—and tried to get her to drink and eat popsicles to keep her hydrated. Again the doctor said we might need to go to the ER, this time if her fever didn’t drop. But around 11pm we gave my little girl one more bath, followed by Tylenol, and she fell asleep the instant she crawled into bed. She slept through the night without waking, which is great—several times during the day she had dozed off, only to wake up screaming in pain.
I took yesterday off, in part because my wife and I were also under the weather from this thing (my wife much moreso than I) but mainly to be there for my daughter. Today she was sleeping fine when I got up, so I came to work. I’ve talked to my wife since and my daughter is up and eating and drinking—she’s still sore but her temp is below 101ª, which was where the doctor said we needed it.
Not surprisingly, I am tired and sore and stressed. But my daughter seems to be on the mend, which is the important thing.
posted by Gryphon Rose @ 7:56 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home