On the Mend?

Well, we made it through another looong day.
It was a little more peaceful, for me at least, than it has been, but it was still pretty rough. Ati did a lot of sleeping, and Eli was somewhat entertained by movies for a lot of the day.
Of course, I spent almost all of my “quiet time” doing something with food. First, I did some baking and experimenting with a pumpkin muffin recipe I love. I tried to make them cream cheese filled, which ended up being a strange disaster; but I also added chocolate chips and made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies that were actually quite delicious. I ate WAY too many, and lots and lots of cream cheese frosting. I have a MAjor weakness for cream cheese frosting; it CALLS to me… and I just can’t stop myself! Anyway, after the sweetness attack I spent lots of time looking up recipes, trying to find something yummy for dinner (then, of course, I spent the rest of the time preparing the dinner). I finally decided on Chicken fried Chicken and a side of Au Gratin potatoes; which, turned out quite delicious as well. What a delicious day, no wonder my tummy hurts…ugh.
Somewhere in the midst of the food and the sick babies I did get a “package”. John sent me some flowers to brighten my day, and it really made me smile. I love flowers; they’re always nice to have. They’re really nice flowers, too; Irises and tulips, and they bloom in the vase. Right now they are still in their sleeve, while they drink enough water to start blooming. I love my sweet husband, he’s so thoughtful; and I really appreciate all he does for me.



Ok, back to a more serious matter: the little people I love so dearly
…Eli seems to be heading “uphill” now, and I am really grateful for that. He was in a much better mood, but there were still parts of the day that he just wanted to lay on the floor. He hasn’t had a fever, hasn’t thrown up, and has a bit more of an appetite. His diarrhea (sorry, that’s such a gross word) is getting better too; not as stinky, not as soupy, and not as often. I predict that he’ll be mostly better tomorrow, and by Saturday he should be fine…sooo, here’s for hoping (holding my breath).
…Ati, on the other hand, is not well at all. She is severely ill; I don’t think I’ve ever seen her this bad. She’s eaten almost nothing since Monday, and everything she has managed to eat has ended up in her little pink bucket that I make her carry around. She hasn’t wanted to wear any clothes, because she gets really hot, so she’s been just in her underwear, and I can see every bone in her body. She’s always been a very small and thin girl, but she seems to be melting away. I’ve been pretty paranoid about dehydration and have at least made sure she’s getting enough to drink. She was able to keep down liquids most of the morning (I gave her an ounce at a time, every 20-30 min, throughout the day) and around lunch time she actually had a small appetite and was eating cheez-it crackers. There were a few hours during the afternoon that I saw a light at the end of the tunnel, and she seemed almost back to normal. But by dinner time she was heading back down hill, fast. She was just moaning and couldn’t communicate what was wrong. When we finally put her in bed she vomited everything she’d eaten the entire day-which was almost nothing, but for some reason mysteriously multiplies when it comes back out. We put her in the bath and cleaned her up, put all her bedding in the wash, and then put her back in bed. She’s been trying to sleep, but keeps moaning and crying in her sleep. I anticipate another eruption before too long; and probably another long night for me.
Last night when we put her in bed she hadn’t thrown up all day long, and I was extremely relieved and hopeful. Sadly, she woke up around midnight, and threw up every 20-30 minutes until around 5am. I, of course, was up all that time too. Sometime in the night I learned that she had somehow been able to keep at least a tiny bit of food in her tummy, because she’s now moved on to the “bonus round” of this game, which includes the “diarrhea package” (gross word again, sorry, but hey at least I’m learning to spell it now). She finally went to sleep around 5ish, but then, of course, Malachi decided to get up. So, I fed him, and before I was able to put him back down (just before 6am) Eli was awake! That was it for me; I was done sleeping for the night. I must’ve been intuitive about it though because I actually had gone to bed at 8pm, which is really unusual.
Surprisingly, I’m holding up pretty well for someone who’s been dealing with sick kids and very little sleep all week. It’s amazing what we can do as parents, when it’s really necessary. There was actually a moment this evening, when Ati and Eli were finally in bed, Tad was quiet doing who knows what, and I was feeding Malachi before I put him down for the night, that I felt really peaceful. It was strange, but nice. This has been a hard week, but I know I’ll be stronger for going through it.