Our week before Easter

I would love to say that the week before Easter went off with out a hitch, that we spent the whole week doing all our normal fun festivities but this is not that Easter. Starting the Sunday before Easter at around lunch time, I was hit with a wave a nausea.  Thinking that it was pregnancy related I just took my anti-nausea meds and tried to go on with the day.  By that evening I was still struggling to even drink water let alone eat anything (still on the meds) and wondered if the next few weeks were going to be worse then the first few weeks of my pregnancy. I went to bed hoping it would all blow over. 

Monday morning Kenlee woke up at about 5:30 and puked all over her bed. She said she had gotten too hot, which happens with her very easily, and so I hoped this was the case. Unfortunately knowing that I had been oddly struggling with nausea, I decided not to risk sending her to preschool and called into work so that we could spend the day resting.  Kenlee was struggling to eat and drink, this proved to me that she had not just over heated and that we were dealing with some sort of stomach bug.  I called Blake at work and had him drop off grape juice in hopes to reduce Jordyn's chances of getting this bug too and Blake started drinking it also.  Kenlee threw up again around lunch and then stopped eating and drink all together in fear of puking again. We spent the rest of the day watching Disney movies, doing laundry and begging Kenlee to at least drink something.  I put the girls to bed that night hoping that Tuesday morning would look better but about an hour after they went to bed Jordyn woke up puking too.  As Blake and I got her and her bed cleaned up I just knew it was going to be a long week. Jordyn and I cuddled on the couch while all her bedding washed and Blake made a run to the store to get stomach flu necessities (he had started to feel nauseous and knew this was our one shot at getting everything we needed). We finally got everyone to bed Monday night and everyone slept through the rest of the night.  

Blake woke up Tuesday morning feeling pretty gross and I was still not doing well at all so we had to face the fact that both parents were just as sick as our kiddos, this was a first in our house. We have been lucky enough to usually take turns being sick. Blake went up to campus to take his stats quiz and then called into work sick. The rest of the day was all Disney movies, popsicles and coke. Kenlee threw up again around dinner and I crossed my fingers it would be the last time.  

Wednesday was about the same however, ending the evening with Kenlee being the first to puke in our van. It was supposed to be our date night but since we were all sick that was not going to happen. There was nothing planned on the menu for dinner because of date night so we decided to drive into Logan, taking a much needed break from our house, and go gather up food from random places depending on what sounded good to everyone.  Kenlee and I picked Arby's so we headed there first.  We had just made it to the speaker box to order when Kenlee yelled she was going to puke.  Dummy mom had rushed out of the house without a puke bucket and I had NOTHING in our car to help.  I grabbed a tiny microfiber cloth out of the glove box and prepared for the worst.  It was horrible.  Poor girl puked from her toes and all over herself, her car seat and the van.  Blake quickly excused us from the drive thru and we became that van.  You know the one, cleaning up there pukey child in the parking lot. Blake ran into Arby's and cleaned up a little then grabbed a huge stack of napkins and we did the best we could to clean up until we could get home.  What an adventure! We grabbed a little dinner fast since there wasn't much choice for things at home and headed back home.  Jordyn was still acting funny about eating foods and I thought it was because she had been eating the same things for the last few days.  I tried to force her to eat some applesauce in hopes of helping her tummy and she preceded to puke all over me (almost 48 hours since the last time). We call got cleaned up and called it a night.

By Thursday afternoon both girls seemed to be doing pretty good so we took a much needed break from the Disney movies and cabin fever to go outside to get a little sun on a beautiful day. The girls seemed to really perk up from this hour outing and I started hoping that all was going to go back to normal. Sadly Kenlee threw up again that night around 8 and I was heart broken.  I hate watching my kids be so sick and feeling like I can't do a thing to help them. It honestly makes me feel like I have failed them in some way because I can't magically take their pain away.  

Friday morning Kenlee woke up very lethargic and I decided enough was enough and took her to see her pediatrician.   Jordyn had pretty much gone back to normal and I could finally tell she was out of the woods so for Kenlee to look like she was going backwards it really scared me that there was something else going on.  The doctor was surprised that she was so hydrated and that her weight was still pretty good compared to her well check weight since she had been throwing up everyday since Monday and had barely eaten anything.  Because of this fact there was not much he could do to help except reassure me that I was doing everything she needed and that we just needed to ride out the virus. I could have melted into a puddle of hormones when I left that office. I guess I was honestly hoping for some miracle pill to end the nightmare. Since we were in Logan, I offered to let Kenlee pick whatever sounded good to her to have for lunch.  She finally decided she wanted plain spaghetti noodles at home, which I was happy to do for her and she slicked them down.  That was the first plate she had cleaned off since Sunday so I took that as a good sign. After a really good nap Kenlee started acting a lot better then the morning.  We still continued our marathon of Disney movies in hopes to let her body get some good healing rest.  Around 7 that night she puked again and I literally cried for 45 minutes, thinking that this would never end, that she would be puking between 6 and 8 every night for the rest of our lives. After forcing her to eat a piece of toast and some pedialite that her sweet Aunt Karlee had brought her, I put Kenlee to bed and like every other night that week, told her I loved her and hoped she would feel better in the morning.  Friday night was a low point, I spent the rest of the evening wondering what more could be done for Kenlee.  I felt I had exhausted all the options.  She had been given all the right foods and drinks and her daddy had given her a blessing and she had had lots of rest and yet she was still puking every 24 hours.

Saturday morning I woke up and had a very clear thought that I needed to make her be normal, act normal, pretend that everything was normal.  My first reaction to this thought was that it was my mind being desperate and how cruel would it be to force her to do that.  Again I felt like I needed to make her act normal so I started by making her sit up and not just lay around lethargically.  The next step was making her eat some breakfast sitting at the kitchen table.  It wasn't a great breakfast but she did eat a little yogurt and some more pedialite. She kept begging to go to the couch and watch a movie and I felt so guilty telling her no but I just felt like this was the answer.  After breakfast I had her take a nice bubble bath and then we got her dressed in normal clothing for the first time in days.  She was aloud to watch A Bug's Life while we did her hair but watching a TV show or movie is very normal for us while doing hair in the morning so I thought this was still on track.  While I was doing Jordyn's hair I noticed that Kenlee had been sitting on the couch instead of laying or slouching without being reminded.  I asked her if she felt like she could and wanted to go into Daddy's work to do the Easter Bunny Trail.  This really got her excited and so I went and got ready myself.  I checked on her probably 100 times while I got ready and she still stayed sitting up. I really tried not to get my hopes up but things were looking good. We went into Lee's for the Bunny Trail and I prayed the whole time that she would not puke in public.

Easter Bunny 2014

We did the whole bunny trail and also some last minute Easter egg dye shopping without any problems. I even risked running to the car wash to get the top layer of dirt off the van, no problems still. Next we came home and had a little lunch and then my mom and sister came over to show us what they had found for Tiffany's baby shower next week.  The girls both showed off all their goodies and enjoyed seeing Gammie and Karlee.  Once Gammie and Karlee went home I put both girls down for a nap and hoped that Kenlee would wake up just as good as before.  Nap time had kind of become the point were I could see her going down hill for the day so I was pretty nervous. When they woke up from nap I was desperate to keep her moving and enjoying life so we went outside to enjoy the beautiful day until our daddy got home from work.  The Daines family did their Easter celebrations that evening (which I will write more details about in another post) so Blake and I decided to risk taking Kenlee over even though we were getting into the danger zone, 6 to 8pm.  I hovered over that poor girl the whole time we were over there, probably looked totally insane but after the week we had had I think I probably was insane.  She made it through the whole party without any incidents and I was starting to get really excited.  I sent Blake home to do bedtime routine and ran to the store to get some Easter things.  I kept waiting for the phone call that she had puked but it never came.  I got home just in time to kiss the girlies goodnight and cross my fingers that we were in the clear.  

Sure enough she made it through the night without any problems.  I could tell she was still tired and weak Sunday morning but I was still determined to keep this "normal" thing going so we all got ready for church and headed off.  I was still super paranoid about her so I took her to all my classes with me. During Sunday School I realized that she was truly doing a a lot better and started to feel a sense of relief. We continued through our Easter celebrations with no problems and a much happier little girl.

I am sure grateful to have a healthy little girl again and even more grateful that she did not have to miss her Easter fun.  She had been looking forward to Easter for 3 months I swear, counting down the months/weeks/days.  It would have broke her little heart to miss out.  Lets hope that we have a much healthier summer and get to enjoy all the new and exciting things coming this year.