Starting back since we last posted (May 21), we travelled out to Colorado for Memorial Day weekend. Things didn't go exactly as planned......
Friday night, as we were about 30 minutes from North Platte (about 2 hours into our trip), Zach began getting really fussy in the back seat. I turned around to try to calm him down, offer the cork, turn on his movie, etc......only to witness the single largest vomiting event I have ever seen. I know that they all say that it looks like more than it actually is, but this was huge. So I told Andy to pull the car over, and Zach vomited AGAIN!! It had been over 2 hours since his last feeding, so it had been sitting (simmering) in his stomach for two hours......not the most pleasant of smells, but anyway...
So we get Zach changed into a new outfit, blot the carseat until it's mostly dry, dump out the bottom of the base from the liquid that was sitting there, bag up the sopping wet clothes, and head off again. About 10 minutes Zach starts fussing again, so Andy got a bottle ready to give to Zach. Zach ate about 3 ounces, and then it all happened again, except this time ALL OVER Andy! It's funny now, but at the time it was very scary! We called Andy's Aunt Kendra and Uncle Daryl, who live in North Platte with their family, and they said that we could stay there for the night. Unfortunately, Zach decided to redecorate much of their home, so he sat and played on towels because the body fluids just didn't stop!
Finally on Saturday morning at about 10, Zach kept down his first "meal". We thought that the worst was behind us, so we continued on out to Colorado. (Little did we know.....)
The rest of the trip out there was fairly uneventful, until we "landed" at Andy's parents house.
Zach then developed a severe case of diaper explosion! So, he again was on the towels, this time for a different reason! He was very happy and playful in between his "bouts", but got very cranky for about 30 minutes before the event. This only got worse as time went on. Saturday night/Sunday morning Zach had a spell where he was inconsolable for about 2 hours, and began pulling on his ears. I was concerned, so we decided to take a trip to the ER in Yuma (about 30 minutes from Andy's folks home) to have him checked out. I specifically asked the Dr. to check Zach's ears, plus the vomiting and diarrhea. The doc said that his ears were fine, and ruled it "gastroenteritis" - which basically means upset stomach. He told us to give Zach Kaopectate 3-4 times a day and that should clear it up.......yeah, right!
Anyway, this continued on and on....but we made it home on Monday fairly uneventfully. Zach's BM's became more frequent, but he was less fussy before them. So Tuesday morning we went in to the Dr. here in Ord (our family doc), and he looked in Zach's ears and gave a whistle. BRIGHT RED!!! I was furious! I told the Dr. what had gone on, and he said that an ear infection can begin in as little as 6 hours (I think he was just trying to cover for the other doc), so they gave Zach a shot to double-whammy the ears and whatever this bug was (we were going on 5 days at this point). So, I went home hoping that the worst was over.....yeah, right!
Wednesday morning the diarrhea hadn't stopped, and I was getting really concerned at this point. So I called the Dr. again and they said to come in, again. This time we decided to stop all milk for couple of days, do only Pedialyte, bananas, applesauce, and rice cereal. They also gave us an oral antibiotic. I felt better leaving the Dr. office, but knew that Zach still wasn't seeming to get any better. The poor boy had a flaming red hind-end...he would SCREAM any time we headed back to the bedroom to change his diaper. For most of Tuesday and Wednesday, he was going every 15-35 minutes.....except for nap times. I counted on Wednesday, I changed 38 poopy diapers from Zach in a 10 hour period. So.....we hoped that this was going to turn a corner.....yeah, right!
Wendesday night I was holding Zach on the couch, giving him his night-time bottle (of pedialyte). Alex came up and laid his head on my opposite leg, and was really kinda squirming around. He sat up.....and......blech. ALL OVER my left arm, stomach, leg, foot, couch, ottoman, floor......thankfully, he missed Zach, but eeeeeewwwww! Andy scooped Alex up and sat him on the floor, only to have Alex repeat the performance twice more!! Andy went and got Alex cleaned up, and about 30 minutes later, Alex wanted some crackers. Thankfully, that was the only vomiting performance that Alex put on. Are we all better??.....yeah, right!
Thursday was just terrible. Both boys had the "hold me" attitude, and didn't want the either to be near me. Alex's diarrhea got worse, Zach's was less frequent, but still painful. Andy took the afternoon off to come home and help me (I REALLY needed it) and he even called my grandparents from Lincoln to come and help out.
Friday afternoon Grandma and Grandpa got here, and things finally started looking up. Zach was beginning to return to normal (so we slowly started introducing milk back), but Alex was still VERY runny. Thank goodness for Resolve carpet cleaner!!!
Saturday Andy had a "Strike Out Stroke" tournament that he committed to for all day, so I was so very thankful to have my grandparents here to help out. They are truly lifesavers!!!
Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon we went downtown to the "ExtraORDinary Days" (we live in ORD.....get it??).....they had bed races that were quite funny, carnival rides (of which Alex rode the carousel 6 or 7 times...nothing else....just the carousel), ice cream, etc. It was fun to get out of the house and be outside.
So it's now Monday, and both boys have been 48 hours "normal". I have inhaled my sign of relief, but am very cautious to exhale. :)
Anyway, here are the few pictures. Now that I've told the story you may understand why there aren't many. These were taken on Zach's 7-month birthday, May 28.
Alex trying to "smile".......
Got it!! :)
That's it......please pray for an UNEVENTFUL week.....we all need it!! :)
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