The no-sleep Friday night!

Jeremy and I had planned all week to have a "wrapping" party on Friday night, since I had wrapped NONE, ZERO, ZILCH of the presents that are hiding in my closet and bedroom. We were going to order pizza, put the kids to bed and wrap, all while watching "Christmas Vacation". However, plans changed. Jeremy got home and we ordered our pizza. Off and on all day, Camden had complained that her tummy hurt, but I just thought she was hungry or needed to go to the bathroom. For dinner, all she ate was a breadstick and would not touch the pizza. Again, I ignored it. Jeremy wanted to go look at Christmas lights so we got the girls dressed in their pj's and off we went. After looking at lights, Jeremy dropped me off at Target so I could run in and get a few more gift bags for our night of fun! As soon as I got back in the car, Camden said her tummy hurt real bad. And then I heard it...puke everywhere! Luckily, we were at Target so I sent Jeremy back in to get a big tub of wipes and a shirt for her to wear. I tried to carefully clean her up without making a bigger mess. I was able to get her clothes off and put them in a Target sack and put the sweatshirt Jeremy had gotten on her. She sat in the backseat with no carseat or booster on the way home (don't tell the police). When we got home I gave her a bath while Jeremy took the carseat out of the car. After getting clean, Camden laid on the couch and I started the LONG process of cleaning the carseat...what a gross job! I think I managed to get it clean and sterilized, however, when putting the cover and straps back together this morning, I realized that the straps still smelled. They don't come out, so it's almost impossible to get the really clean. I sprayed it with febreeze and it smells much better.

Now on to our night...Camden threw up 2 times after her bath and fell asleep on the couch. A gut instict told me to put a vomit bucket on the floor beside her, although she had made it to the bathroom both times earlier. I had my bed on the floor made and was about to lay down around 11pm when I heard something and ran into the living room. She had thrown up all over herself and was choking on more vomit. So, I immediately rolled her over so that she was over the bucket (thank goodness for the bucket). After another bath, she got dressed and laid back down. I don't think she ever slept more than about 5 minutes at a time all night, and never in a deep sleep. Therefore, Mommy didn't sleep AT ALL! I jumped at every move she made because I wanted to make sure she was ok. She continued to throw up every hour until 5:30am. Around 2:00am I called Telecare and the nurse gave me a 4-step process to use with her.
1. No more liquids after she vomits, she needs to sleep 2 hours after the last vomit so the tummy can rest.
2. After 2 hours and no vomiting, give 1 tsp. of crushed ice EVERY 5 minutes for the next 2 hours. (Really?? That means no rest for mommy since I have to watch the clock every 5 minutes)
3. After those 2 hours and no vomiting, I can start giving 3 tsp of one of the following, EVERY 5 minutes for 4 hours:
-ice chips
-water
-lemon/lime soda (shake to get the carbonation out and give 1 1/2 tsp of soda with 1 1/2 tsp of distilled water)
-gatorade diluted with distilled water
-popsicle
4. After those 4 hours and still no vomiting, we can start solids for hours 8-24.
Choose from: saltines, dry toast, pasta, rice, etc..

**If at any times she vomits during this process, we have to start completely over at step 1.

WOW...talk about specific instructions. We made it to noon at step 3 and a popsicle sent her back to the bathroom. So, we started back at step 1. We're now on step 3 again, having been ok for 2 hours. Diluted sprite is working for now. 2 hours left...praying that it works and we can move to step 4 of solids. I think something in her tummy will really help.

I'm usually not so anal about following instructions precisely, but Camden and Claire are supposed to be Wisemen tomorrow morning for part of the Senior Adult Choir's Christmas peformance and I really don't want her to miss it. I also think Claire would do better if Camden were up there with her. Therefore, I am being a rule follower and don't want to give in on any of Camden's requests.

Here's hoping for a better night for Mommy and Camden and that this yucky virus will depart our house before infecting anyone else!