Well, I guess wishing that the flu would pass us by this year is not going to happen. It hit and hit hard. Tanner (2) got it first. I was changing diapers that were making me gag. Just when I thought, well it could be worse... it got worse. At 12:30pm, he was laying in vomit. The smell hit me halfway down the stairs. I knew that what I was going to find, was not going to be good. How do you try to explain to a 2 year old that mommy has to bathe him at 1:00am, while he is half asleep and feeling lousy? I got him dried and changed while Steve was cleaning up the sheets and making him a make shift bed in our room, so that we could be close for the next round. The night was rough. The instructions we gave him on the benefits of spitting up in the bowl were lost on his 2 year old mind. He looked up at us as if to say, "that is a great idea mom and dad, but I would rather you make it stop." I hate watching my kids go through it. It is a form of parent torture!! After the throw up stopped, the diapers came. I have never changed so many horrifying diapers in my life. Saturday night he threw up again. Sunday morning, I stayed home with Tanner and Emma (3) because she started to complain that her tummy was hurting. Nothing happened with her (yet) but she was slightly warm and very whinny. Yea!! Sunday night, Rylee (5) ,who was at church, had to be driven home because she was feeling gross. Thirty minutes later, she started throwing up. Sunday night, Rylee was in our room, sicker than a dog. It was so sad!! She was miserable. Sometime in the night, my husband, jumps out of bed and runs downstairs. (Sonic hearing) Next thing I know, Emma has come up, needing to take a bath. (Mommy is getting so good at this by now!!) Now, Steve and I are trying to make some kind of bed with the remnant of sheets and blankets that are left. (My laundry room is standing room only with sets of sheets waiting to be cleaned) I am finding myself having the same thoughts I had during labor and delivery. "Don't worry, Steph, this will be over soon. You can do it. What is one day of pain and agony." You can imagine that this was a restful night. Every sound, moan, toss, cry, make me jump and ask, "do you need me? are you throwing up?" At one point I am telling Rylee, "grab the bowl, grab the bowl!" and Rylee is sound asleep, Emma would be the one needing assistance. That is what lack of sleep can do to your brain. Just a side note: praise God that Rylee and Emma can spit up in a bowl. This makes clean up so much easier!! Around 3:30am, after another round of sickness, I looked at Steve and said, "who is next?" We both said, "Hayden." We can see the future, because at 5:30am Hayden (9) comes to our room and says, "I am sick. I threw up in the bathroom. Some of it is on the rug." When it rains, it pours. This time, I am upstairs cleaning up the mess. Steve and I thought we would switch things up a bit. I get the mess, he gets the kid and the chore of figuring out where Hayden would sleep. (our room is not that big) We thought that would make it more exciting. Change of pace, always thrilling! (Not really, I was praying that I would not gag. It was a miracle that I did not.) After we all get settled in our new sleeping arrangements, I lean over to Steve and say," I am going to cry when you leave for work in the morning!" Monday morning arrives and Steve takes Kallie to school, the rest of us are on the couch, half dead. Tanner was still asleep. A few moments later, I hear Tanner at the top of the stairs, calling me. When I get to him, he has a huge smile on his face and proclaims, "Mommy, I poopy!" This was a understatement. He was wearing the contents of his diaper. You have got to be kidding me. Another set of sheets need to be clean, my son need a bath, I am going to vomit. I really need a vacation!!!! I know what you are thinking, this nightmare must be over soon, right, wrong!!! Monday after school, Kallie comes home, sick to her stomach. Bring it on!! By Monday night, everyone seems to be better, but now Mom is feeling off. It is starting, so I raid my medicine cabinet to try to prevent it. By bedtime, I feel much better. At 4:30am, a guest arrives at our door. Rylee is burning up. I go get her Tylenol, and she lays down in our bed. Not even ten minutes later, we hear the sound.. you know what I mean. My husband leaps out of bed and turns on the light in one motion. It was very impressive!! Now we are scrambling for the bowl and looking to see if "it" is on our bed. By some miracle, it misses the bed and landed in the bowl. We are amazed. We find ourselves making Rylee a new bed, on the floor, and praying that this would all end. It is now Tuesday and I am wasted. I have nothing left. I want to sleep for a week, but I am a mommy and we don't have sick days.
