A Mother's Intuition

Saturday night the husband's battalion put on a date night. They offered free childcare from 4-9 at his work allowing us to go out on a much needed date night. We scored the last reservation at our favorite Italian restaurant and looked forward to our night out all week long.

Saturday we dropped the kids off right at 4 and were on our way. It was a great night with yummy food and adult conversation. After an amazing dinner we headed to get the kids around 8. When we arrived to get the kids I was surprised to see Ethan happily playing with toys. Usually he doesn't do to well in daycare settings and will ask for me constantly or tell the workers he wants to go bye-bye. I did notice Gianna was with him in the baby room which kind of irritated me as she she missed out on the bounce house and movie the toddlers got to do but as the husband said it was free childcare and she didn't seem bothered by it at all.

We walked into the room to pick up the kids. Gianna ran right up to us, excited to see us. Ethan looked at me and acted like he didn't know who I was. A strange feeling settled into my stomach. This reaction was so unusual for him. I knelt down next to him and he pushed me away. I knew something was wrong. As we walked out to the car I noticed he seemed to be walking funny. He walked as though his legs were stuck in mud and he couldn't stay in a straight line. He almost ran into a parked car! In the car I kept watching him, knowing something was wrong but not able to put my finger on what was bothering me. I would call his name, no reaction. I'd try to make eye contact, he wouldn't even look in my direction. I even started singing songs at the top of my lungs, songs that he would sing along or dance too. Nothing. Again he acted like I did not exist. He did keep staring at some corner of the car and babbling. In other words he was really scaring me.

I kept telling the hubby that something was wrong but he swore that he was just tired and overstimulated from the nursery. Since it was two hours past his bedtime I tried to push my fears aside.

 

I thought maybe once he walked into the house he would perk up and start acting more like himself. No luck. I took him into his room, changed him and checked him over. Besides acting funny he showed no signs of being sick. So I laid him down and told myself to stop worrying so much

The husband and I started watching a movie. About an hour and a half into it I heard his baby monitor go off. In his room I have a sound and light machine which is motion activated. At any hint of movement or sound the music kicks in, in hopes of lulling the baby back to sleep. Ethan loves it.

So when I heard it go off I waited to hear something else from his room. I heard a slight cry and I settled back into the couch. Then those cries turned into screams. I rushed into his room, not even bothering to turn on the lights and immediately picked Ethan up out of his crib. He was screaming and shaking. I sat down in the rocking chair and tried to soothe him. It took me a few minutes to realize that he was soaked. I started to get up to turn on the lights and Ethan started projectile vomiting all over himself, myself and his room. I walked with him to the front door to go get my husband who was on the front porch having a cigarette break. At this point Ethan had stopped throwing up but was crying so hard, having scared himself. I hopped into the shower with him to clean us both off while the husband cleaned up Ethan's room

We dried Ethan off and laid him down in our bed. He was so restless. I noticed he had a rash starting and he felt warm. I hugged him close and sang countless rounds of you are my sunshine. Again he started throwing up. Leaving the husband to now clean up our room I took Ethan back into his room and rocked him to sleep. At this point it was almost midnight. Gianna woke up screaming for me and the husband went in to attend to her. I thought he fell asleep in her room so I stayed in Ethan's room, continuing to rock and sing. Finally at about 1am I went out to the couch to get some sleep myself. At 2 I woke up to Gianna whispering in my face, asking to lay with me. So up she went. Ethan by my side and Gianna along my back.

This wasn't the most comfortable of sleeping situations and soon both kids became restless. Ethan kept stirring and finally woke up. Of course he resumed throwing up immediately upon waking. Gianna was now wide awake and so disgusted. It's now 3am and I am utterly exhausted. I tried to turn the whole situation into a game and told Gianna we were going to camp out. I laid some blankets on the floor and covered Gianna up, turning on a Disney movie of her choosing. Not long after Ethan started throwing up again. I had now used every blanket possible, my floor, blankets, clothes and Ethan were all covered in throw up. I cleaned Ethan up, found the last spare blanket in Gianna's closet and laid him on the couch.

When I was in Gianna's room I had noticed M wasn't in her bed like I had thought. Instead he was in our bed, snoring peacefully. I took Gianna into our room and put her on our bed. The husband woke up , asked if Ethan had thrown up again, I said yes to which he replied Still and then rolled over and went back to sleep. This guy can sleep through anything!

Finally at about 5am I got Ethan settled back down and asleep. I awoke to Gianna once again in my face, asking to watch Nana's show. It was then I realized Ethan was still sleeping and it was 9am. He no longer felt warm and he hadn't thrown up in a few hours. When he did wake up, he asked to eat and resumed playing like he normally does every morning.

I breathed a sigh of relief. The worst was over. The rest of the day he played and ate like normal. While a little fussier than usual he was back to his normal self. Hugging me, establishing eye contact and talking and responding to things in his usual way.

Thank God it was just the flu. And thank god for mommy intuition. Although he showed no signs of being sick I just knew something was off

So mommies out there, always trust your gut!

Now I'm off to shower and do some laundry. I have a lot of loads to do