Happy Birthday...

Oh my sweet baby. 4 1/2 hours ago I turned 32. I think this is the first birthday I really don't care it's my birthday. Having a baby changes everything!

I woke up about 1 1/2 hours ago to Sammy coughing. I went in and he had thrown up. Just a little. But he rolled over in it, and some was in his hair and on his jammies and on his sheets. Keep in mind, I haven't dealt w/ Sam vomiting yet. I got a little nervous. I put him in the tub while Jason changed the bedding. (How do single parents DO this?!? I'm SO thankful for my husband!!!) Sam looked at me like, "Why am I taking another bath? This is kinda fun!" I got him cleaned up w/ a fresh outfit. I asked Jason to bring me some water. I thought, His mouth is probably gross so he can have some water to get that gross taste out! So he drank. And drank and drank and drank. Big mistake. He snuggled on me, I held him upright, thinking he sounded a little congested and that's probably all it was that made him throw up, and he threw up again. Everywhere. Alot. Clean up #2. This time I kept him only in a diaper and surrounded him w/ a bunch of blankets. I'm learning a 1-year old can't hit the toilet, and just blankets "catch" a lot. (My mom recommended a towel later...duh.) So now I'm on the floor next to his crib watching him sleep. I was going to hold him upright for the rest of the night, but he's so tired and resting comfortably now. He doesn't have a fever. He was in the nursery Sunday...maybe he got a stomach bug?

Then there were 2 times in the past day that Sam had something in his mouth w/ that "I-shouldn't-have-this-in-my-mouth" look. I squish his cheeks together (like my mom taught me) and tried to fish it out. Once we saw it was a piece of lint, but he swallowed it before I could get to it. The other time I'm pretty sure it was a piece of plastic he tore off from the bulk beef broth package in the pantry. It was balled up, I tried to get it out, and then he smiled proudly like, "It's gone!" Sneaky little guy. *I told this to the nurse later this AM...she just laughed. :)

SO I researched a little on stomach flu for babies. Apparently if it's not accompanied by diarrhea it's probably not a virus and could be more serious. That's comforting. He hasn't had diarrhea (yet). :( It also said the most common mistake parents make is allowing their children to drink as much water as they want after getting sick. OOPS! Of course he would launch it all up. I just thought I don't want him to get dehydrated and he's so thirsty! Apparently I'm supposed to offer water only 1 tsp at a time. Ugh.

14 HOURS LATER...

I'm back. I had to shut the laptop earlier b/c Sam kept waking up and was unconsolable. I just laid him on the floor on a big blanket w/ me. Poor baby. I called the dr. this AM. The nurse said the stomach flu is going around the community and "diarrhea starts about 24 hours later." Joy. Anyway, she said to give him 1 tsp of Pedialyte every 15 min. for 4 hours. Then a little more. And after 8 hours and no vomiting, he can have a cracker. Ugh. It was SO HARD today to eat in front of Sam! He was so hungry and thirsty, and I'm pregnant and shaking b/c I HAVE to eat, so I had to eat in front of him. I kept making awful faces like the food I was eating was so gross, but he wasn't buying it. Anyway, my mom was over tonight and said he felt pretty feverish (he didn't earlier) so we gave him some Motrin. He really perked up after that. Then I gave him a little diluted formula and some Cheerios. He looked SO tired. We gave him a bath and Jason put him down. What's weird is that even though he was so sick today, he still was on the same schedule. Up around 7, nap around 9 and 1:30. I held him for his 9:00 nap for the hour, which was so precious. I remember thinking, This is the best birthday ever. I hate that Sam is sick, but I wouldn't want to be anywhere else than taking care of my baby right now. The 1:30 nap lasted almost 3 hours. I think he might've gotten a little fever during that time. I laid him in bed w/ me b/c he wouldn't go down in the crib. He just wanted to be held. But I was SO tired and sleep-deprived too after last night, I HAD to sleep. So I put him next to me with my arm on him so he couldn't wiggle away off the bed. He was surrounded by pillows. (I'm THE lightest sleeper ever. )

Anyway, my dad brought Pepperjax over for dinner and Jason got an AWESOME ice cream cake. My mom got me 3 pairs of cute cotton PJ's (what I wear to bed is pathetic...paint t-shirts? Oh baby oh baby.) Jason got me an AMAZING knife from Sur le Table. Yes, I asked my husband for a knife for my birthday. Our knives are even more pathetic than my PJ's. They barely perforate veggies. This thing will slice and dice anything! Watch out!

Anyway, this is a LONG NOVEL to say my son, my baby, had the stomach flu for the first time. He threw up twice. I know a lot of moms would say, "Big deal. Wait till you have 4 kids puking and 2 are so dehydrated they're in the hospital w/ IV's." But I know God was very gentle w/ this one. He gave me patience, strength, and wisdom to take care of Sammy. I've felt distant from God lately b/c I've been stressed and exhausted and have been praying that something would have me lean into Him again. And this was a beginning. Thank you, Lord. It truly was a lovely birthday. I've finally realized that birthdays are no longer about me. They're about taking care of my kiddos, because that's the responsibility God has blessed me with. And that, to me, is a privilege.

(By the way...Jason & I celebrated our 5-year anniversary this weekend! It was so special...I'll write about it more when Sam is feeling better.) I'd better catch some sleep while Sammy is down! Maybe he'll even sleep through the night!!