The First Bug

Yesterday afternoon Cooper was taking a nap, and I heard him start to stir and cough a little. I went in and checked on him and in the dimness saw that he had spit up a little on his sleep sack. I decided to let him be because he had settled back into a nice sleep. About 5 minutes later, I heard him fuss and then cough again and fuss some more. I went in to get him, and the poor little guy had not spit up; he had thrown up. Apparently he wasn't coughing, he was gagging. His crib was a mess, as were his pajamas, sleep sack, arms, face, paci, everything. As I started trying to change his clothes, he looked up at me with the saddest and most scared eyes and then his whole little body started shaking. My heart ached, and it was all I could do to not start crying at that moment. I got him in the bath as Karl changed his sheets. He seemed okay (not himself though) until I got him out of the tub, and then he got sick again. And again. And again. It happened seven times in a little over an hour. After time #3, I called the pediatrician's office and left a message for the on-call nurse to call me back. I also had Karl pack a bag because I was ready to book it to the emergency room (note to readers: I do NOT handle sickness well. I get really scared really fast about anything out of the ordinary. Anyone remember when I had pink eye several years ago, and I feared it would leave me blind? Or when I had my first ear infection in middle school and didn't tell my parents because I was sure I had a brain tumor? Or when I had poison sumac and thought it was leprosy? I could go on, but I think I've made my point :)). As I waited for the nurse to return my call, I just rocked Little Man, and he fell asleep in my arms. This never happens, which just made me all the more scared. The nurse said we didn't need to go to the ER, told us there's a stomach bug going around, and directed us newbie-parents on what to do. After that one hour passed, Coop didn't get sick again, and when he woke up at 11:00 p.m. and was wanting to eat and only got some Pedialyte, he was not very happy. I slept in the chair in his room so I could be there if he got sick again or just needed to be cuddled. It was nice because I was able to check on him as many times as I wanted last night without having to walk down the hall. Other than being a little tired today, he's been just fine-thankfully.

Before Cooper got sick yesterday, he was crying when I put him down in his crib for his nap. I had decided to let him cry for a little bit, as he normally falls asleep fairly quickly. Nevertheless, it's hard to listen to even though I know he's fine and needs to learn to fall asleep unassisted. I told Karl that the most joyful sound I've ever heard is our little one's laugh, and the most heartbreaking is his cry. You truly do feel their joy and their pain. Last night was a hard example of that.