Quarantined*

This has been a long, hard week for me. I’ve talked a little bit about it on Facebook and Instagram, but I can’t remember a time when I’ve had so much sickness roll through my house. It started last Friday night.. my beautiful weebean went to bed right as rain, and woke up at midnight sick as a dog. I can deal with a lot as a parent without batting an eye… but I reaaaally struggle with vomit. I have to steel my nerves and go to the dark place to handle it. Then the fever + not wanting to eat for DAYS started, which left me a stressed out over tired basket case.

Of course, just as she started to improve, Prince Will started with his fever and stomach issues. Through it all, my Hank was a Tank and remained untouched. We felt bad that he had been in quaratine with the other two all week, so the Hubster took him out on Wednesday night. He was in great spirits and was fine, until the ride home… where he proceeded to throw up all over our van. My poor little Tank now has a fever that keeps spiking and a stomach that won’t settle… I sat up with him from 2 – 5am last night as he got sick again, and again, and again.

My lovelies, I am tired. It has been a long week of little sleep and constantly being needed by multiple sick children. I’ve been feeling run down and worn out, and by bedtime last night (Day 6 of the plague) I felt my edges start to fray and I thought I might lose it. So I threw a coat over of my sweatpants and stained shirt, and drove to the closest store I could think of: Giant Tiger. I spent an hour wandering the store by myself trying to clear my head, and I decided to try and focus on the positives I could find in this barf and fever filled week.

Even though we’ve basically been in quarantine since last Saturday and ALL of the kids have been sick with this, so far the Hubster and I have been spared. This could have been so, so much worse, and I’m so grateful for that.

Prince Will has been my worst sleeper of all three kids. He only recently discovered that sleep is AMAZING and has been sleeping through the night. Whenever he has been sick in the past, he has been awake ALL night and wouldn’t leave my arms. While he was pretty much parked on my lap throughout the course of his fever, by some miracle he continued to sleep straight through the night. It made getting up with the bigger kids a little easier.

I spent much of last weekend very worried about the weebean. My beautiful girl is very slender, and as her illness dragged on I could pretty much see weight falling off her. It took a long time for her appetite to return, and I was racking my brain for ideas of things for her to drink and eat. One of my incredible friends messaged me while she was out and about asked if I needed anything, then turned up at my door with gatorade, crackers, pedialyte freezies and some little toys for the kids. The weebean perked up SO much after receiving that package, and I swear it helped her turn the corner and start eating again… and it was everything I needed that day. <3

I am so grateful that the Hubster has a job where he works reasonable hours and has been able to be home and tag team sickies with me at night. I’m also so thankful for my mom, who has been checking in with me every day, providing a much needed lifeline to the outside world.

While I am still struggling to “handle” barf, I’m so grateful that Hank has finally mastered the art of “the bucket”. I’ve only had to do one barfy sheet change this week.

Last night was particularly hard. I was worn out and exhausted, so as I crawled into bed I prayed for a barf-free night… and of course it ended up being the worst night yet. So this morning, as I sat on bleary eyed on my couch while the kids watched a show, my doorbell rang. There on my stoop stood another friend with a bag in hand–filled with a beautiful homemade soup, more gatorade for my sickies and some other snacks to help them eat. I feel so incredibly blessed to know such wonderful people who quietly serve and bring a little light to a hard week. You cannot begin to know just how much I appreciate these acts of kindness… I was able to hold it together while she stood in my doorway, but I had a bit of a (good) cry after she left. Thank you. <3

I’m also so, so grateful that we live in a time where there is Netflix.

So, it’s been a bit of a week. BUT, the sun is shining (even if I can’t go outside to see it), it’s Friday, so the Hubster will be home with me all weekend, and 2/3 children seem to be through the worst of this plague. Hank is still sick, but he hasn’t thrown up since 4:30am and that’s a win! His fever seems to be down a bit and he’s playing quietly, so maybe, just maybe, there is a light at the end of this barfy tunnel.