Sick of Being Sick

Our family has been sick for what seems like the past three months. We may have had a week or two here and there of healthfulness, but overall, the kids have been coughing, sneezing, and lately throwing up, since November. Many other families we know can empathize with us.


On Friday a plague known as "Five-Day-Stomach-Bug" (which I didn't even know existed) hit us. It struck Ben first, who started throwing up at midnight on Friday and has had diarrhea ever since. Then it hit me on Saturday, but luckily only lasted 12 hours for me. But oh, what a horrible 12 hours that was! I actually lost four pounds in half a day. (Too bad that weight loss didn't make my jeans fit any better. Sigh.)  Then the plague hit Tommy on Monday afternoon when he complained for hours that his tummy hurt and finally culminated in him tossing his cookies all over the (luckily hardwood) floor. Meanwhile, by some miracle, Mark managed to dodge the plague bullet and remain healthy all week.


The past five days have been a blur of:

- rushing Ben to the bathroom the second I sense he's going to be sick

- disinfecting all surfaces of bathroom that sickness could possibly have touched, then doing it again just to be safe

- disinfecting sick toddler 37 times a day so he doesn't get anyone else sick

- making sure everyone else disinefects their hands 37 times a day so they don't get sick
- mixing Pedialyte drinks

- doing a bazillion loads of laundry from sickness I didn't quite catch in time 

- reassuring Tommy that there's nothing I can do about his sick tummy

- watching entirely way too much WALL-E for my taste

But now the clouds are parting and I can see some sunlight shining through. The current illness seems to be just about finished. Tommy was energetic and happy all day yesterday, and had barely a hint of any sickness. Ben is visiting the bathroom less and less every day. And my energy level has nearly returned. Some strong-smelling foods still make me queasy, but that should be gone in a few days.  

Being so terribly sick for the past week has made me so thankful for the days that we're all well. I'm looking forward to this weekend when we will likely all be well and will be able to do something fun as a family.  

I look so happy in this photo because Ben is finally sleeping, instead of pooping everywhere, and I can finally go tackle the mountain of laundry in peace.