Baby’s first stomach flu

Last night Sophia woke up at eleven for her regular feeding only she didn’t eat much. I contemplated whether I should have waited longer to see if she would simply fall asleep again without the late night feeing or if she really did need that little bit that she took. At five thirty in the morning I woke up to Kurt’s alarm clock – wow she pretty much slept through the night! I pumped a ton of milk since she didn’t eat during the night and then I checked on her around six. She was still laying in the same direction I left her in last night. At six-thirty when Kurt opened the garage door to take his motorcycle to work Sophia work up. She was quiet but not very smiley. I picked her up. Her hair and shoulders were all wet and so was the whole area her head laid in. Hhhmm, did she throw up or did she just spit up a lot? She wasn’t running a fever and except for the lack of smiles, she didn’t seem sick at all. It must have been spit up. I changed her diaper – not very heavy at all for a morning diaper. That was odd.

I set her in the center of our bed and hooked the not-a-Johnny-Jump-Up to the bathroom door frame. She just sat there quietly watching me. She must not be fully awake yet. I grabbed the clothes I intended to wear for the day and put them at the foot of the bed. Then I was about to pick her up to place her in the not-a-Johnny-Jump-Up when milk came gushing out of her mouth all over the down comforter. OHMYGOD – I didn’t know a baby could contain so much fluid. She heaved milk onto our bed about three times. After the first one I just waited for her to finish. The comforter was soaked so there was no sense in moving her and getting it all over the carpet too. Done? Ok let’s change your clothes…AGAIN. I woke up our not-the-nanny in a semi-frantic oh-my-god-what-do-I-do sort of way. I called the doctor and reached his absolutely useless answering service. Seriously what use is an answering service if they can’t schedule appointments?

I took Sophia downstairs and gave her a sippy cup with the milk I just pumped to replace some of what she spewed on our bed. She did a good job drinking some of it and then up it came again. This time it came with a lot more force. Her tiny little face turned red and she was gagging on now greenish vomit. I’m guessing this third episode totally emptied her tummy. Now she looked sick and the poor baby seemed scared. I called the doctor at eight and got an appointment for nine forty-five. He’s really an awesome doctor. He said not to bother trying to give her solid foods. Just try to keep her hydrated with breast milk and clear fluids like Pedialyte, diluted white grape juice (75% white grape juice with 25% water), and of course water.

Other than some very long naps, she spent the day clinging to me and threw up another three or four times. I lost count.