The Dreaded Stomach Bug..

Today marks day # 7 since Kyle first became very sick, and I am happy to report that he is (finally) feeling much, much better!!  He started to turn the corner yesterday; both his appetite and energy returned.  He played outside in the backyard for a few hours and fought with his sisters.  He read one of his library books and wrote out some thank you cards.  He was his usual happy-go-lucky hyper self.  When he woke up this morning he asked if he could have Pop-Tart and watch one of his favorite videos. 
Welcome back, my sweet Kyle!

Our nightmare started last Wednesday night when, minutes after returning home from Karate class at 6p, Kyle became incredibly ill.  He started out having just a little bit of diarrhea, followed by two episodes of vomiting.  He went to bed early and fell asleep almost instantly, so I optimistically assumed he would be fine.  Boy was I wrong!  About two hours after he had fallen asleep he woke up and became violently sick.  As each hour passed through out the night his diarrhea and vomiting intensified.  By morning even a teaspoon of water would cause him to fill an entire bucket with fluid.  His appearance was frightening, to say the least; his eyes appeared to be sunken in, with large brown circles around them.  His cheeks were hallowed to the point where his entire face looked skeletal.  At one point he said to me "Look at how skinny I am now!" - and he tried to grab at some skin on his stomach, only he couldn't even get the tiniest of pinches.  At 8:00A Jim and I decided that if he didn't fall asleep within the hour we would call the Dr.  The amount of fluid pouring out of his body was alarming giving the fact that he hadn't held down any liquids for hours on end.  At 9:00A I called the Dr. who agreed that we should take him in to be checked out.   Kyle was so frail and weak that he couldn't even get himself dressed. 

The next several hours proved to be incredibly hectic and stressful.  We weren't at the Dr's office for more than 15 minutes when it was decided that Kyle needed to be immediately transported to Hasbro via an ambulance.  He had lost 5 lbs, his heart was racing and he was severely dehydrated.  Everyone - family, friends, nurses and doctors - were very concerned over his rapidly deteriorating condition.  Upon arriving at the Hasbro ER he was started on I.V. fluids and a few hours later was admitted into a room.  He ended up having a fever for about 24 hours.  It took 2 nights, 3 days, 13 bags of fluid and 'round the clock Zofran (an anti-nausea med given via I.V.) for Kyle to start to look human again.  The vomiting stopped almost immediately after he had the first dose of Zofran but the nausea and constant, severe diarrhea dragged on for what felt like an eternity.  Slowly and painfully he had to claw his way back to good health.

We were finally discharged at 6p on Saturday and although Kyle was still having bad diarrhea, his other symptoms had subsided and his body was no longer dependent on the I.V. fluids.  The Dr. and nurses stressed to us that we would need to make sure that he drank a lot of water and Gatorade, especially after using the bathroom.  He spent most of Sunday on the couch and in the bathroom, but towards the end of the night he started to feel much better than he had in days and by Monday he was looking AND feeling pretty good!  He saw the Dr. at 3p for a follow up appointment and we were told that he was well on the road to recovery and would likely be feeling 100% within the next few days.

He woke up this morning a brand new boy!  Happy, hungry and ready to play!  Hooray!  We are SO glad to see him back to normal again.  What a scare!

Now, as for the other little ones -- Bella went to bed with a fever on Sunday night.  She ended up waking around 1:00a and proceeded to get sick twice.  I made sure she drank a lot of water and when she woke up the next morning she was feeling better and was her usual, energetic self until late afternoon when she had 3 bouts of diarrhea.  She stayed well hydrated, went to bed a little early, and has been great all day today - with the exception of looking a bit run down/tired.  I'm assuming she had just a touch of whatever it was that attacked Kyle - the difference being that poor Kyle had both diarrhea and vomiting going on at the same time, which is why he ended up in the hospital with dehydration issues.  For Bella the sickness was split up a bit, which was good.  Savannah was doing great until this afternoon.  She didn't eat lunch, took a nap and woke up very whiny.  She wouldn't touch dinner and then, around 5:30p, she vomited.  I got her changed into her jammies, put her on the couch, gave her some water and turned on a movie.  So far she hasn't gotten sick again.  I'm thinking, given the circumstances, I will sleep with her on the couch tonight.  I'm SO tired of changing sheets/bedding etc - if she's on the couch right next to me there's a better chance of her getting sick into a bowl vs. getting sick elsewhere!  I'm hoping that, like Bella, whatever is bothering her will be short lived.  I put her into a diaper "just in case".  We'll see how the rest of the night goes...

Knock on wood, Jim and I have remained healthy.  I was nauseous on Sunday morning (and ended up staying in bed for much of the morning!) but I honestly think it was directly related to being pregnant, being under an incredible amount of stress, lack of sleep and poor diet during Kyle's episode.  By mid-afternoon I was feeling better and by bedtime I was 100%.  Seeing as how I'm the one who is in direct contact with the kids - the one who cleans their sick bowls, their bottoms and their clothes!!! - I know that I'm very exposed to that nasty bug right now.  I'm making sure I take my vitamins, drink lots of water and lots of vitamin C - that's about all I can do!