Pedialyte is our friend.

Seriously... I don't know where I would have been without you this past weekend.

Let's go back to Friday night... I was able to get Sami to bed by 8pm without incident. At 9pm I heard her do a rather loud, moist cough, so I went in to check on her to see that she had thrown up all over herself and the crib. Not thinking much of it, as Sam spits up all the time, I picked her up, changed her out of her messy clothes, and brought her out into the living room with me so that she could call asleep in her bassinet while I continued to read. All was well until about 9:30pm, when she sat herself up a little like she has been, and this time instead of a cough, it was a definite heave, with bile coming up all over her again. I picked her up and sat her in my lap, rubbing her back and catching what was coming up in her blanket with the next couple of heaves, then changing her again when she was done. Another hour went by and she did it again, and by this time I was getting worried, as I was home alone while Chris was having a night out with the boys. She heaved one more time at 11pm, I called Chris to come home, and I decided to try giving her the leftover Pedialyte the hospital had given us when we were there last weekend. She wasn't running a fever, and there was no crying, so I used my best judgment in deducting that this was either the same or another stomach virus that was causing her so much discomfort. She downed 2.5 ounces and with the exception of one minor spitup, she slept through the rest of the night. Easier for her than me, though.... every time she coughed I was up to check on her.

By 6am she was awake, and she was hungry. I fed her the last two 2.5-ounce bottles we had of Pedialyte, which she took gratefully, and while she went back to sleep with Chris, I ran to the 24-hour CVS to stock up on another bottle. I told myself that if she could keep the morning's feeding down, I would split the next feeding with Pedialyte and breastmilk 50/50, and if that stayed down well enough, then I would go back to exclusively breastfeeding. By the late morning she was in great spirits, and we were able to get her back to regular feedings, but man... a sick baby is an unhappy baby, and makes for a sad momma.

Know what else makes for a sad Momma? Catching her sick baby's sickness the day after. Yup, I got whatever Sami had and was in bed all day. The worst part was I was so dehydrated, I could barely breastfeed her, so Chris had to give her at least one meal via pumped milk... it really sucked. =(

But we're getting better now... I just wish there was a Pedialyte for adults. Oh wait...