We knew this would happen.
It was only just a matter of time.
The first time is the hardest.
We survived.
The Stomach Flu.
4:00 pm on a Sunday afternoon Henry launches his lunch and more on our couch. He spends the next six hours continuing in the same fashion. It's his first time being sick with the dreaded stomach flu and he lets us know in no uncertain terms that he is not a happy camper.
By 10:30 he has fallen asleep and wakes up every hour or so begging for water. We know that water will only make him sick again so we wait as long as possible before we give some (a very little, mind you)...he holds it down.
Lindsay does 10 loads of laundry between couch covers and cushions, clothes, blankets, pillow cases, and towels (and pretty much anything else that would fit in the washing machine).
Ava and Ella have escaped the fates that the stomach flu hold.
Until...
Tuesday night at 10:30, Ava launches her version of the stomach flu on her bed (in a room she shares with Ella). We gather Ava up, bathe her, and set up the small mattress next to our bed. Her eight-hour stint begins yet she is more aggressive with her projectiles than Henry was (Ava is a bit more experienced in this area)...she takes her eight hours and uses the sick bowl every 10 minutes (on average). Lindsay and I get absolutely no sleep...none...nada.
Wednesday rolls slowly around. Lindsay continues to do laundry, disinfect everything in sight, and generally sterilizes the house.
Ella has a doctor appointment on Wednesday. Dr. Murphy, our beloved pediatrician, supplies Lindsay with anti-nausea medication in case Ella decides to follow in her siblings' recent examples. We pray she doesn't.
Wednesday night rolls around and we put all three kids to bed. We are exhausted and get to bed as early as we can.
All is quiet.
Ella whimpers at 2:30 am. I am awake (as usual) and I try mental telepathy to her to go back asleep (I swear that works sometimes). Her cry gets a bit more intense. I get up, whipping the covers off. Ava, by the way, is still sleeping in our room as we wanted to keep her away from Ella one more night.
I rush into Ella's room and catch a whiff of the inescapable result of the stomach flu. It's dark but the moonlight casts a faint glow on Ella's head. The smell is stronger. I hear her gurgle and as I approach her crib I see the stomach flu doing it's nasty work.
Yet this time it's different.
Ella cannot move enough to expel the contents of her stomach away from her body...she could very easily choke. I place my hand on the side of her head and turn it for her as she lets out what she had eaten that day. I have to wait until she's done before I can pick her up since I know she won't help me as I scoop her up. I call for Lindsay and she's by my side in an instant.
When the episode is finished I cup one hand behind her neck and the other under her rump and scoop her up in one swoop. I place her on the floor in a sitting position...she is wobbly at best and confused, her little hands shaking more than usual and her eyes asking, "What's happening?". She has more to do and we have a small container available that we use to catch her contents. Supporting a child with SMA as they vomit is so much different that supporting a person who has full function of their muscular system.
Lindsay doesn't miss a beat as she retrieves the medication that Dr. Murphy had given her earlier; we quickly measure out the dosage and Ella takes it trustingly.
We bathe our Squishy.
She didn't have another episode the entire night. She fell asleep after a while. We, of course, did not sleep because we wanted to make sure she didn't get sick again and choke. Night #2 of no sleep.
The toll that would have been taken on her already fragile body if she had to endure the typical six to eight hours of fighting the stomach flu was averted. I couldn't imagine what kind of repercussions would have followed.
Lindsay continued to clean, clean, clean.
We made it through our first real sickness with our Squishy. We know there will be more times when she gets sick, but it is good to know we have Dr. Murphy and her staff looking out for us in so many ways, and that Lindsay and I can work together, despite the gross lack of sleep, to do our best to take care of our children.
