Strains of the Stomach Flu

This past week has been horrid with a capital “H.” Let me begin my “adventures in hell” by backtracking a week ago when I (very heavy with child) had the crazy idea of taking my children to the YMCA indoor aquatics center. The kids loved it, and I would have loved it more if Brahm wasn’t so darned confident in the pool. He observes my oldest two in swimming lessons and thinks that he can jump into 3 ft. deep water and perform back floats. It’s hilarious, but while I was trying to keep an eye on Ava and Simon, Brahm was sneaking his way into deeper water. He’s such a stinker! At one point during our playtime in the water, the lifeguards shouted and motioned for everyone to evacuate the pool and shower off immediately. I wasn’t sure what happened, but I later was told that a child had vomited in the water. The pool was “shocked” and left alone for 30 minutes. We spent the rest of the afternoon wading in the shallow water of the kiddie zone and eventually made our way back to the shocked pool.

The following day, I woke up to the sound of Simon throwing up in the bathroom. I didn’t associate it at all with the prior day’s vomitous pool fiasco. Simon seemed just fine with the exception of diarrhea. When Jess caught the stomach flu, I began to put two and two together. Brahm was the next victim. I don’t know what was worse- Brahm vomiting every 30 minutes throughout the night, or changing his explosive diarrhea diapers. I was next. I felt as if I had morning sickness all over again but 30 pounds heavier.

Ava has been our last to catch this weird strain of stomach flu. She threw up more often than Brahm during the night. This morning she has refused to eat or drink anything, but she has been pleading for milk. We have Gatorade, Sprite, and Pedialite to soothe her stomach and to combat dehydration, but all she wants is her precious milk. I am a stickler when it comes to the BRAT diet when my children have the stomach flu, and dairy products (with the exception of yogurt) are off limits.

As you can imagine, I have a laundry room full of dirty linens, rugs, blankets, jammies, and other clothing. I cannot say that my house is ever spotless or even close to clean, but it is bad news as I write this.

Surrounded by all of this chaos and sickness, I began thinking about how I would love to escape it all. A trip to a warm climate sounds enticing. A vacation, where a maid changes your linens and makes your bed and cleans your bathroom. I then started to think about all of the trips that I have gone on with my little family. We’ve been to quite a few places together. And, we have very fond memories of traveling with one another. And you know what? A lot of these trips included vomiting in the car, or vomiting on the plane, or vomiting on a boat. I guess you can never escape vomiting even when you are on vacation.

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico 2006.  Jess threw up on this scenic ocean boatride.  The crew offered him Mexican dramamine (Tequila) to which he kindly declined.

Hawaii 2008.  Ava threw up on the red-eye flight to Hawaii.  I didn't pack any extra clothes for her in our carry-on bags.  So, she ended up wearing an oversized shirt that belonged to her uncle.

Ava vomited not once, but twice on seperate car trips to Las Vegas (2008, 2010)