I had planned to write on something else tonight, but life here with two little guys takes some unexpected turns. Too often, they involve vomit. Today was one of those days. Everything was going along just fine for most of us. (John was feeling sick and came home early from work.) In the middle of a story, Isaiah felt like throwing up, so we ran to the bathroom. False alarm.
A bit later, as I was finishing washing my hands, I heard Isaiah yell from upstairs. I called to him to ask if he was ok and started over to the stairs. He came around to the first landing and was saying he threw up upstairs. Just as I tried to hurry him to come down and get to the bathroom, it came out, the projectile vomit. I will spare you the details, but it was gross. Lots of clean-up.
We decided to put him to bed in our bed since his bed didn't have a mattress cover. It got wet last night, and since it is monsoon season, nothing (especially not a waterproof mattress cover) dries in just one day unless you hit a lucky patch of sun during the day. We did not.
So, about an hour ago, I came up to our room to check on him and found him sound asleep...in his own vomit! He is a really sound sleeper, which is amazing most of the time, but this is one of the few times I really wish he was not QUITE such a sound sleeper! I woke him up, and he really didn't even know he had thrown up. So, now our bedding is in the wash or will be in morning, hoping to catch one of those lucky sunny patches to dry them tomorrow...but not too early, or it will wake up my boys early.
All this adds up to a pretty gross afternoon and evening, and I'm hoping (but likely not) it is done for the night. I hate cleaning up vomit. I mean, who likes it? It is so sad to see my kiddos sick, but it just adds a super gross element when it has to be vomit.
It sucks to have my son feel sick, and it sucks to clean up vomit, but the thing is, I'm OK. I know that might sound like it should be obvious, but as I've written before, I've had a lot of issues related to sickness, particularly with my kids being sick. Fear that has made it so often MUCH larger than life. The causes for vomiting here are often notably more unsettling than a stomach "flu" bug, and that was one of many things that would make me terribly afraid the last time we were here and had Isaiah being sick so often. But, one thing is that we've now seen and known a lot of people who've had all those nasty things (dysentery, giardia, salmonella, food poisoning and parasites of many forms, and all other manors of things that wreak havoc on the digestive system), and it becomes sort of a bizarrely "normal" part of life to just deal with, roll through, and move forward. Seeing others' experiences, accumulating much of our own, and now knowing the systems of how to deal with things medically when they come up (doctors, medicines, stool sample testing, etc.) have all helped quite a bit.
But, there is something much more than those things, and that is that God has just set me free from so much of the fear and anxiety that sickness for my kids used to bring for me. Friends and family have prayed, and I just believe that the Holy Spirit has worked some miracles in my soul because all the logic and knowledge and experience in the world would not have calmed the panic in me in the past, and as much as I feel drained tonight and a bit of dread that it's not yet over, I can honestly say that I will go to bed and sleep because I am OK. And, today, in the midst of these things, OK is a major victory!
A bit later, as I was finishing washing my hands, I heard Isaiah yell from upstairs. I called to him to ask if he was ok and started over to the stairs. He came around to the first landing and was saying he threw up upstairs. Just as I tried to hurry him to come down and get to the bathroom, it came out, the projectile vomit. I will spare you the details, but it was gross. Lots of clean-up.
We decided to put him to bed in our bed since his bed didn't have a mattress cover. It got wet last night, and since it is monsoon season, nothing (especially not a waterproof mattress cover) dries in just one day unless you hit a lucky patch of sun during the day. We did not.
So, about an hour ago, I came up to our room to check on him and found him sound asleep...in his own vomit! He is a really sound sleeper, which is amazing most of the time, but this is one of the few times I really wish he was not QUITE such a sound sleeper! I woke him up, and he really didn't even know he had thrown up. So, now our bedding is in the wash or will be in morning, hoping to catch one of those lucky sunny patches to dry them tomorrow...but not too early, or it will wake up my boys early.
All this adds up to a pretty gross afternoon and evening, and I'm hoping (but likely not) it is done for the night. I hate cleaning up vomit. I mean, who likes it? It is so sad to see my kiddos sick, but it just adds a super gross element when it has to be vomit.
It sucks to have my son feel sick, and it sucks to clean up vomit, but the thing is, I'm OK. I know that might sound like it should be obvious, but as I've written before, I've had a lot of issues related to sickness, particularly with my kids being sick. Fear that has made it so often MUCH larger than life. The causes for vomiting here are often notably more unsettling than a stomach "flu" bug, and that was one of many things that would make me terribly afraid the last time we were here and had Isaiah being sick so often. But, one thing is that we've now seen and known a lot of people who've had all those nasty things (dysentery, giardia, salmonella, food poisoning and parasites of many forms, and all other manors of things that wreak havoc on the digestive system), and it becomes sort of a bizarrely "normal" part of life to just deal with, roll through, and move forward. Seeing others' experiences, accumulating much of our own, and now knowing the systems of how to deal with things medically when they come up (doctors, medicines, stool sample testing, etc.) have all helped quite a bit.
But, there is something much more than those things, and that is that God has just set me free from so much of the fear and anxiety that sickness for my kids used to bring for me. Friends and family have prayed, and I just believe that the Holy Spirit has worked some miracles in my soul because all the logic and knowledge and experience in the world would not have calmed the panic in me in the past, and as much as I feel drained tonight and a bit of dread that it's not yet over, I can honestly say that I will go to bed and sleep because I am OK. And, today, in the midst of these things, OK is a major victory!
1 comment:
Amen,
Thanks for putting things in perspective for me. Blessing to read this in the AM.
Post a Comment