And I'm NOT Including Pictures

One down side of having so many kids is that they share everything. And by everything I'm referring to germs and viruses.

The fact that my skin on my hands is cracked and bleeding is an indication of the amount of hand washing and sanitizing going on in this house. I am obsessed with it. Positioned in every major room are large bowls for throwing up, a canister of disinfecting wipes and hand sanitizer. I make my kids sanitize their hands every time I see them.

The reason being: I HATE VOMIT.

There I said it. And that's exactly what I've been dealing with all week.

It started with Reese getting sick in class---which completely mortified her. Then it spread to me and Owen simultaneously. There were different levels and variations of this stomach virus, and I will spare you the details. Thank me! Then Don got it. Then Reese got it again. This all in the space of seven days, and all the while Owen never got better.

Wednesday was a particularly bad day for him. He wasn't up to eating, looked pale, and I noticed he didn't have very many wet diapers. Later that evening, he said he was hungry and devoured two plates of pasta. Bad idea. Very very bad idea. He got the stomach cramps from you know where and started throwing up. It got to the point where he had been crying for hours because his tummy hurt, along with some explosive diaper episodes and more throwing up, but through all that crying--no tears were coming out. Poor baby was cold and clammy to the touch.

Dehydration.

So at 11:30 pm I packed him up and took him to urgent care where they assessed him and gave him some zofran ($100 a pill! can't wait for the bill!) to calm his tummy and then we started him on liquids. He was able to keep them down finally and we were sent home at 3am---just in time for Reese to throw up in my bed. Awesome. So we got to bed around 4am and Owen was up at 6am demanding a drink. More awesomeness.

So here we are on Friday. Lots more 'fun' diapers to change, lots more laundry to do. But I think he may be on the mend. He is talking back, which is always a good sign.

Now we just need to get some meat on Owen's bones, although he still isn't real interested in eating. He went from an already skinny kid to a virtual skeleton. Hopefully this nasty virus will work it's way out of him, and leave the older two kids alone!!