Our Valentine's Week

This week has not been easy, and I will be happy when it's over.

On Monday evening I started feeling poorly and I slept HORRIBLE!

Tuesday was the worst though.  I was not feeling very well.  It wasn't the worst I have experienced, but it was enough to put me out of sorts.  Hannah went down to bed at 6:30 pm, so we went into our bedroom to get some of our own R&R.  At about 7:45 pm, we heard Hannah start crying.  I went into her room to calm her down and console her, but as soon as I opened the door I was overcome by a nauseating smell.  Hannah had thrown up in her crib, and onto the carpet.  Gross.  This was her first bout with the stomach flu.

I called for Nathan and while he took Hannah to get her bathed, I cleaned up her bedroom.  At 8:10 pm, Nathan had just finished getting Hannah into her clean pajamas, and she threw up again.  Luckily, Nathan got her to the sink just in time so it made for an easier clean up.

By this point, Hannah is being held by Nathan and is as lifeless as can be.  All color was gone from her face.  We just sat there in her room with the lights off trying to comfort her, figuring she would fall back asleep.  But then at 8:30 pm, she threw up for the third time (though by now it's all bile).

We decided to call the doctor's office and talk to the 24 hour nurse, but we had to leave a message before we would receive a call back.  Knowing what happened to me a few years past, we decided to prepare for a trip to the ER.  We also called one of our fellow LDS neighbors so that he and Nathan could administer to Hannah and giver her a blessing of healing.

Just after Rich (our neighbor) left, Hannah threw up for the fourth time at 8:45 pm.  By this time, the 24 hour nurse called us back and she recommended that we head over to the ER.  So, we finished packing some necessary items in our bags, got loaded in the car, and 15 minutes later we were off to the hospital.

Of course, Hannah started throwing up in the car.  We came prepared though with a bowl and so Nathan was able to catch most of it in the bowl.  We arrived at the ER, got Hannah checked in, nurses took her vitals and temperature (with a rectal thermometer...ugh), and then we waited in a curtained room.  It was tricky trying to keep a 2 year old entertained in a really small area.

By this time, Hannah had found some new found energy and was acting more life like.  Perhaps it was the new atmosphere of the hospital.  But low and behold, at 9:20 pm, she threw up again for the fifth time.

Just after she threw up, the doctor came in and did her assessment .  Seeing that there was no bowel obstruction or anything, she decided to try and give Hannah a dose of Zofran (medicine that I took all 9 months of pregnancy to reduce nausea).

So we waited, and waited for someone to come and give us the Zofran.  But at 9:57 pm, Hannah threw up for the sixth time.  This poor girl.  She had bile coming out of her nose at times.  But she was a trooper and handled it like a champ.

Eventually, at 10:38 pm a nurse came and gave Hannah some Zofran.  Unfortunately though, Hannah threw it all up shortly there after, making a total of 7 times (and this was the last time she threw up).  A short while later, the nurse came back and gave her another dose.  Hannah kept it down, and the nurse told us in about a half hour we should try and give her some water to sip on.

Around 11:10 pm we gave Hannah a few sips of water.  We kept repeating this process every 15 minutes as she was able to hold the fluids down.  Then, around 12:00 am, we started giving her saltine crackers.  She was so excited for these.  Seeing that Hannah was keeping food and water down, the hospital decided to discharge us around 12: 30 am, for which we were grateful.

By the time we got loaded in the car and arrived home, it was 1:00 am.  Hannah was asking to eat some crackers so we continued to give her a few.  At 1:15 am, we put Hannah to bed.  The poor thing was so exhausted that she just went right to bed.

So yesterday and today, Hannah and I have stayed in doors trying to recover from our illnesses and lack of sleep.  Last night we got some snow so when we woke up this morning it looked like a winter wonderland from our back porch.

And, last but not least, this is what Hannah and I decided to get Nathan for Valentine's Day.  I got the idea from Pinterest so I can't take total credit for it.  I figured this was an inexpensive, healthy, and edible gift so I went for it.

Those have been the events of our Valentine's week.