Peanut vs. Rota virus

I have not posted in a while, but I guess you could say I've been busy. Peanut's stomach flu from last week quickly became serious and after a couple of visits to the pediatrician he was hospitalized with the Rota Virus (bad stomach flu). Despite all my efforts I just could not get his fever to break or keep him hydrated which apparently is typical for the nasty virus. Peanut was working hard against me, eliminating liquids from both ends as fast as I could get them into him. I finally gave up and went with his doctor's advice and admitted him into the hospital. He was so sick and dehydrated that it took them over 4 hours to get an IV started. They kept poking him trying to get a good vein. He did not even cry, he would just mumble that it hurt, all the while lying there with his eyes closed. Finally the nurses gave up and called the NICU to send someone up with a little more experience with tiny dehydrated veins. They were finally successful after a couple more sticks, and when they announced to Peanut that they finally "got it" he opened his eyes and said, "thank you so much". The nurses were shocked and said that he was the nicest little boy they'd had there in quite a while. When they left we counted 12 pokes, 12 painful, probing, needle sticks that sometimes lasted a couple of minutes each as they "looked" around for the tiny, little, vein.

Peanut was such a good sport. The one who works and I then spent the next three days sitting around the hospital room hovering over our sick little boy as he slept and got stronger and hydrated. The nights were the worst, although Peanuts accommodations were warm and comfortable ours could barely be called acceptable. The little chair next to the bed pulled out into the tiniest most uncomfortable excuse for a bed I've ever seen, after the first night of no sleep, I relinquished the job of staying overnight to his father. Finally, after 3 days they let us come home. We knew Peanut was better when they came to draw blood early one morning to check his hydration levels and it took 3 of us to hold him down while he kicked and screamed his little peanut head off.

All in all the experience was a good one. The hospital staff was kind and helpful to Peanut, and my Mom and sister saved me by taking my little walnut while we were at the hospital so I never had to worry about him. We're all home now and I've sanitized everything. If anyone else here gets sick it will be despite my best efforts, nothing here is safe from the Lysol! I've washed every sheet and blanket Peanut even looked at and cleaned every bathroom till it shines. Hopefully our bout with the Rota virus is over and looking back on it now, I feel optimistic. I think we won.