Sicky New Year

New Year's Eve day began with the following conversation:

(9:30am) Me: Wow, Serena, you're up early today.
Serena: Yeah, I just threw up.
Me: Did you make it to the bathroom?
Serena: Yup.
Me: Poor baby, I'll be up in a minute.

Did you notice my first question...did you make it to the bathroom? I know, it sounds callous and insensitive, but I had to know what my day had in store right up front. And puke duty was going to take everything I had right away. I love being nurse to my girls, but puke just makes me lose it!

We didn't have plans for that evening anyway, at least not formal ones. We always spend NYE with our girls, playing games and making something fun to eat. If we get invited somewhere, great, if not, well then, who cares. We've had people over before, but it's not my favorite thing to do. I just like to relax, I guess. However, relax was not in the plans according to Serena's flu.

She came downstairs awhile later, looking the worst I had ever seen her look, and she had me concerned. The other clue was that she said she didn't want to be alone. She was looking a bit gray, so I asked her if she needed to go into the bathroom. She did. A few minutes later, as I was upstairs making her bed comfy, I heard a loud thud on the living room floor. Thankfully, Steve was home and waiting for her nearby, because the loud thud was her body hitting the hardwood floor. I came flying back down the stairs to see her white as a sheet and barely coherent. She was responding, but only said, "I'll just lay here". She then broke out into a clammy sweat and it took a bit to get her to make some sense.

I do what any normal mom does. I fret when my kids are that sick. It's not that I don't trust God to take care of them. I just don't trust myself!! We made her up a bed on the couch so we could keep a better eye on her, and she stayed there all day and into the evening, taking small sips of water when prompted. We tried to stay quiet, and it made for a very long day. We tried to play some games with Natalie, but it just wasn't fun knowing Serena was so sick.

Later when she was asking to finally change her clothes, I made her sit up for a bit before attempting to stand, then I made her stand a bit before attempting to walk. She seemed better so I allowed her to go into the bathroom alone. Big mistake. I stood by the door and listened for her, and next thing I knew, another loud thud. I tried to open the door, but she had fallen against it and I was trying to slide her out of the way to get the door open. I finally heard her small voice say, 'give me a minute'. Well, the child is extremely private, and she didn't have all of her pajamas on yet. Fortunately, she was okay, but dad had to go in there and pick her up off the floor again.

She went back to sleep, and upon checking on her frequently, I found she had developed a fever. Now it was really freaking me out. Does fever freak every mom out, or just me? I could tell you stories.... By now it was getting late and the rest of us were hanging out in the bedroom, trying to be close by but quiet. Finally by 11:45, the fever began to break and we were able to watch the ball drop on tv. We toasted with vernors and sparkling grape juice and went to bed. Happy New Year.

I then proceeded to have a rather rough night of stomach cramps (sympathy pains?) and broken sleep, worried about Serena. At 5:40am, my cell phone went off, waking me from a sleep that took all night to earn. Wrong number, but then any number at that time of morning causes the mind to wander, right?

So New Year's Day came and Serena was much better, and when she got into the shower, I stayed close by. Sure enough. THUD. Well, this time it was the shampoo bottle. Whew! :)

She is now doing great and bopping around again in her usual way. We are so thankful that it didn't get any worse. Unfortunately, both girls got sick over Christmas break, but at least they didn't have to miss school. And now the house is quiet again, and life resumes as usual.

Thud. That's me, hitting the couch for the first time in weeks!!