A dreaded GI illness

Warning: This post contains some graphic content and may not be suitable for the weak stomach and non parents.

It started innocently enough, Evan wasn't too keen on nursing, which was strange, but acceptable. He came up to me and gave me a hug and then puked down my leg and then I picked him up he threw up down my shirt. Poor baby. I thought maybe he just had gotten too excited because there were people over and had a little tummy ache. Boy was I wrong and it was the beginning of a GI illness of exorcist proportions. He put that pea soup scene to shame.

From that moment he was throwing up about every 10 to 20 minutes for about an hour or so. It is absolutely heart wrenching when your toddler dry heaves and doesn't comprehend why and just wants you to hold him and nurse him. He was unbearably sick. He fell asleep in my arms which in itself is rare because going to bed usually takes at least 30 minutes of nursing. He was just too sick.

Thankfully, my mom who is the worst at handling vomit, convinced me to stay at her house. She was a great help, bringing me liquids, towels and shirts.

When it was actually time for bed, my poor child wanted milk. I couldn't deny it from him. Cue the exorcist. Full tummy of milk vs. mom. Mom lost.

At 6:30 he woke up and asked for milk. It was a repeat of bedtime milk but more epic. Again heart breaking.
Dealing with this was probably the most heart breaking thing I have dealt with thus far. He has had a few episodes of vomiting in his life but nothing like this. The poor thing just wanted fluids (which was great... but not great.)

He was sick for a whole 12 hours, somehow this morning, he drank a whole sippy cup of pedialyte and gatorade with a dash of seven up and some toast and oatmeal. He has held that down for over 2 hours and even nursed some. 7 towels, 4 mommy shirts and 3 Evan shirts later, I am totally exhausted. He has diarrhea now, which is way more manageable than last night.

I am very grateful for my mother's help because I don't how I'd do it without her.

We have a biter...

This week Evan has bitten 2 four year olds, a baby, his sitter, a pediatrician and a little kid in the waiting room at a doctor's office. His bites are pure evil too. He will look at you afterwards like he has done a good deed, like that person really needed to be bitten. Most of the bites are completely random and unwarranted. These people usually don't do anything to provoke the bite. I say usually because I have seen kids get bitten after ripping a toy out of my child's hands. That being said, biting is never ok. 

When you have a biter, people look at you like you are the worst mom in the world. I didn't do anything to cause this and I don't encourage the behavior. I knew Evan was going to be a handful when he started throwing tantrums at 7 months. Here we are 9 months later and those baby tantrums are a thing of the past. People keep telling me to ignore the behavior, correct the behavior, give a time out, and punish the kid. All that is easier said than done. And all the advice? Totally inconsistent. When he bites at home I cover his mouth, but he thinks that is fun. When he has a tantrum I usually try to ignore it, but he usually wants to be picked up. If you don't pick him up at the right moment, he will hit or bite you because you took too long to tend to his needs. By nature toddlers are selfish beings, the world revolves around them and their needs.

I am not seeking advice here, but sharing a real parenting challenge that I am facing. I can see why parents choose to spank their kids even though its controversial. A quick swat on the butt could work for the defiant/evil/selfish baby. Ok, I'll admit it. He has been spanked twice, over the diaper and pants. Once was today when he started hitting and pulling my hair as I put him in his car seat. It was after I tried talking him into sitting down in my gentle and then stern voice to no avail. Well one swift, not painful but probably scary, swat on the butt and it was a miracle and he sat down looked at me with sad-I'm-so-sorry-mommy eyes and let me buckle him in. I hugged him and said sorry. And he looked at me like he understood why he got spanked and wasn't mad. It made everything calm. 

Now I know what "they" say about hitting. Spanking will teach your child to hit. Evan already hits and no one taught him to hit when he's mad. I did not beat my child within an inch of his life there was no switch or paddle involved. He didn't hit me back when he got spanked and he was not angry as a result of it. People, even doctors, say that when your kid bites you, bite him back. But hitting.... oh no! call "the people". Frankly, I find biting to be much more painful than hitting. Spanking is about discipline and not hitting.  An occasional spank probably won't send him into years of therapy. 

Coxsackie virus...

Evan has acquired a coxsackie virus, hand foot and mouth. It apparently is a common childhood illness. It causes blisters on the hands, feet and mouth. The worst symptom is ulcers/lesions/blisters on the hard palate (roof of the mouth). I have no idea how he got it but he was bounced around to many sitters last week while his main sitter was home with her own sick kids. It started simple enough with a fever and cold symptoms on Thursday. He was laid up on the couch when I picked him up on Thursday while a ton of kids played around him. Sorry to those kids and moms who had extreme toddler exposure. I hope they have strong immune systems.
That night and the previous one were plagued with terrible sleep. He was up all night restless and wanting to nurse like crazy. I was delirious. He was miserable on Saturday and had an even worse nights sleep and didn't want to take a nap. After a brief 20 minute nap he woke up screaming and noticed blisters around his mouth. I felt like a terrible mom because I didn't notice when they happened but it seemed like they just popped up (they probably did.) Then as I was looking at his mouth, I got a peak at the roof of his mouth. He had a dark sore and the rest of his mouth was gray. I panicked and rushed him to the ER. He got the diagnosis of hand, foot and mouth and lo and behold he also a tiny blister on his hand and few on his feet. Since it is a virus, there is little that can be done except ease the symptoms, keep him hydrated and give him lots of popsicles.

The doctor warned me that he would probably develop diarrhea and the blisters will probably get worse. Thankfully that has not happened and this appears to be a mild case. I guess he's like his mom and gets mild childhood diseases. When I had chicken pox, I don't remember being covered with pox. But my sister and brother had them so bad that they got them on their eyelids. I probably was just a spotted, itchy kid that was visibly sick but just wanted to play. Barbie was calling my name. That is what Evan has been up to. He hadn't eaten all weekend, was crabby because he only sleeps if he has a full tummy, and he just wanted to play (not with Barbie). If anything he was in pain and stir crazy because he has been cooped up in the house forever. 

Last night he finally ate some yogurt and slept. He only woke up twice to nurse which is normal for him. He ate breakfast today, and is taking his morning nap. We are still avoiding other children because the coxsackie virus like all other childhood illnesses can have dangerous sequelae, i.e. meningitis. So even though his is mild, the next kid could have something worse.

My name is Evan... I like to dance

Evan's verbal skills have grown by leaps and bounds and it seems like it has happened overnight.
Evan was being bad and colored on some stuff around the house. He said, "I colored it." How can I even be mad. I said, yes you did color it. Ok, in our house coloring on paper is encouraged but coloring on stuff is not reprimanded, he is just brought back to the paper.
Last night he was following dogs around a park howling at them. And this morning when somebaby woke up at five, we watched a little baby Einsteins and he said every animal that was on the screen (including bear which I didn't know he knew). He also learned that owls say hoot. The kid is brilliant. He has at least 10 animals in his word bank and 3 include sounds.
People tell me that they only mimic at this age, but when you pull together a sentence, with proper tense mind you, it's cognition and memory there. But the mimic thing still happens but now its funner. I am teaching him to say my name is Evan. I like to dance (Yo gabba gabba reference. It's our new favorite show, I have gotten over the fact that the red one looks like an adult toy. Brobee won me over.)