The Flu Sucks

it's around 10:30 p.m. Monday night as I'm drifting off to sleep and hear the unmistakable sounds of a wet gurgle and something hitting the pillow as a little throats gags. Three seconds later I'm in the girls bedroom rolling Aliyah over for fear of her choking on her own vomit. So scary...but even scarier for her.

I knew something was up when she went to sleep without a fuss and didn't want books read to her because she was way too tired. That is So. Not. My. Aliyah. She will beg for more stories until you have to threaten to take away all her books from her and then lays fully awake for an hour or two, thinking up excuses to get you back in her bedroom.

So I had to get her undressed, in the tub, clean up the sick bed, and then get myself cleaned up. And wait for the long night ahead.

Because inevitably, they always throw up again and about a half hour later, she did. So I cleaned her up again, changed her bed again, and got her to go back to sleep. Again. I had to get up one more time later that night, but amazingly she puked in the bucket next to her bed and didn't get a drop on her.

So now my body has been immersed in the sick germs and do you think I will go untouched? Hell no. About three that morning after I had still not fallen asleep, I awake to the urge of throwing up myself. But not only did it come out of one end, it came out of the other as well. Double whammy.

When I was finally drifting off to sleep around 4 that morning on the downstairs couch, Ben starts to yell for me because now Alex has thrown up in her bed. And he expected me to come take care of it. As if I'm not already on my deathbed, but his reasoning is that I have been touching it all night and what's one more cleanup? Plus, he has the weakest stomach and just looking at it or smelling it will make him ill. Nice.

So all day Tuesday, I barely had the energy to get out of bed but there I was completely ill and taking care of two ill little girls. It was misery rolled up I tell you. I think it doesn't phase kids as much as an adult when it comes to being ill because I was a completes baby. But my stomach cramped up about every 10 minutes and that was hell on earth. I kept breathing through it like I was having labor pains, because that's what it felt like. I almost called Ben to bring me to the hospital, I was in that much pain. I couldn't eat or drink anything until 4 that day.

Today we are feeling much better, but I decided to stay home so I wouldn't risk getting people at work sick. Even though you feel better, I don't believe in bringing it to work the day after. I feel bad for taking two days off, but really had no choice. I also kept Alex home from Kindergarten today, I think too many parents rush their kids back as soon as they can without thinking of what they are doing. Sure, everyone's job is important, but I think recovering and rest is more important.

It's weird that I got sick at all, considering I have an uncanny ability to avoid the flu. Ben had it twice last year, as did the girls and it didn't hit me. When Aliyah was 10 months old, she got the rota virus (extremely contagious), passed it on to everyone in the family and I still didn't get it. We went to a party a week after the flu incident and one day later, everyone came down with the rota virus. We were to blame, but how could one know a person carries the germs with them?

Oh well, we are on the mend and I have to drag myself back to work tomorrow. Just hope everyone is staying healthy:)