Saturday, April 02, 2005

Fingers Crossed

Yesterday was a rough one.

The Duckling was stuck in a vicious cycle...drink "water" (flavor-free Pedialyte)......eat something...cry hysterically because Mommy wouldn't give her more food or Pedialyte)...throw up because of being hysterical...repeat cycle... She just wanted to suck down the water like a marathon runner in the Houston heat, but her stomach wasn't accepting it.

I noted last week that deciding to put Lucky to sleep was one of the most painful things I had to do. I can now officially rank that at #2. Number 1 is apparently HAVING to deny your starving child food because too much at once will cause her to throw up again. I cried while she would whine for something to eat. It was gut wrenching. I'm not using "starving" lightly either...for example, her entire diet on Wednesday was about 3 tablespoons of oatmeal, a third of a waffle and four Wheat Thins...all of which went right through her in one direction or another.

This morning our day started at just before 3 AM. She and Papa Duck have been camped out on the floor since then watching every Baby Einstein we own...over and over. She's now sipping water and nibbling Kix. We're keeping our fingers crossed that we're coming into the homestrech.

It's sunny here today and the snow has finally melted. It seems like a good day for the Duckling to start feeling a bit better.

Here's my unsolicited tip to all you Moms of really little ones out there...every now and then slipping your kiddo some juice or Gatorade when they are healthy will make giving them Pedialyte/Gatorade easier when they need it. I THOUGHT I was being a good Mommy by only allowing her to drink water and milk (you know they're healthy, fruit juices are typically loaded with sugar and I didn't want her to get a taste and refuse the healthy stuff), but now we can't give her either per doctor's orders. Water offers no nutrients for replenishment and the milk is irritating to her tummy (we tried lactose-free two days ago and that started the puking over again).