Sick Days

Well, I've learned quite a lot this past week. I've learned that I truly LOVE white vinegar! I've been using it for fabric softener for years but I didn't know until St. Patty's Day that it's also a wonderful clean up tool for barf. A fact which came in super handy this week.

I also learned that BRAT stands for Bananas, Rice (or rice cereal), Applesauce and Toast. Which are the foods you should eat when you have diarrhea.

I've learned that I really can clean up gigantic consecutive messes for a day and a half without getting sick, but that the final 1/2 day that would get me to the end of the illness... well... lets just say that's my breaking point.

I've also learned that although I can loose 5 pounds in 1 day it's totally not a fun/good way to go about it.

We also were introduced to a new "family high" (or not) ie. Two girls arfing at once while Hubs was "occupied" on the toilet yelling "Woo hoo! Family High!" Hey, at least we can still have a sense of humor about these things...

Things that really helped:

Ice Chips - There's a reason why they push these at the hospital. I didn't start using these till day 2 at our house and I really wish I had talked to my mom sooner since she's the one who suggested it. Day 2 pretty much consisted of Ziva begging for fluids, and yet each time she'd chug a sippy full it would immediately come back up. So I had the terrible task of taking drinks away from her after a few sips, which would throw her into a tailspin of tears and screams... it was horrible. Once I switched to ice chips things totally turned around for her! I could give her as much as she wanted because the nature of the ice is that it takes the body longer to process it and therefore is more likely to stay down. Hallelujah! I found that my food processor was the best thing to use to make the chips. You can also add a dash of juice to make it flavorful if you like.

White Vinegar - I'll say it again, dilute it with water and use it to clean up messes. The vinegar neutralizes odors. Which is why it works so great as a fabric softener. Try it, you'll never go back to that nasty perfumed stuff again.

Jello - It's sweet, it's pretty, it's primarily liquid. Use it, serve it for breakfast, thank me later.

Rice Cereal/Applesauce - Remember how you only gave rice cereal to your 6 month old for a week at most because it plugged him/her up so bad? Well, that little trick might come in handy now! I mixed the cereal up with about equal parts applesauce and fed it to the girls. They loved it, and it works.

Pedialyte - This is good stuff... but by day 4 just the smell of it would make me wanna loose my lunch. Another alternative to get in those electrolytes is Propel Fitness Water. Or if you're an adult, you might also like Gatorade. It has a time and a place, this is one of those times/places.

Cream of Wheat - It's bland, easy to digest, go for it. Get the flavored kind if you need to.

Carrots - They replace minerals that you've spent the last day(s) expelling. For little ones, combine 1 jar of carrot puree with 1 jar of water to make carrot soup. Adults, well, you can eat the "carrot soup" if you like... but instead I drank some V8 Fusion and called it good.

So how are we doing now? Well, I've had 1.5 barf free days (ie. no messes from anyone). We're all still crabby, queezy, and weak feeling. So the worst is certainly over. I plan to sterilize the living room today. Wish me luck.