Gastroenteritis a.k.a. Stomach Flu a.k.a. (enter swear words here).

Yesterday was a hellish day for me....I'll go back a bit. On Dec 27th, I was feeling grumpy and lethargic. Michael wasn't feeling so hot himself as he was getting over some mild food poisioning(or so we thought-turns out that he had the stomach flu too, but it was going down, not up).

Anyway, I woke up in the middle of the night of the 28th feeling nauseous and paid a visit to the porcelain god...there went the lasagna. Ok, I thought that was it and went to bed. I woke up again and returned to the porcelain god....and again....and again....by 9am, I couldn't take it anymore and begged Michael to take me to the hospital. Got there at 10am, and got ready to wait. Not too many people around, should take, what? 2 hours?

3 or 4 hours later(1-2 pm), I ask where I am in line. 3 people. Okay, shouldn't be too much longer, right?

6.5 hours later(4:30pm), I ask where I am in line. 2-3 people. WTF? I saw people with kids come in and be seen right away. I understand that; I have a child and would cut off my hand if it meant that she could cut the line ahead of someone else with a runny nose. But, my baby happens to be -5 weeks old. I'm 2 people, and haven't had any liquids all, and concerned for her more than myself. Needless to day, I started bawling in front of the nurse and went back to my seat. I called Michael and went on a rant. He suggested drinking a lot of water so I would start to throw up again, but this time to aim for the floor. That made me cry more as it hurt so much the last time. 5 minutes later, the nurse calls me in to see what she can do for me in the meantime. Got some Pedialyte with apple juice and instructions on how to drink it.

7.5 hours later (5:30pm), I see the doctor. No IV to replace the fluids, even though I insisted. Seriously, if you're told to drink 1 ounce (30ml) every 15 minutes, how the heck am I supposed to replace 2 litres of liquids that I'm supposed to drink every day? And why are they talking to me like I should already know what to do?

8.5 hours later (6:30), I follow up at the nurse's station. No vomiting(which means no IV, but I am so sick of looking at the walls of the waiting room, I don't care anymore), so can I please check out?

9 hours later (7pm), Michael pulls up and I get to go home!

I'm feeling much better this morning, but anything's got to be better than what I went through yesterday!

Moral of the story? Don't kiss your husband when he is sick!

PS-The people that helped me were great; it must not be fun to be understaffed and overworked and have to deal with people like me all day. I did say my pleases and thank yous and was appreciative when they helped.

I am tired and feeling quite lazy.

Here's the nutshell:
My grandmother passed away on Nov 28th, which had caught the family off guard, but I suppose it's like anyone passing away. You know it will happen one day, but you are still surprised. I headed down to Trinidad with my mom and Jillian for about 2 weeks to go to the funeral and catch up with family. Michael had to wrap stuff up with teaching, and he'd be away from his class for too long, or only end up being in Trinidad for a day or 2, which is not fun either.

Flying with a toddler(and being too cheap to pay for an actual seat for her because it's $750 less than your own ticket) *and* being 31-33 weeks pregnant was draining. Thank goodness mom was there to help me out when I got too stressed.

The funeral was wonderful(odd comment, I know); the priest knew my grandmother well, and had a touching ceremony. I saw most of my family members, even the few that I didn't care for too much, but we put our feelings aside that day, then I didn't have to see them again.

We spent a wonderful day with friends at their beach house, and Jillian had a fantastic time at my Uncle Yves and Aunt Phina; they have a large fenced in yard, so I didn't stop her from running around to her heart's content. We figure that she clocked in 5 miles or so from running around. If she was fully grown, it would have probably been the equivalent of a marathon! ;)

I think most of my crabbiness was pregnancy related, but I was able to talk to Michael daily which helped a lot.

Jillian didn't care for the heat too much; she was starting to adjust at the end, though. I think that she didn't like that it was so hot and that a lot of people kept coming up to her and trying to hold her. Too much stimulation, I suppose. Thank goodness for air conditioning in the bedroom! Then she didn't feel like eating much because of the heat, and to be honest, I was feeling the same way. She also managed to catch a cold during the second week, which I managed to get a few days later, just in time for the flight home.

OK, I need to write down what I am grateful for:
-I have a wonderful husband who made sure that I came back to a clean home.
-My mom, who would do anything for me.
-I have a healthy and active daughter who makes me happy by just being around.
-I am able to be pregnant with our second daughter (who shall remain nameless till she decides to show up). I love that I can feel the baby kicking...it's our little secret.
-I am able to spend some time at home before the baby shows up.
-I found a sweater in my closet today that I can wear for Christmas...it's holiday-ish, and it fits!
-The new IKEA catalogue, which I enjoy looking at, plus it's FREE!
-That I don't have to shovel the snow this year

Give it a try...you might be surprised how many things that you are thankful for!