Sheer exhaustion

The past 24 hours have been insane. I am completely exhausted.

Here's the short version of what has been going on...

Last night at around 7:15, Olivia started getting sick. She was vomiting every 20 minutes...so we called the after-hours for our pediatrician. By 9:30 she was still vomiting, so the nurse said we should take her to the ER for evaluation.

We did. They gave her half of a Zofran (anti-nausea medication) and told us to give her clear liquids, blah blah blah. They didn't seem too concerned. Oh, it's just a stomach bug. She'll be OK.

We came home - it was 12:30 a.m. Olivia was up all night - restless, crying, miserable. We were up almost all night with her. By this morning she seemed to be doing a bit better. She was drinking a little water (which the doctor said was OK), she ate a little plain applesauce. Then she started with the throwing up. Again. And she stopped drinking anything. Refused ice chips, Gatorade, Pedialyte, popsicles.

By 2 p.m. it was obvious she was getting dehydrated. The after-hours nurse finally called us back -- 3 hours after I called her - and said take her back to the ER, she needs fluids.

[Yeah, DUH. I could have told her that at 1 p.m. when I first called the nurse. Why is it that doctor's can't work on weekends? Are kids just not supposed to get sick on Saturdays and Sundays?].

So, once again we went back to the ER, where Olivia proceeded to throw up on the ER pediatrician (I so loved that one).

The doc says she has the stomach flu. I think she's having a reaction to her flu shot that she received on Friday morning. She was perfectly fine all day Friday and yesterday until last night. But I'm not a doctor, I'm just a mommy.

Olivia was such a trooper though in the ER. She didn't even flinch when the nurse put the IV needle in her hand. I think it was due mostly to sheer exhaustion, but still....I was so proud of her bravery. (Especially considering my general fear of needles). We finally got home tonight at 9 p.m. - after more than 4 hours in the ER. We could have elected to keep her in the hospital overnight, but Kevin and I decided she'd be happier in her own bed.

And so now it's almost 11 p.m. and I think I've had about 5 hours of sleep since last night. That might be stretching it a bit. I am drained and exhausted and am going to bed. We are hoping that our princess will sleep through the night and start feeling better tomorrow. I will post more when I am less tired.