Aisling and Rotavirus

Yep - the rotavirus has settled into our home. Devlin was a little under the weather last week. A bit pukey and a touch of fever. But he was back to normal within 12 hours. Didn't think much of it. Then Daddy was under the weather for 12 hours. Again, shrugged it off.


Until 4am early Thursday morning. Aisling was vomiting. At first, I thought maybe she had too many chips the night while watching Team Canada battle Russia on the hockey rink. But after changing the sheets and the pyjamas, she threw up again. Another changing of the sheets and pjs, including mommy's, settle into bed again. And then the tummy erupted again. And again, and again. Every 15 minutes. We went through lots of shirts, sheets and towels. The washing machine was in constant use. Poor Aisling was exhausted. Her head would drop back into the vomit as she had no strength to roll over. A trip to the doctor indicated rotavirus. No milk, just clear fluids, toast, bananas, apples and rice. None of which Aisling wanted.



Late Thursday night, the vomiting stopped. Only to be replaced by explosive diarrhea. Another concern was dehydration. Halfway through Friday, Aisling started whimpering in pain. Bloated tummy full of gas. No amount of tummy rubbing would help. Another trip to doctor. Another explosion of poop all over the doc's examination table. Another warning about watching for the signs of dehydration. The doctor provided us with her pager number in case we needed to head to the hospital. Back home, Aisling fell into an exhausted sleep. She cried for milk, and used her remaining strength to toss away the bottles the gatorade and pedialyte. Rice porridge was met with disdain. Banana got one tiny nibble. She settled for one half of a Baby Mum Mum and some water.



Saturday she finally started to show some spark. Toast was accepted. Rice was gobbled up. She settled herself into either Daddy's lap or Mommy's arms and didn't want to be moved. Her face looked tiny - evidence of past few days' events. There was finally a wet diaper. Still, her lack of energy was worrisome.



It's now day 4. Devlin and Ceilidh are fed up with the extra attention Aisling has been getting. They're becoming more rambunctious by the second. Although she looked perkier this morning, Aisling is fading fast. She's had two long naps, nibbled on tiny tiny bites of pancake and a sip of soup. One cup of milk (since she hadn't had diarrhea in 24 hours) resulted in disaster. Yep - more loose stools, and more stained laundry. At least, she can tell us when she's pooped. So, again she's been cut off from milk, and again, she's spending almost every waking moment in someone's arms.