Update: Keira has a bad Urinary Tract Infection. She is on a 10 day course of antibiotics and then must go have an ultrasound. Naturally, as I have gone and googled “Urinary Tract Infection”, I have found all sorts of nasty possibilities and outcomes that have made me wish I didn’t do so much research sometimes…
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Keira rests in my arms, limp from fever and tiredness. Her eyes droop as she sucks her thumb; indifferent to the aquarium her brother is now standing before, pointing excitedly: “Fish! Fish!” Normally the fish are her favourite part of a doctor’s visit.
Suddenly she sits up. “Potty!”
We rush; I drag Riley in too, and shut ourselves in the cramped toilet. She begins to cry, her throat starts to turkey-gobble, and I groan, “Oh no, not here.”
Bile, thick and yellow, erupts from her mouth; over her clothes, the floor, and my shoes. The air immediately curdles with the smell and I, as if by reflex, begin to sob as well. If there is one thing I have never been able to stand – in my soul, it hurts – it’s the sight of a child vomiting. I grab towels and hunt Riley away from the mess he wants to play in. The job is too big to do alone, so I open the door and cry desperately, “Can I please get a hand, somebody?”
Mercifully, a nurse comes quickly to my side. “Had a hard night, right?” she asks, putting a hand on my shoulder as I sob. “Come on,” she whispers, and I take that to mean, ‘pull yourself together for your girl.’
Together we strip Keira down and wrap her blanket around her toga-style because I forgot to bring her spare clothes. Like I forgot to bring a spare nappy, which Riley, I suddenly realise, is in dire need of.
We come out of the toilet to the sympathetic looks of the other waiting patients.
All except one:
The woman, sitting with her eyes fixed on a copy of What to Expect When You’re Expecting, her posture plainly saying, “I’m not going to look at you because I don’t want to know about this part of parenting yet.”
So I deliberately avoided her gaze too, my way of saying, “I don’t blame you.”
Diagnosis? UTI? Pneumonia? Gastro? Virus? Doctor can’t tell until we get some results back. How very reassuring. The only thing more frustrating than “We don’t know what’s wrong” is “Anything could be wrong…”
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
That was tough. It’s part of being a parent.
The Enterprise Christmas Party is now running!
Yup, I feel for you. It’s definitely the not knowing that’s the worst.
Hoping for a speedy recovery.
Best wishes
Oh you poor thing. Poor Keira too. Mind you as I read it, I did think ‘Thank god it wasn’t in the waiting room.’ If she was going to throw up then the bathroom was the perfect place… (Talk about looking for silver linings….) When do the results come back?
My best going out to you and the kids, and hoping all of this passes quickly. And with less vomiting.
I’ve been there. Don’t give a second thought to what everyone else is thinking, they’ve all been there, too.
And that pregnant lady was probably didn’t want to catch a bug because she was just concerned about her own health and the health of her baby.
Try to get some rest and I hope your daughter feels better soon.
T – This afternoon, supposedly.
Neena – Fair point, I didn’t consider that actually. I wasn’t angry at her reaction or anything. Just…. understanding, I guess.
Oh dear, I hope Keira gets well soon. Poor her and poor you! Yes, and I don’t blame the pregnant woman for not wanting to know about this side of parenting yet. There’s plenty of time to learn.
I’d be the lady who didn’t look – and not because I didn’t want to accept that part of parenting. I wouldn’t be looking because you’ve already had a hard enough time without being made into a freak show, with all eyes on you as you emerge from the bathroom. I hope Keira is feeling better.
Hi there, first time poster im an Aussie Dad to be. We are still waiting for our first arrival but I must tell you about when i was working in disabilities. There was a young autistic boy i looked after quite a bit and you could not keep your eyes off him. One visit he snuck in to the kitchen and must have eaten about 8 oranges, with the skins. I know this because later while he was watching Thomas he suddenly went on his hands and knees, and while backing up he began to throw up a perfect line of orange mulch. It went for about a metre before he stopped. That was a fun clean up on carpet i can tell you.
Oh dear poor poor Keira and poor poor you. What a time you must be having.
Hopefully the antibiotics kick in soon and she gets back to normal for you.
Oh babe. That is terrible for all of you. Isn’t it typical though, if you had packed clothes, wet face washers etc etc you wouldn’t need them.
Sending calming healing vibes for Keira and cyber wine.
Oh, the poor babe. I’m sure all you wanted to do was wrap her in the blanket and hold her until she felt better. I want to rush over there and help, and I’m continents away. Hug the poor baby and put a cool cloth on her from all of us….
Thanks, thanks all, old friends and new ones
Sending Hugs!!!
Oh I am feeling for you right now.
Sending lots of get well vibes for your baby girl and lots of love your way. Hoping you get a better night and that things are a little brighter in the morning.
Sending good wishes for health and peace from Kentucky, USA. Hope everyone is feeling better. One of the reasons I waited so long to have kids is that I just can’t abide barf. I am phobic about it. So far we’ve been pretty lucky on that score. My kids don’t barf nearly as much as all my nieces and nephews, knock on wood. I would have been the pregnant lady though, mostly because I would have been afraid I would start throwing up too (which I did the whole time I was pregnant anyway).