Moms rock

Sofia's official diagnosis was rotoviral gastroenteritis.  That's fancy doctor-speak for horrible terrible stomach bug caused by rotovirus.  It causes vomiting and diarrhea, lasts longer than 24 hours and can land you in the hospital.  It is not to be confused with norovirus, which will knock your ass out, but usually only for one day.  

Sofia got both of these viruses, poor kid.  

It started with general fussiness.  The vomiting came soon after, accompanied by extreme sleepiness and lethargy when awake.  About 12 hours after the vomiting started, the diarrhea came.  We went to the doctor at 10am, and they said she wasn't dehydrated.  By 9pm that night, she had become dangerously dehydrated, even though she was still producing tears, her skin wasn't dry and papery and her cheeks never got flushed.  She also never ran a fever over 100 degrees.

I'm telling you all of this just in case it happens to you.  This was one of the scariest times of my life and if any information I can give will get you to the doctor just a couple hours sooner, that works for me.  Having a kid in the hospital, no matter how old they are, is pretty much the worst thing ever.

However, we made it through and Sofia is back to normal.

When they admitted Sofia to the hospital, we obviously didn't know how long we were going to have to stay.  I figured an overnight stay would be enough to fix whatever was wrong and we'd be on our way.  And since we were in isolation, I spent a lot of time taking pictures and updating Facebook.  I really can't even hate on Facebook anymore - yeah, there's drama and people get stupid way too often, but it was my lifeline while we were in the hospital.  I posted pictures and updates and having people comment that they were thinking of us really kept me going.

I'm in a couple of moms groups here and I've become good friends with a couple of moms and very casual acquaintances with others.  Reading is a small-ish city so there's lots of overlap, so you'll see the same moms dropping their kids off at mom's morning out and going to swim lessons and playdates.  I'm still the new kid, so I smile and nod and try to make small talk when I'm at the playdates.

Since I'm new in town, I certainly wasn't expecting any visitors while we were in the hospital.  So I nearly fell out of my chair when a mom who barely knew me sent me a text message that she wanted to come by with a care package for us.  Our daughters go to mom's morning out on the same day, so we smile and say hello as we pick up our kids.  I'd been to her house for playdates a couple of times but there was always a ton of people there, so it's not like we became BFFs or anything.

I teared up and thanked her like crazy for even thinking of us, saying to please not go out of her way but yes please, come on up.  I honestly didn't mind being in isolation because it was like a little cocoon for Sofia and me.  No dog to walk, no house to clean, no cooking.  I was able to focus my entire being on my daughter and it was kind of nice.  Minus the part where we were in a hospital because she was so sick, of course.  And I wished there were snacks because I couldn't exactly leave and grab something from the cafeteria when I had the munchies.

And once Sofia started feeling better and started climbing the walls, it stopped being sweet and fun.  At one point she pulled the IV pole with her arm, disconnected the tube from the bag and separated the two parts of the machine itself.  Alarms were going off, her fluids were spraying everywhere and she was like "What happened, Mommy?"  "Baby, your IV came apart.  You can't get that far from your machine." "Oh. I so sorry."  And then she tried to pull it out of her arm.  Good thing I just colored my hair because I got a ton more grays last week.

That section on the right where the tube is?

It comes off the main part if you pull hard enough.  

Or if you have a determined toddler on the other end of the tube and the wheel

of the pole gets stuck on a chair leg, and you're not quicker than said 

determined toddler.

The chick wanted to go walking and she was going with or without me!

But anyway, this mom who I'd said maybe twenty words to since we met just a handful of months ago?  She left her two kids and her life to come see us in the hospital at dinnertime to bring Sofia a puzzle, some stickers and crayons and a fuzzy flower.  

This flower is getting a place of honor in the playroom.

She even brought me some dried fruit and nuts which was a lifesaver!  We chatted for longer than we ever have and I got all teary-eyed when I thanked her over and over again for taking time out of her life to do such a kind deed.  People have done nice things for me before, but never a near stranger.  And to leave her kids at dinnertime to come see us?  No lie, I rarely leave my house after 5:30 because evenings are just too hectic and if the nighttime routine gets thrown off by even a few minutes, there's always hell to pay.  So when she walked in at 6:45, I was literally in awe.

Not to mention the other friends that sent along flowers and another stuffed animal for Sofia.

This is Sofia's friend Gracie.

They were having a girls lunch.

Y'all already know Carter.

When I told her the flowers and puppy were from Gracie and Carter, she 

was like "See Gracie?  See Carter?"

Sofia loves her some Gracie and Carter.

I was so humbled at the outpouring of love for my baby.  When you have a sick kid, the moms of the world just mobilize.  Even if it's just to say a prayer for you, it happens and you can feel it.  There's this unity, this camaraderie that transcends whatever level of friendship you happen to have.  It's a really cool part of being a mom and I hadn't experienced that until this point.  Hopefully, we won't have another hospital stay for a very long time and hopefully I too can mobilize when I get the call.

Being a mom is hard work with nearly no time off.  As Sofia gets older, I get tested more frequently and it's trickier each day to remain one step ahead of her.

But also?  I've never been prouder to be a part of such an elite and awesome group.  

It's pretty much the best thing ever.