Do you know how horrible it is to have to hold your 5.5-month-old child in your arms while they throw up? To see the look of confusion and upset in their eyes and on their face, as they stare at you wondering why you aren't stopping whatever is happening them. To feel their little body tense up each time they get sick, their little hands clenching and their face turning red. Horrible...absolutely horrible.
I had to go through that with Liam when he was only a little over 4 months old, but time has dulled the emotions of that experience. Last night, it was all fresh again as Maia got sick repeatedly. Not sure what caused it, but she didn't have a fever and it was over in a few hours, so most likely it was something she ate. Her last bottle before I came home from work was one of formula, because we had run out of the pumped breastmilk. Though she had had formula the first week I returned to work in mid-August, she hadn't had any since then. And even though the formula cannister was sealed, perhaps it went bad somehow. The nurse said that formula keeps for a while, but the can does say to discard one month after opening, and it had first been opened at the very end of April. So, maybe that's what did it. I just know that I was completely surprised when I picked up a cranky Maia as soon as I got home and she greeted me by throwing up ALL over me. And then she proceeded to throw up about 7 more times throughout the course of the evening, with the last few times bringing up very little, as she wasn't eating anything I offered her.
But by 9pm (3 hours later), she suddenly was feeling a lot better...playing with her feet and hands, talking and cooing, and smiling, and indicating that she wanted to eat. I was supposed to feed her for only 5 minutes and then wait 30 minutes to try again, but she was NOT happy with that. I ended up feeding her only 20 minutes apart, and giving her almost 10 minutes the second time. And then she fed for a while right before we went to bed, around 11pm. And this morning she was REALLY happy and REALLY REALLY hungry. All better.
But man...I really hope it's a while before she gets sick again. I HATED how much it upset her, and knowing what she was feeling without being able to explain it to her at all. Unfortunately, at some point she will go to daycare (whenever fate finally finds a job for my husband again), and I am sure she will get sick at least a few times in the beginning, as she builds up her immune system. *sigh*
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