Three strikes, yerout!

Last Monday it was time for Braeden's 5 month innoculations. I was dreading them, but needs must etc etc so we trotted off in smiling trepidation. Dr David was again delighted with Braeden's progress and reminded me that he's going to be an early walker. He was astounded to see that baby sits completely under his own balance, and can do so for a very long period of time, happily playing with his toys/toes while simultaneously carrying on an energetic discourse about all manner of things important to a five month old.

The shots were quick, and despite not being on the boob any more we coped with the "waaaah Mum!" panic by having a dummy ready with a little teething gel smeared on it. (Dummy for comfort sucking, the gel for a "hey what's that?" sensation to take his mind off his troubles. The tricks you learn, LOL!)

The aftermath failed to appear. Braeden did not become feverish, fussy, lethargic or sleepless. In fact he pretty much carried on as if nothing had happened.

WOOHOO!

We didn't get off as light as we thought, however.

I was hit hard at 2am on Wednesday morning with what felt like food poisoning, (almost exactly six hours after having left overs for dinner) and the following six hours were hellish.

Wayne kept Braeden at the other end of the house, while I staggered back and forth in the Bermuda triangle (bed, loo, shower) so many times that I think I wore new grooves in the floor.

I felt a lot better by that night, and by the next day the only real leftover (sorry) was raging hunger and feeling more than a little washed out.

So that afternoon (swearing, after all that it was food poisoning as the rest of the household were fine and NO ONE gets over such a savage virus in less than 24 hours), Braeden & I toddled off to Mum & Baby group. I'm not into touchy sharing anyway, and so I had no physical contact with anyone, but we did sit in the same room.

That night Wayne started presenting with symptoms, and a few hours later, so did Bubs. Shiiiiiittt...

Brae was happy enough in himself, just spectacularly upchucky. Ever seen a baby vomit for more than a yard without pausing once in his yabbery play? It was like I had the mini Exorcist gurgling on my playmat (but way cuter).

Back to the Doc's, where we discovered we had the Norovirus. Yep that strain (or in the family thereof) that closed down those wards at Chch Public last year when Mum was in there. Oh goodie!

And we'd seen just about every one of Braeden's grandparents in that time and I'd been to Mother & Baby group. Oh no...

Frantic phone messages left everywhere, apologising & alerting and then apologising again for good measure. If I see a noose & hangman when I walk into the next M&B group on Thursday, I'll understand. I'd be ropable if someone knowingly exposed my kid to this.

So far though, it seems we might have contained it. I truly hope so.

We're all on the upside now, and everyone feels much better (and lighter.. I lost three kilos in less than a day, despite drinking five litres of water). I discovered that our son is clearly made of healthier stuff than his parents, as he recovered in a fraction of the time we did, and really only had a couple of hours of moderate unhappiness where he felt most reassured sleeping in my arms and waking occasionally to have a good moan about the inconvenience of it all.

Guess what else is also doing the rounds... Hepatitis B. At least Braeden's had his full quota of immunisation for this, but naturally his parents haven't. Pretty sure we didn't catch that though ;-)