How to Survive a Stomach Bug & Hospitalization

A few weeks ago I wrote about Finn being hospitalized for a stomach bug. Guess what happened the very next week? Yep. Another stomach bug. Seriously?! How does one poor kid get two stomach bugs one week apart? At least this time we were able to keep him out of the hospital, but don't worry...Maggie caught it a few days later and Grant and I are currently dealing with what we think is a less severe grown-up version. Thanks so much, stomach bug.

Here's Finn, passed out on Grant during the second stomach bug. He was so sweet sleeping there and when I walked in both of them may have been snoring.
I was thinking about some of the things we do when one of the children has a stomach bug or we're on our way to the hospital and I thought some of it might be helpful or at least interesting, so I'm going to write about it.

Dealing with a stomach bug:
If Maggie comes down with one and we're trying to keep her from passing it on to Finn we put a sheet over my bed (to protect us from getting her germs) and plop her in there with a big mixing bowl, a few of her pillows and washable lovies, and my laptop. I pull up Netflix Instant Watch and basically let her hang out there all day watching movies and napping as she needs to. If we had a TV in our room I'd just put movies on there but we don't (nor do I want one, but that's a different post). A couple of times through the day I go through with a Clorox-ed rag and wipe down door knobs, refrigerator doors, tops/backs of chairs, etc. It's hard to keep Finn out of my room because he wants to be wherever she is, but I try my best. We wash our hands until they are raw (obviously we don't always do a good enough job, as you can see we are all recovering from the bug - but I have been successful several times at isolating the bug in just one person).

If Finn gets it first we just wash our hands a million times and pray. Seriously. It's way too hard to keep him in one room, plus, of the four stomach bugs he's had in his life, he's been in the hospital for two of them.

Now, you know the BRAT diet they recommend for stomach bugs? If you don't it's just bland foods - Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, and Toast (white bread). Well, I don't know about you but I never buy or use white bread. The other things I'm likely to have on hand. So what I do is buy a loaf of white bread and keep it in the freezer with the date on it in Sharpie and it can keep for six months in there. We don't typically use it all in one stomach bug and that way I will have it on hand and can just thaw it in case of a stomach bug. I also always have PediaLyte (oral rehydration solution) on hand. They now make it in little packets of powder you can just add to a water bottle or sippy cup. Handy!

I realize some of this is pretty basic but I know for sure there are a couple of people who read this blog who just have one little baby and maybe some of this will come in handy for them.

Now on to the hospitalization:
This likely will not be useful information for anyone, but I thought I'd give you a glimpse into life as Finn's parents.
The times we've had to go to the hospital it hasn't been a life-or-death emergency where minutes count (except for when he was five days old), but it has been a get-there-as-soon-as-possible scenario. So we're rushing around trying to get everything packed and inevitably we forget something. After this last hospitalization I told myself (and Grant), "Look. We're probably going to have to deal with 2 or more hospitalizations a year. We might as well be prepared for them." In the immortal words of Zeke Braverman Grant said, "I see you and I hear you" and agreed with me. So we have a little bag with some things in it and a check list for things we can't just pack away in a bag indefinitely.
Here's what the bag contains:

• granola bars (There's NO food available in the ER so to get food either I have to take something which means dragging the girls into the germ-y ER, or Grant has to leave Finn alone in the hospital room, which is not something we're comfortable with.)

• spare pajamas for Finn

• a few books and toys for Finn

• a plastic grocery bag -for containing any messes made en route, like paper towels used to clean up you-know-what

Here's what's on the list of things to grab before we go to the hospital:

• phone charger
• change of clothes for whichever parent is going
• a towel to put across the front of Finn in the car seat, in case of vomiting, and to use to clean up afterwards
• a book or magazine for the adult
• Finn's special medical formula and medicines
  

Obviously we always have his insurance card with us but they have it on file at Vanderbilt anyway! Unfortunately we know our way around that place.

So there you have it. Now that I've posted this I sure hope we won't be needing these things or this information for a looooong time! Stay healthy!