Boo HOO, to YOU, Mr. FLU

Sweet JJ has been on the injured reserved with the stomach flu since Saturday. Here is how the past few days have gone:

Me: Do you want a cracker?
JJ (responding lethargically from the couch): No.
Me: Water?
JJ: No.
Me: Popsicle?
JJ: No.
Jake: You want a kiss?
JJ: No.
Jake (trying to get him to laugh): You want to wrestle?
JJ: No.
Jake: Do you want us to stop asking you questions?
JJ: Yes. (he really did say this)

Sometime later…

JJ: Mommy…..poo!
We head to the bathroom and JJ orders me out! A few minutes later…
JJ: Mommy, done.
Oh goody, time to tidy up.

Sometime later….
JJ: (coughing) OH NO…(crying and grabbing tongue)
Time for the bucket! I grab it just in time.

And, so the days went. This afternoon I called the nurse at the doctor’s office to make sure I shouldn’t bring him in, and to see if she had any tips for me to make sure he was getting enough fluids. It is so hard to monitor this when it is constantly, as they say, coming out both ends, and today he was refusing to ingest anything cause he figured out what happens when he does. The nurse had some great tips…some I hadn’t heard before:

-When it is to the point where they can’t keep anything in their stomach, try only giving 1 TEASPOON of water, every 15 minutes. Once they can tolerate this for about an hour, move it up to 1 oz. of water every 15 minutes. (I was definitely not doing this….I kept trying to get JJ to take 5-10 swigs from the water bottle at a time, because I wasn’t sure when he would next be able to lift his head for a drink….and then a short time later it would come ‘up’)

-Once they are tolerating water, move up to other clear-ish fluids or juices such as sprite, apple juice, things like that. Steer clear of acidy juices, or dark juices. (This tip put my popsicle remedy down the drain, which is why before knowing this, I had JJ really try hard to eat a popsicle and it was ‘up’ about 5 minutes later). This is also a good time to introduce broth & jello, either in liquid or solid form. She did say not to use sugar-free jello cause they need to replace the sugars that have been lost from their body.

-Lastly, move them to the BRAT diet once they are tolerating the above things. Thank goodness this doesn’t mean to give them bratwursts. BRAT stands for bananas, rice, applesauce, toast.

-The nurse also said that within reason, if JJ was craving something, to let him have it, because the craving is usually the sign that the body needs it. About 4pm this afternoon he all of a sudden popped his head up and said he wanted some yogurt. I cringed because I knew this was probably the last thing that his stomach would be able to tolerate. But, since he hadn’t eaten all day, I let him eat it, and he ate the whole thing. And, it stayed down!

There you have it. All you ever wanted to know, and didn’t want to know about the stomach flu. BTW- JJ is finally starting to turn the corner and feel better. I knew we were on the up side when I peeked my head into our bedroom where he was laying to see if he needed anything. He said “Shhhh, Bob, sssssss” which meant that I needed to be quiet because Bob the Builder on his movie was sleeping.

I hope none of you will ever have to utilize these flu tips.

Sick boy.

Snugglin with daddy makes it better.