Sunday, March 23, 2008

Easter Eggs

Not quite the Easter Karen and I were hoping for (though it started off well on Good Friday with an impromptu visit to Legoland Windsor - it was for the kids, honestly)...

Tom is ill. He came down with a horrible stomach virus yesterday morning and spent the entire day either asleep or crying with painful gut cramps. It's heartbreaking not being able to do anything for him except administer Calpol and cuddles as and when necessary. Karen managed to get an emergency appointment with a doctor at the local hospital yesterday evening and he confirmed it was just a virus - a particularly nasty one - but nothing to worry about. That's something at least.

We got Tom into bed as soon as we got home and he had a fitful night - hence Karen and I didn't get as much sleep as we would have liked either. He's better today but still very pale, tired and fractious but at least he's taking more of an interest in the world around him again - yesterday he didn't want to know anyone or anything. It was really very upsetting.

So the Easter eggs have been broken out belatedly this morning - Ben is happy at least as he's had a visit from not only the Easter bunny but also the tooth fairy as his first tooth fell out in the night. I'm tempted to tell him that the chocolate is making his teeth fall out and he'd be better off giving it to me but I don't think he'll fall for it somehow...

Hope the rest of you are having a lovely, stomach cramp free Easter with a full set of gnashers!

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh dear, poor Tom and poor parents. I suppose at least he was ill when you didn't have to get up to go work and when you are both around to take care of him.

Congrats to Ben on losing his first tooth. No sign of my Joe losing any yet.

We've had snow here so the boys are very excited and did their egg hunt in a blizzard. I now have a house full of wet clothes! They are now nagging me to go sledging!

Happy Easter, Steve. Little children always bounce back from illness really quickly so I'm sure Tom will be full of beans (and chocolate) again soon.

-eve- said...

> I'm tempted to tell him that the chocolate is making his teeth fall out and he'd be better off giving it to me but I don't think he'll fall for it somehow...
Hehehe, that's funny!

I'm sure Ben will be as right as rain in a few days; these viruses usually cause you to be sick from about 3 days to a week, so be prepared! :-)

Steve said...

Hi Gina, we woke up to a white world too though sadly by 9.30am it had all entirely disappeared - back to grey, overcast skies again now! Tom's still very gripey today; he's cried more in the last 2 days than he has in his entire 5 months on this planet! He's lost a little weight too but thankfully is still feeding. He's not right but is showing signs of picking up. Happy Easter to you too, Gina!

Eve, I think a few days may well be right - I'm just finding it very exhausting and completely distracting. I can't really concentrate on anything else at the moment!

The Sagittarian said...

Aw gawd, the illness virus crap. I rmemebr a mate telling me the best day in his life was when his kids copuld tell him what was wrong. I yawned. Now, 13mumble years later I know what he means and am really sorry for you!!
Gappy easter!!

Steve said...

Amanda, you've hit the nail right on the head there... part of the problem is trying to figure out exactly what is wrong: it is his gums/teeth? Is it a full nappy? Is he too hot? Too cold? Hungry? Poorly? When he can actually say "poorly tummy" I'll be very relieved!

Old Cheeser said...

Poor Tom, glad he's on the mend now though. Of course it's hard to pinpoint when your child isn't capable of speech...

Just got back from spending a few days in York with the family which was nice. Got to see my two and a half year old niece who is soooo cute and was lavished with Easter eggs! It's such fun when you're a kiddie isn't it? Mind you, my Mum got me a Dr Who Easter egg so perhaps I haven't quite grown up yet...

Et vous Stevenage? In spite of your sensible thoughts on choccie leading to tooth decay, did the Easter bunny bring you anything?

Steve said...

Hi OC, glad to hear you had a great time in York - it's one of my favourite cities and the destination of many family holidays when I was younger... great food, impressive walls and Dick Turpin's grave: marvellous!

The Easter Bunny did indeed include me in her chocolatey bounty this year - a posh egg from Thorntons and a lovely "cheapo" Cadbury's egg which, let's face it, is the best chocolate in the world!

Tom is much better though his poo is still very runny and too frequent (thought I'd share that with you) so we may end up taking him back to the doctors in a day or two if it persists... he's lost a little bit of weight too which is sad, however, he's guzzling great guns to make up for it so hopefully he'll start bulking up a bit again soon. We're all rather preoccupied with Tom at the mo' so it's not quite been the relaxing holiday we were all hoping for though I suspect Tom is enjoying the attention!

drevetailimin said...

Tom is much better though his poo is still very runny and too frequent (thought I'd share that with you)

Eves poo is also runny , and she still managed to force down dinner.

Inchy said...

Ah, the old stomach virus. All I can say is that, more than most, I SOOOOO know what he's going through right now!

Steve said...

Thanks for the empathy Beast and Inchy... sadly Tom is still unwell. He's poohing faster than we get food into him and as a consequence is still losing weight. It's very worrying and we're going to get him in to the doctors today... can't say much more at the moment.

The Poet Laura-eate said...

I had a horrible virus the previous weekend. I was overtired and fractious and I won't even describe the consistency and bouquet of my poo! ;-)

Glad Tom is on the mend. There really *is* a lot of it about as the cliche goes, even if he's not unlucky enough to go to school or work yet. Bummer for you both losing all that additional sleep to the usual though.

Steve said...

There is an awful lot of it around Laura - we took Tom to the doctors this morning as planned and there were warnings all over the place about the gastro bug. Karen, Ben and I have all had mild versions but of course we have the advantage of being able to avoid food for 24 hours to kill it... this is not an option with a 5 month old baby. The doctor was great - all we can do is keep feeding him, keep changing his nappy (we came perilously close to running out this morning) and basically just flush the virus out of him until he builds up his own immunity. Thankfully she wasn't too concerned about his weight loss either - it's normal and she assured us that once he's fully well again "he'll eat like a pig" and put it all back on. I certainly hope so. Poor little mite. He hates having a dirty nappy at the best of times so he's really not enjoying this period at all.

Annie G said...

Sorry to hear the little fellow is ill and hope that he is much better by the time you receive this comment.

How was Legoland? It's a great place eh? Did you go on a boat? I took my two when they they were little but I definitely enjoyed it more than them :-)

Steve said...

Hi Annie, Tom still has a poorly tummy which is exhausting for us all - but he is better than he was on Saturday and the doctor has prepared us for the fact it could take up to a week or even 10 days for him to flush the virus out of his system!

Legoland was great - it was too cold to do any of the water based rides (there was a fierce hail storm while we were walking around) but we did go and see the new 4D movie and Ben and I had a go on the JCB diggers!

MOTHER OF MANY said...

You would think that the older children got the less they would want Easter Eggs but not so in our house! I did however manage to get away with a mug with a chocolate egg in it and a small amount of money to buy what they really wanted. However, after SnoWhite bringing home 2 large blue IKEA bags of washing over the weekend, I suspended her free agency and bought her 2 clothes dryers for her flat instead of giving her money!
I hope you are all feeling better soon and I hear the weather is meant to get better too.

Steve said...

Thanks Ally, we're going to be brave and attempt a day out to the zoo today armed with extra baby clothes and nappies! It's my last day on holiday today - back to work tomorrow - so we're determined to make the best of it!

Glenda Young said...

Hope the little 'un is well soon and able to eat all his Easter eggs.

Old Cheeser said...

Glad Tom is on the mend. Not to worry, he's got plenty of years to pile on the pounds again!

Meanwhile - you've been tagged by a Chav, Mister. Again. Check aaaaart my blog...

TimeWarden said...

Hopefully, when all these problems are played out, "ALL'S Well, that Ends Well."

Steve said...

Thank you all for your kind wishes - I'll post an update on Tom's condition later today if I get the chance.

OC - mission accomplished. Hope you like! ;-)