Update Update Update

Let's see, where do I begin...let's go with the insane stomach bug that tore through our house like a tornado. Friday June 22nd we put Forrest to bed at 7pm and went about our Friday night cleaning routine. About 45 minutes to an hour pass and I hear Forrest coughing and it sounds different. It's enough to make me go check on him and thank goodness I did because he was vommitting in his sleep and there was vomit everywhere. I pick him up and he is still getting sick in my arms and then we shower him down, and I tear the sheets off his bed and he is still getting sick about every 15 minutes. About 45 minutes pass and we realize there is soemthing wrong. he's had the stomach flu before but this was different. Panicking and trying to retrace the steps of his day and contact the sitter to see if anyone at day care was sick (no one was at this point) we take him into the ER since the vomitting would not stop and he was not throwing up the bile in his little tummy. Even on the way into the ER he got sick once in the car and another time as I was carrying him into the hospital in my arms. When we got there as we were registering the triage nurse gave us some pedialyte to give to him and he did drink it but within minutes it came all back up and he was sick 3 more times just in the waiting room (and we didn't even wait 15 minutes in total). He got sick so badly one time they called the cleaning crew in. It was awful. I felt so scared and helpless watching my poor baby like this. We got in super fast (we were the first ones called and I am pretty sure no one in that waiting room minded after seeing how sick he was). They immediately gave him a gravol suppository to try and stop the vomitting so that his little belly could have a rest but it didn't do anything but make him sleepy. He'd fall asleep and then wake up to be sick. They tried to give him more pedialyte but he threw it up so right then and there they knew they had to put an IV in him. Talk about scary! What an awful experience that was! There were 3 nurses there to hold him down and put it in and they didn't want us to help hold him. He was pretty sleepy so he only woke up when the needle went in. As a mom, I was worried he'd wake up to this needle and these strange faces holding him down and be terrified so I stayed at the foot of his bed rubbing his little foot so that he would see me and it seemed to calm him a little. He did really well with the IV - even the nurses were impressed by him and how he didn't try to move too much but in all honesty I think he was too weak at this point. They also adminster a drug called Zofran which they give to cancer patients to stop them from vomitting. This drug works and he is no loger throwing up and he is getting fluids from the IV as well. The pediatrician came in (up to this point we'd only seen nurses and an ER doctor)  and she was very nice and asked us a million questions. We went over everything and they took his blood and started to run tests. She was talking all kinds of crazy scary stuff and threw out conditions I hope to never hear again - thank God none of these were the case for our precious little boy. By about 3am the pediatrician comes in and says she wants to admit him overnight while they wait for the test results and to keep an eye on him. So we pack it up and head up to the pediatrics ward where we now have a room and I am so far beyond worried and tired I don't even think I could see straight. They wheel him up on the stretcher and John is holding him and he looks so sad and sick and just not him. AWFUL! And then John drops a bomb on me and it goes a little something like this:
John: "Well I guess I may as well tell you...I have something to tell you"
Me: "Whaaat???"
John: "Your dad is here"
Me: "where?"
John: "In Saint John. Him, Ivy and your sister are at the Delta"
ME: (thinking they are supposed to be in Cape Breton picking up Lauren's friends arriving at the Sydney airport from Calgary that night) "Whaaat? Why? What about Lauren's friends???"
John: "Ainslie, I am planning a surprise party for you tomorrow. Your Dad, Ivy and Lauren are at the Delta. Your mom and Phyllis are at a hotel in moncton; Darcy and Sarah and Owen are already here and Erin and Amanda are coming up tomorrow morning and bringing the cake. The girls from here are also all coming and I called a couple people you worked with and they are coming too"
Me: "OHHHHH SHIIIT!"

So I obviously start freaking out and then in my sleep deprived, scared shitless all night long state I demand he call everyone this second to cancel. Of course he replies with a "Ainslie it's almost 4am, I am not calling people now". So he convinces me to wait until morning at which point he'll call everyone and in the mean time we try to catch a few hours sleep on the stupid teeny tiny pull out chair thingy that is in the wrong...EVEN THOUGH there is a perfectly good bed in the room and despite me being obviously 30 weeks pregnant they still will not let me use. But it doesn't matter because it's not like I'm going to sleep anyway - my stomach feels full or worry, fear and dread more than baby. All I can think about is my poor little baby asleep in the hospital crib thingy next to me with the IV in his arm and no known reason for him being so sick. I lay down on the pull out chair thingy and John sits in a chair watching Forrest. I look over at one point and see him asleep in the chair with his head uncomfortable propped on the side of the crib so I wake him, push over and he crawls in behind me and we both actually sleep for a few hours (although both very uncomfortably). At 8am we awake to hear our baby chit chatting away. We go to him and he is standing up and acting totally normal...in fact he is trying to pull the IV thing (wooden board thingy and all) off his arm. We take him out of the crib but leave him hooked up to the IV and he amazingly enough seems to be back to his old self. The nurses and doctors come in and we have to wait a little longer to be discharged and talk to doctors but ntohing has shown in the test results and although they say it could be a gastro bug (stomach flu) it is more likely something he ate since it lasted only 12 hours. So at 10:30 they discharge us and we go home thinking it was food posioning. Our little boy is back to his old self. John and I discussed it and decided to go on with the party (although no longer a surprise) since everyone had put so much thought, effort and planning into it and many were already in Saint John. So reluctantly I agreed but asked that he call the people (especially the ones with kids) and let them know that Forrest had been sick and although they think it was food poisoning they can not be sure of that. He did and pretty much everyone still came. We got home, Forrest went down for a nap and John and I cleaned our house as best we could on about 2 - 3 hours sleep. We had left the previous night in a complete state with sheets tore off all the beds, the shower curtains were in the wahsing machine, the dining room chairs were out on the deck because John had decided to move them there while we swept and scrubbed the floors - problem with this was that we did this all Friday ngiht and then left in a panic for the hospital so when we returned home after a super rainy Friday night and Saturday morning the chairs with the microfiber seats were soaked and the house was still in a state of insane mess and we had 3 hours until the party started. We cleaned super quick, took the wet chairs downstairs and cranked the dehumidifier and got it done in no time. My mom and Phylliss arrived and they along with John banished me to my room to rest while they decorated. the party went off and was a tonne of fun andI was so so so touched that my hubby thought to plan such a sweet surprise and my family and friends helped him. I was also very appreciative that so many of my family and friends travelled from nova Scotia to help celebrate 30 great years with me. I am one lucky girl to have such wonderful people in my life who love me and whom I love very much!!
John was so disappointed that his big surprise was no longer a surprise and I have to say - he totally had me. I had absolutely no idea whatsoever. I was never more surprised in my life. I honestly was more surprised for this party than I was when he asked me to marry him - and I was pretty shocked for that but I had an idea it was coming (just didn't know exactly when). He 110% surprised me and I may have went into early labour had I not had to have found out about the party earlier that morning at the hospital. He even called my friend at work and asked her to ask me to go for breakfast so I would be out of the house and had planned to have all the cars park down the road at the church hall. Seriously - I am sure I would have went into early labour. The decorations, the food, the drinks (he had punch - with or without vodka, wine, beer and non alcoholic champange for this mommy to be who was turning the big 3-0 and yes folks my hubby made the punch himself - talk about a wife who was impressed). The best part was the company though- my family and friends all coming together to help me celebrate a milestone birthday! He really blew me out of the water by going above and beyond and I was so incredibly touched! Man I am one lucky girl!! someone pinch me.
That night after the party guests went home, I was extremely tired but my mom, Phyllis, Lauren, Erin and Amanda were all there for the night so I wanted to stay up and enjoy their company. Forrest had went to bed his normal time that night and seemed to be 100% completely fine since we left the hospital so I felt much more relaxed. I went to bed close to midnight and was violently woken up around 3am with pains in my tummy. Turns out - NOT food poisoning. I was sick, so sick and then John got it and then my sister and then maybe even my mother. AWFUL! Definitely a birthday I won't be forgetting! It was a miserable stomach bug but only lasted about 24 hours thank god! John and I both stayed home from work on monday to try and recover from the hectic weekend and the stomach bug that ravaged our household. Mom, Phyllis and Lauren stayed until Tuesday and Lauren didn't get sick until Monday and Mom didn't get sick like us just felt off so they were all very helpful with Forrest - again I am so grateful to have such wonderful caring people in my life. This weekend sure was a testiment to that!