Now that I think about it, there were actually two bits o' PG news that needed to be told. Surprisingly, the more eventful and interesting of the two items (and here's hoping it stays that way, he said most foreshadowingly) is the one I was not thinking about when I mentioned having a story to tell. It is the interesting and eventful story (as well as the first of the two to happen) that I will layin' on ya at this time.
Last Monday or Tuesday night, in the waning days of April, PG saw fit to wake up from her slumber around 10:30 and make with the fussing. Lately, when this sort of thing happens, we just let her whine until she invariably falls back asleep and lodges no further complaints for the remainder of the night. But this time she sounded more upset and awake than usual, so we went in to investigate.
Nothing seemed to calm her down, and indeed, she got even more hysterical and inconsolable. Meanwhile, M herself was feeling pretty bad in the midsection. It seemed like enough cause to visit the emergency room, so we got dressed and did just that.
Given our experience during our last ER visit, we decided to go the extra mile (or 5 or 10) and take PG and M to a different hospital. PG fussed the entire way there (M only fussed a little,) which certainly lent credence to the notion that this trip to the ER was a decent idea.
We got to the hospital, and found it to be not busy at all, which was nice. There was a drunk (we assume) guy raising a bit of a ruckus about getting medical attention, which apparently he had already received but had found insufficient, but that was pretty much the only drama going down. Since M would not be able to accompany PG into Pediatrics if she checked herself in too, we decided to hold off on checking M in until they were done looking at PG. This proved to not be too much of an inconvenience, as they called us back to Pediatrics almost immediately.
By the time we were back there, PG had calmed down, so the nurses cracked a little wise about the check-in report indicating that she was "inconsolable." Such is the way with PG. The doctor checked her (PG's) tummy and declared that she was gassy. She also told us, with utter certainty, perhaps emboldened by the news that M's tummy was also feeling quite sad, that it was the beginnings of stomach flu. She laid out the timeline for what would come next, including when to expect either the vomit or diarrhea (or both) and when I would invariably start showing symptoms too. It was such happy news.
She gave us some instructions on what to feed PG (Pedialyte, Mylicon, ginger ale) and what not to feed PG (milk) and then sent us on our way. Since it was pretty late, and M felt confident that we now knew why she was hurting, we decided not to check her in next, and instead we bade the hospital a good night and went home, where PG spent the better part of the night playing in the basement, not giving much mind to her fatigue, until M pressed the point and got PG to fall asleep on her (M's) chest. Bless my lovely wife, she released me from all responsibility and let me sleep the whole (remaining) night through. I guess she figured we'd need a rested Daddy to take care of Mama and Baby the next day. Or maybe she's just super-nice. Or both.
I took the next day off to take care of the ladies, so I got a day off from work in the deal. Even better, I'm happy to report that, aside from a runnier-than-usual diaper event that day and the morning after that, there has been no further evidence of stomach flu. We're still waiting for that vomit and/or diarrhea to start, over a week later, and no symptoms have been visited upon me. And all that can take as long as it wants to show up - I'm in no hurry.
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