Saturday, October 26, 2013

Mia's Mysterious Malady

Though Mia hasn't really shown much interest in eating solid food, and I've been content not to push it, we had some super-ripe bananas to move on Friday morning, and as I sliced some up for her siblings, I decided to offer some to her. Hoping that allowing her to self-feed might entice her, I broke up teeny-tiny pieces, rolled them in a bit of baby oatmeal, and placed them in front of her. She was able to pick them up, but had difficulty bringing them to her mouth, so I placed them for her. After seeing how well she handled the first morsel, I gave her three or four more. In total, she probably had less than one slice of banana, but she had a good time eating, and the rest of us had a great time watching her do so.

I had high hopes for her morning nap, since after days of nap-striking she finally managed a two-hour stretch yesterday, but alas- she dozed for less than an hour. When she awoke she was painfully cranky, and I figured that teething had struck again after a day's respite. However, just before lunch, she coughed and spit up a bit onto my shoulder. I thought it a bit odd given how long it had been since she last nursed; also odd because I've been giving her a bit of Zantac again, to battle the resurgence of reflux she's experienced lately due to teething and its resulting aggravations. Once she started back on her medicine, I ceased to see any spit-up at all for many days.

She was looking uncomfortable and burping rather wetly as I carried her upstairs with the elder children for lunch, so I moved very slowly and cautiously. Needing my hands to assist her siblings, I began to gently lower her to her reclining chair when she began to make such a scary-gaggy sort of sound that I actually screamed, and rushed to put her down in my alarm. I'm sure that what happened next was pre-determined, however it's likely that I brought it on just a might more quickly in my panic.

Mia began to vomit, exorcist-style. She took a short break, and then did it again. Figuring she'd probably gotten out most of what she had to get out in the two initial bursts, I decided to get her into the shower sooner rather than later, since she was pretty well covered. She must have still been feeling pretty miserable, because she cried through what normally is a very relaxing and enjoyable experience for her.

Once freshly clothed, she proceeded to soil two more outfits with repeat sessions, until I gave up entirely on re-clothing her. Instead, I bundled her in a blanket and nestled her into the swing chair, which she normally attempts to squirm out of in displeasure but instead settled into quite nicely this time.




She lay there contentedly for perhaps thirty minutes, at which time her intestinal issues moved south, and after which I deemed it safe to attempt another nap.

As she slept, I went back-and-forth in my theorizing as to what, exactly, had happened. At first I thought it was perhaps a reaction to the banana, which she's had once or twice before but not for a long while. Then, as the vomiting continued and she began to have other issues, I became sure it was a stomach bug.

However, after an hour's nap, Mia was back to her old self again. No more crankies, no more pukies, no more odd diapers. I'm scratching my head, still, over what the issue was, but I'm thankful it's over nonetheless.

As for teething, it seems to be giving us a break for now, though her two top teeth (quite surely the instigators of all of the trouble) have not quite surfaced. Just like yesterday, and the week preceding it, we are still merely agonizingly close.


As I've been telling Mia every day this week: maybe tomorrow.