Out of Nowhere. Part Two.
Let me first say, I have the most caring, loving, takes such good care of her mommy baby in all the world. It's true. And soon, you'll see why.
So Friday night was great. I got to go out with some friends, have some wine, an amazingly yummy dinner, and a fabulous time. I came home to Dan and the baby both having survived each other while I was gone. It was all perfect.
Sadly, the good fortune was short-lived. I woke up Saturday morning with a migraine so bad I had to keep my eyes closed going downstairs to get a pill. It was 4:30 in the morning. It's still dark at 4:30 in the morning! I should have crawled under a rock right then.
But I didn't. Instead, I decided to take the day head-on. That afternoon, I gave in and finally decided to get Madeleine's room out from under the chaos of stuffed animals, books, and toys that were strewn about everywhere. As I was finishing, I told her to go find her dad so I could put the last few things away that she kept pulling out right behind me and then I was going to vacuum. So, like the good little, listening daughter that she is, out she went. To go find her dad, right? A few seconds later, I hear a CLUNK CLUNK and as I stand up screaming and running for the door, I hear a few more CLUNK CLUNKS and then a THUD. It took me maybe 5 seconds to get from her room down the huge flight of stairs and it still wasn't fast enough to see her before she hit the bottom, she fell that quickly.
(As a side note: I HATE these stairs. I knew this was going to happen eventually. We can't install a safe gate because it requires actually installing hardware and since we're trying to sell the place, huge holes in the dry wall and wood - probably not such a great idea. Anything else is unsafe and probably would have landed on top of her from her pushing through it with our luck. I hate this house. We need to move. Someone buy this house NOW please. Thanks.)
So I fly to the bottom of the stairs and look her over - no bleeding, no visibly broken anythings, grab her and hold her and let her scream. Dan came running down just as quickly so she spends a few seconds with me then screams for "Dada!" then after a few seconds with him, "Mama!" and proceeds doing the back and forth comforting for a few minutes. I think I was shaking harder and more of a wreck than she was. Dan asked where it hurt and she looked at him and patted her head. After a few minutes of the back and forthing, she stood up, grabbed her bottle, and walked away. Then right back to the stairs. Okay. So she's fine. Whew.
(The guilt? "Hi, get out, go away, go see your dad, I'm cleaning your room, shoo, be gone." Woosh! Fall! ... I don't plan on getting Mother of the Year this year. I kinda suck.)
She and I hang out on the couch, watching Elmo (surprise!) and taking it easy so I can keep an eye on her since maybe she really did hit her head hard. As time goes on I realize, "hmmm... I'm kinda feeling like crap. I think I kinda wanna puke."
You guessed it. Little, walking plague-transporters. I caught the stomach flu from hell from my child having it on Wednesday. I haven't had the stomach flu since ... I dunno.... GRADE SCHOOL!?! I haven't thrown up in THIRTEEN YEARS. There is nothing in the world I hate doing more than throwing up. (Okay, I'm sure someone could come up with something but that's not the point.)
I spent Saturday night feeling like I was going to die. And you know what? Madeleine spent it right there next to me. Every time I came out of the bathroom, she was there lying on the floor waiting for me. At first, she really wanted to go downstairs, "Elmo! Elmo! Elmo!" I felt so bad, I could hardly move let alone go down the stairs or get her down the stairs. So I sat on the floor outside the bathroom and tried to play with her a little. We ended up both laying on the floor hanging out while I moaned and groaned and wanted to poke my eyes out with hot pokers (hey - at least it might make part of my body warm, you know?). She hung out with her bottle, went and got her blanket and stayed there keeping me company. I dosed off for a few seconds to wake up to her passed out on the floor next to me. Is this not the cutest thing you've ever seen?
Like I said, the most loving, caring, wonderful baby around. She spent Sunday lounging around with me too. I didn't start feeling better until Sunday night and while she did take one nap with me, she was able to entertain herself while I rested. Granted, she made a complete disaster of the whole house but it was so worth it.
The next time she gets sick? I'm wearing one of these!