What I learned...from a puking toddler

The crappy (pun intended) stomach bug hit Lucy this past Sunday morning...our first experience with a constantly puking toddler.  I'm so thankful we've been spared from it for the past 2 1/2 years...and I can only pray that it stays AWAY for a very long time.  It's been a brutal 3 days and Lucy is still not 100% on day 4.  Josh and I went into "attack" and "survival" mode pretty quickly on Sunday, Easter Sunday mind you.  Here is what we learned after being puked on several times...

1) Assume your position in one room...and stay there.

2) Cover every surface with towels and/or blankets.  We made a pallet on the living room floor with a water resistent picnic blanket (from Target - great purchase last summer - we use it all the time).  We covered the couch with large beach towels.

3) Time the stretches between puking sessions.  Lucy was throwing up every 30-45 minutes pretty much all day.

4) Learn your child's cues so you know when he/she is about to puke.  Lucy cried for the majority of the day, but right before she was about to puke, she'd start scream crying and saying "BB"....we have no clue what or who "BB" is.  

5) Have a plethora of paper towels and a large bowl on your pallet.  Lucy did not want to throw up in a bowl (she'd push it away before she was about to spew)....so we learned to catch the puke in paper towels and then transfer it to the puke bowl after she was done.

6) Wear old clothes (13 year old sorority shirts work great) and be prepared to do LOTS of laundry.  

7) Diaper only for puking victim.  

8) Have Pedialyte and/or Gatorade on-hand.  I will always have a stock of these after this experience.

9) Lucy LOVES when we go to Sonic or McDonalds for a drink...I think she likes drinking out of their cups/straws.  Having a cup like this helped tremendously, so she would continue drinking Pedialyte or Gatorade throughout the day to avoid dehydration.  She did start dry-heaving around lunch, which was SO sad.  KEEP THEM DRINKING so they actually have something to throw up.  This was tough.

10) Patience.  Patience.  Patience.  And try to laugh when you can.  It helps.