Still Sick, and pretty Pathetic!

Today was day 5 of the stomach bug, and each day seems to get worse. Yesterday was the worst day as far as the number of times I had to clean Tucker (poor baby), but today was worse because he is just so tired:( I had started the BRAT diet, and it clearly wasn't working, so yesterday I hit my gross-out limit as well as my worried limit and took Tucker into the after hours clinic. I called Tucker's pediatrician yesterday (I had already talked to them Wednesday) and they said the lab would close at 5 yesterday, so unless I could get a stool sample into them by then, I would have to wait until Monday. Well it was already the afternoon and Tucker was napping, so I asked them what else I could do. The nurse said that really the only danger would be him getting dehydrated, and it didn't seem that he had those signs. She advised that I take him to the afterhours clinic just to make sure he wasn't dehydrated. Once Tucker woke up, he was much more energetic and happier. He spent most of yesterday laying in bed watching Elmo Firetruck (as we call it), or staring out of the front window pooping. Yuck... I think he is staring out of the window just waiting for the school bus to come along so he can leave! Anyways, he woke up looking and feeling better, but we were still taking him to the dr. I told him Nana and I were taking him to the doctor and he was WAY too excited! He hadn't left the house since Tuesday at noon, so he hurriedly gathered his clothes. He actually found a shirt, shorts, sandals, and socks-I was proud of him! Anyways, we packed his booksack with tons of diapers and extra clothes. I accidentally got two left shoes for myself; when I realized my mistake, I went to my room to look for the right shoe. He watched me and screamed out "shoes on! shoes on!" Poor kid, he thought he wasn't going to be able to make his big escape. He was SO happy to be in the car, and even happier when we picked up Mom and Gina. We dropped off Gina at her friend's house, then headed to the clinic. We checked in and only waited for about 15 minutes. The waiting room was pretty empty, then a little old couple walked in. Tucker's face lit up and he yelled "people!" I mean....really....the poor kid has been stuck inside with me for three days, obviously he is going insane! The doctor examined Tucker and said he was definitely not dehydrated. He said that it's no fun having diarrhea for this long, but as long as he is getting pedialyte and the Brat diet he should be fine until Monday when we go in for testing. At that point, I said "no, no this has to be gone by Monday, I am losing it!" The dr. told us that he is not contagious, so that was good news. As long as we wash our hands after cleaning him, no one else should catch it. He also explained that I was doing the BRAT diet all wrong. The diet is supposed to be mainly rice and toast, with a little bananas and apple. Well, Tucker is tube-fed, so I can't really shove dry rice and toast down there. So I was making 90% fruit mixture with a little cereal. Last night I switched the mixture, along with a lot of Pedialyte to make it go down his tube. From last night up until today at 4pm, he didn't poop at all. I thought he was cured:) Then at 4 pm, he went all over the place, followed by another mess at 6pm, which Mom had the pleasure to clean. After that he was done; We were at Mom's for a trunk show; My friend Kristin makes adorable children's clothing, so I held a trunk show at mom's today. This morning Tucker seemed better, and he was begging to get out of the house. My niece Aliyah had a birthday party at lunchtime today, but I didn't want to go to the party in case Tucker made a big mess....they have a new house with a lot of carpet, so I was just being practical! Mom came over to get our present for Aliyah, and Tucker cried and cried "Nana House! Nana House!" So I promised him we'd make it to the trunk show (mom had offered to have it there whether I could make it or not, since there were several people who couldn't wait to see Kristin's cute stuff). For a while he was fine, until the pooping started. Then he was fine just laying in Sarah's bed (for those of you who don't know, NO ONE is allowed near Sarah's stuff, so this is true aunt love!!) or following Molli around the house trying to hit her. (Lord help us, when he is feeling better he is in for some strong discipline!) At the end of the show (the whole thing lasted about 1 1/2 hours), Molli walked next door to Paw Paw Ed's and that's when Tucker lost it. He was crying on the floor screaming "Paw Paw, Paw Paw," and that was when I knew he was done. I put him in the car and let him see Paw Paw and Maw Maw for a short visit before taking him home. At home, I fed him even more of the Brat Diet/Pedialyte mixture, and then rocked him. His eyes lit up when he saw the LSU/Florida game (he smiled and said "fooball") but then he laid down on me and demanded "sing." A few minutes later he crawled off my lap and laid on the rug. I asked him "you want the blue bed?" He didn't even pick up his head, just said "boo bed." I carried him to his room and tucked him in, he was asleep by 8 pm. I am thinking tomorrow we may move him back to his regular food. I have seen almost NO difference, and I think he is way too tired without his regular calories and protein. Maybe my plan will backfire, but I can't see it being worse than the last two days have been. Plus Chris is on his way home from the hunting camp right NOW and should be home soon. He missed the opening weekend, and won't be able to hunt for awhile, so he went this weekend. We both thought that Tucker would feel much better and it wouldn't be a big deal for Chris to be gone, but Tucker has gotten worse. So Chris got to hunt twice on Friday and Saturday, and now he is coming home, thank goodness! Mom has helped me out a lot, but it will be nice to have Daddy back:)