I don't like this part of motherhood

When you think of having a baby, you think of all the cuddling, the good baby smell, the weekend mornings in bed, the firsts, the love. You don't think about the first time your baby gets sick and how scary and terrible it is. Nor do you think of how you're going to take care of her when you yourself get sick. Or at least I didn't. Let's just say that this weekend was an eye-opening one for Andrew and me. Emma picked up a nasty case of the flu at daycare and started getting sick on Friday night. What a gutwrenching experience (literally and figuratively)! All I wanted was to be sick for her so her little body didn't have to hurt so much. Poor baby. The look of fear and helplessness in her eyes completely broke my heart. She couldn't keep any fluid down, so per her pediatrician's request, we ended up taking her to the ER -- twice. The first time they said she was fine hydration-wise and sent us home. The second time they gave her an IV with fluids. The IV really helped, I think. She was finally able to sleep some on Saturday night. She was still sick on Sunday, but today was much better. She's still not eating right, but at least she hasn't thrown up in 24+ hours. And she's definitely not dehydrated. This was confirmed at our follow-up doctor's visit today. Unfortunately, though, today was my turn. It is definitely not easy to be sick and take care of a little one. We got through it, though, and hopefully we've paid our dues to the flu gods this year and won't have to go through this again any time soon.

p.s. Emma was a trooper the entire time. The ER folks all loved her. Even at her sickest she found time for some smiles and giggles.

p.s. (again) All of this sickness means that we won't be able to visit Little Lin until a couple of weeks after he is born. I am beyond bummed.