When it rains, it sure does pour, you know?

The last few days have been pretty hard.


No, it's not #4 --he's up at night mostly, which was completely expected, and he eats really well. He's a good baby and has brought everyone a lot of joy.

It's not the fact that the Trolley Square shooting that happened last night coincided with a dead teenage body they found on the Provo river near our home and schools in Salem being threatened by a gunman (via phone). (Can this world seriously get any worse?!?!)

It's #3. My sweet boy. He's really, really sick.

He came home from Church Sunday afternoon and that's when the vomiting and diarrhea started. It continued all night, and since DH didn't want me or the baby getting sick (like we need that!) I've been pretty "quarantined" from #3 during the duration of fluid secretions. We thought that it was just a stomach flu, and he has been able to keep water, pedialyte and some crackers down now for over 12 hours. He slept a lot, and we figured we were over the worst of it.

Then the weird behavior started. I thought it was just because he was dehydrated --but he was acting really, really weird. Night terrors, crazy looks, pale skin, listlessness --still all symptoms of dehydration, but he had been drinking non-stop for a long time and kept it all down. After the 3AM fever (that luckily subsided with Motrin) and the 5AM night terror, I had a terrible thought: Bacterial Meningitis.

We looked up the symptoms online and he is an "A" candidate for it. Of course, I'm freaking out, but I'm calm enough to schedule a doctor's appointment. DH took #3 there just a few minutes ago, and now I'm waiting for the word...

The worst part about this, aside from the fact that my sweet boy could be really, really sick, is that I can't do anything about it. I'm trying to heal from delivery, I have to nurse #4 frequently, my milk came in (engorgement!!), and the last thing we all need is me getting so sick that I can't take care of the new baby. But I HATE THIS. I can't comfort my boy! I can't cuddle with him and stroke his head and let him know it's going to be okay. DH has been doing it, which is wonderful and good and even my mom (who left today. Oh, I miss her all ready!) has held and comforted him. I'm so upset that I can only just tell him how much I love him and try to be as near him as I can without actually holding him. I hate it!

I just hope the doctor tells us he's just dehydrated and gets him to eat something. I really, really hope he's okay. I'll write an update by tonight if I can...