Saturday, February 16, 2008

The Crucible, the lesser


We were up all night, Wednesday night, with Bo. He was so exhausted he would fall asleep between gagging episodes. It reminded me of labor, and getting micro-naps between contractions.
He was not feeling well to say the least. We thought he had picked up a virus, and were hoping this was the end of it. It had all started on Friday night, when we got out of the car at the Hyatt on Wacker and he promptly threw-up on Auntie Jennie. His temperature went up a little, to 99.7F, but by 10AM Saturday, it was back to normal. Doc Cloney, Nurse Kathy and my gut told me that this was not something the hospital would be able to help with. It certainly didn't have the high temperature indicative of the dreaded line infection.
So the gagging, retching and small-volume vomiting went on through the weekend and ended Thursday morning. What we found in his diaper explained it all. A stone. He was passing a kidney stone that would have felled a large man. The nurse in the pediatrician's office didn't believe me, saying, "he would have been inconsolable." But we already know that this is a very unusual person we are talking about.
I had thought of my belly as The Crucible. It seemed a clever reference at the time. Little did I know. Or maybe my intuitive mother-self knew. We saved the stone, hoping to get an analysis of the thing. And Bo has been so lovely through all this. Each day, during the day, he acted as if there was nothing amiss. And now, two short days after the stone was expelled, he is in high spirits. What a guy!

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Holy Moly! Someone with a toddler age kid (the birth still in recent memory) once told me that passing a stone was the only thing she ever experienced that was more painful than giving birth, just without the joyful outcome. What a trooper, I can't even imagine. I'm glad it's done.

Sarah said...

I think I can see the Gilfoyle here! :)

heathre said...

what a tough cookie! (and another fabulous pic - overwhelmed with the bo cuteness)