Happy birthday, Laurel...

...except that it has been far from a "happy" birthday for her. 

Laurel is three years old today.  She's also on the fourth day of a stomach bug, and the worst day so far.  She had minor bouts of vomiting and diarrhea on Thursday and Friday, but her mood remained cheerful and she just didn't seem that sick.  I thought she was due to get better by her birthday, but this weekend her illness intensified and she began feeling very ill.  It doesn't help that she hasn't had solid food (except applesauce and crackers) since Wednesday night, nor that she got dehydrated this afternoon and became so lethargic she could hardly stay awake.  Even when she was awake, she just lay there limply, crying and moaning, "Juice. Juuuuuice."

Poor little girl.  We let her drink a lot of Pedialyte this evening, which improved her alertness and mood, but in the course of 45 minutes made her vomit once and gave her diarrhea three times.

And how did we celebrate Laurel's birthday?  We did not celebrate at all.  First of all, she was asleep for most of the day, or moaning.  She did watch a little bit of TV between naps, but with little enthusiasm.  And when she finally showed some small signs of recovering around 6:00 this evening, she had no energy to spare.  Isaac mentioned to her that today was her birthday, and she said, "That's right," but she wasn't that interested.  She ate some applesauce, looked at a book with me, and fell asleep. 

I spent much of the weekend holding her or lying next to her while she napped, so I feel like I've been lost in a black hole of illness.  This feeling is intensified by the fact that I myself was sick for three days at the start of the week; I had the stomach bug Monday and felt weak Tuesday and Wednesday, and then Laurel has been sick from Thursday through Sunday.  Hopefully she will be better tomorrow, and hopefully Craig and Isaac will stay healthy!!