Why you won't see any cute Valentine's pictures here today

I'll just get right to it.

Saturday, Baby Hop threw up all over the both of us while I was holding her. That evening, she threw up all over the bathroom. She was miserable after getting sick that second time so, I stripped her down (and had to strip me down since I got her vomit all over me, again) and we laid in bed for an hour. All she wanted to do was snuggle and suck her thumb. All I wanted to do was make her feel better so, we snuggled. Monday, daycare called to tell me she had thrown up and had a big explosion. I let my boss know what was going on and told him I'd let him know if I had to stay out on Tuesday with her.  I drove to daycare, picked up my "sick" baby and we headed to the pediatrician's office. This is what she looked like when we got there:

Funny how babies can seem so sick at home and once you get them to the doctor, they perk right up. She smiled and giggled at the pediatrician and tried to eat his stethoscope. She also thoroughly enjoyed her new friend in the mirror.

Verdict: stomach bug. Keep her hydrated, let her continue eating solids and just watch her for a dry mouth and light diapers.

We got home that evening (Monday) and put Baby Hop to bed like normal. Around 2am on Tuesday, I woke up with achy legs and a crampy stomach. Yup, I caught the bug. I was out of commission for two whole days. We had food poisoning a few months ago and that was nothing compared to this. At least with food poisoning, once you get sick, you start to feel better. This was all about letting the virus work its way out. So, Hops had baby and dog duty for two straight days and he did great. I got up only to feed the baby and to pump when she wasn't there (Hops took her to daycare both days so I could get some rest). I haven't slept so much in weeks! So, the two days before Valentine's Day, I'm out of commission. Fun.

Now it's Valentine's Day. We both get up, I'm feeling better and Baby Hop is just as happy as ever. Hops goes downstairs with the baby and the dogs and I get my final things together before heading down. Then I hear coughing and him yelling up at me to come downstairs NOW! My immediate thought was something was wrong with my baby and I ran down to him. Instead of a problem with the baby, it was Clover, our older dog. She was lying on the kitchen floor and she had eliminated her bladder. The poor thing, she was just lying there, staring up at us. Hops was a mess (this is his dog) so I told him to sit with her and pet her and I got towels to clean up the mess. I called the vet and they told me to bring her in as soon as possible (our vet is also an emergency 24-hour vet). Long story short, Hops took her in and after an estimated $1000 in costs, we find out that she has right-side heart failure. They guess she passed out from the activity of walking down the stairs and into the kitchen. At this point, she is still at the vet's office. We know that she is off of oxygen now and is breathing well. 

Photo by Elizabeth Scott Photography

Clover may stay at the vet's office tonight which I know will make my husband terribly sad. Our next steps will be to talk to the vet about what to do for Clover to make her comfortable for whatever time she has left with us. Her time could be one month to two years. We feel we did the right thing by taking her in and finding out what is wrong with her. Once we know what treatment plan they suggest, we will discuss and see what will be best for her quality of life and our wallets (yes, we have to be practical here). We take comfort knowing that she is under the care of the very best vet at our excellent veterinary hospital. 

So essentially, our Valentine's Day sucks. I hope yours is going MUCH better than ours. Please hug your babies and your animals tight tonight. You never know when something unexpected can happen. We'll be hugging Clover tight for as long as she will allow us.