Worms.....

....yep that's right folks. The worms have come to town. For all you easily-grossed-out people, you may want to skip this post. I'll be brief and vague rather than giving you all the details.

If you have been following me on the blog, you know we have had some rough times and some REALLY cranky times. Emma has been way more fussy than I ever expected....and until "W-day" (worm day) I was so stricken with worry that she might not be attaching to me. Fast forward to THE diaper change. There they were. I knew exactly what I was seeing....my baby has worms. Gross. Worms (all parasites in general) in humans is my second biggest phobia next to spiders, and here we are faced with them (quite literally). So being the good little nurse I am, I saved the diaper to bring to the pediatrician. Everyone in the house got the "worm medicine"-especially Mommy because I have been bathing with her to assist the bonding. Yay. So last Saturday morning my phone rang....it was the lab where we sent the "diaper contents" for testing. Not only does the kiddo have pinworms, she has Giardia. For you who are blessed enough to not know what this is, it is a waterborne swimming parasite with a tiny tail that can make you pretty sick. It seems Emma has had it long enough that she isn't "acutely" ill, more of a chronically infected host. Mommy on the other hand.....yep acutely ill with Giardia. Let's just say it causes horrid gastrointestinal symptoms. Fast forward to Sunday night/early Monday morning...Mommy is in the ER. Tons of meds later I am starting to get better. Most would say this was not good for bonding, but being that she and I were already infected, even though I felt like death warmed over, I have to undertake most of her care so that no one else gets infected. It's actually been somewhat helpful for bonding, if that makes any sense at all.

After the treatment for both the pinworms and the Giardia, Emma's behavior (read: crankiness) has been much improved. Apparently having a belly full of parasites will make you irritable. Who knew? LOL! There is much less fussiness all around, although the diaper changes are still horrid at times. I think she just expects it to be uncomfortable because of all the, um, side effects of the worms, and she is anticipating the worst. But I will say, while I was laying in the bed in the ER, having a very tempting offer dangled in front of my face (admission to the hospital for rehydration and IV meds.....hmm....sounds pretty good right now!) my first thought was that I can't be away from home because my child needs me. That was one of my first real "Mom" moments. So, I half-grudgingly requested to be sent home rather than sent upstairs to a lovely private room with narcotics and anti-nausea meds every 4 hours and a flat-screen TV.....and I went home and snuggled my kid. Every day gets better. Worms and all. :)