I love kids, I really do. And I love babysitting my friend's kids, which is one reason I did this a few months back. My husband and I were deemed worthy to watch an adorable little 4-month-old baby boy twice a week. It's fun pretending he's our for eight hours a week and watching his little eyes light up while we act silly trying to entertain him. The only bad thing about this adorable baby is the fact that he's so good. He hardly veer cries, and he'll usually fall right asleep after eating dinner. His parents tell us he usually sleeps through the night after that--Sometimes up to 12 hours. This little guy is basically setting us up with high expectations and we're pretty much doomed for failure with our own.Recently though, I did have an eye-opening experience with my little friend... A personal peek in the trenches of motherhood.
Hubby just had his wisdom teeth taken out and it would be my first time watching baby alone. I arrived early because I was bored at home without my husband. I took baby from his mom as we talked and she got ready to leave for work. I was bouncing and patting him, and talking about my future baby when he heard me... And must have been disgusted because he then proceeded to throw up all over my arm and shirt.
His mom and I laughed because it was a funny little reaction to our conversation. I don't think he wanted to hear about other babies right then. We cleaned me and him up, and his mom kissed him goodbye.
The next couple of hours were fun as usual, I put him in his new jumper and watched as he bounced and laugh at the sounds and my faces. When he got tired of it I pulled him out and we watched a little TV. When he started trying to suck on my finger, and got a little fussy I knew it was about time for dinner. I made him a bottle and sat down to feed him.
He didn't seem to eat much faster than normal. It was maybe a little quicker but I figured he must have been really hungry. He finished the whole 8oz without a break!
He looked tired at the end of the bottle, I was noticing him starting to doze off a little, but I didn't want him to fall asleep before I got a chance to burp him. I put the little burp cloth across my shoulder, sat him up on top of it and began to pat. After patting for a couple of minutes and not really getting much gas out of him I began to pat slightly harder. Nothing but a tiny burp came out... Which is nothing compared to what he normally does, so I kept burping, waiting for the loud *BURP*. Just a moment later he started to burp, I turned me head to see how much spit-up came out with it, and it was still coming... A LOT---Projectile vomit.
I jumped up as I began to see it spewing from his mouth. I couldn't move quick enough. I jumped up, felt it gush down my back, all over the couch, and parts of the carpet as we ran to the kitchen, the dog even became a victim of the vomit. Sadly the first thing that crossed my mind was 'I hope it didn't get in my hair!' I had just gotten my hair straightened and was so worried about having to get it washed and pressed all over again.I picked baby up off my shoulder and checked to make sure he was ok... he smiled at me. I guess he felt better now.
I grabbed the burp cloth to wipe what I could off of myself and baby but it was dripping with puke. 'That did a lot of good' I thought. 'Why don't they make burp cloths bigger? In fact, why not make a Burp Snuggy?'
I examined the couch, the floor and the dog to see how they were doing. The couch... Well it looked beyond repair to me, and honestly I wish I would have taken a picture of the damage. I couldn't understand how that much milk could come out of something so small.. Where did he put it all, and is he hungry again?
The carpet wasn't so bad, and the dog... Well I just had to keep her away from re-eating what was lost. Besides the couch I think I suffered the most damage. I could still feel that which was regurgitated running down my legs.
I decided I'd bounce--No, rock him to sleep then clean up what I could. I had him in one arm, my iPhone in the other, and I Tweeted away to get help.
"OMG. Baby just projectile vomited all over me, couch, carpet and dog! Did I feed him too much? Burp him to hard? HELP!" Was my cry on Twitter.Flood of response came in. To my surprise most of them said things like "Oh they just do that..." or "Welcome to mommyhood!" ...Great. Encouraging.
"Is he hungry again?" I asked the world... And got a lot of helpful advice from Twitter moms.
He didn't seem hungry, in fact after getting changed and laughing at my new upchuck-covered attire, he fell right asleep. I texted his mom to let her know what happened and that he was ok.
After cleaning the couch, and the carpet and making sure the dog was ok I had to laugh at it all. I've worked in daycare, and have several younger siblings... I even called my mom and told her about it all, and reminisced about all of the times my younger sisters threw-up all over me. I've had my share of baby-vomit experiences, but this one had to be one of the funniest. And somehow, I get the inkling this is only the beginning.
****Yay Giveaway!****
My good blog friend Mommy Bee read this post, and I guess she felt a little bad for me, and all the other women who experience projectile vomit and burp cloths that are just too dang small!Well she makes some cute stuff in her Etsy shop, and one of those things is these adorable, super-strength, puke absorbent, burp cloths! There are three flannel burp cloths:
A. One is a 2-layer burp cloth (crayons print/white back)B. 'Super Spitter' with the layer of terrycloth inside (crayons/blue)
C. 'Super Spitter' (sports/blue)
All are nice and big (8" x 16"), and should be able to handle whatever your little one can dish out! Man, do I wish I had one of those last week!
Want one for your super spitter? Well here's what you've gotta do to win! Leave a comment here telling me if you'd prefer A, B, or C. if you won! That's all! She's moving right now but don't forget to check out her Etsy shop Lil Bees, which has all sorts of things from adorable cloth diapers to wet bags, to (crunchy/green ladies listen up)...cloth pads!!
You get extra entries if you comment letting me know:
-You follow my blog
-You have my blog button (now two entries)
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-You Tweet/ Facebook about this contest
-You post about this contest (now two entries)
-Vote for my blog in the 2009 Bloggers Choice Awards (worth 3 entries!)
Good Luck! I'll use random.org to choose 3 winners! Contest ends midnight May 31st!
