Monday April 28, 2003 at 5:20 PM
Puke
Appearing in Domestic Bliss
I’m lucky to have been blessed with two kids that only puke on rare occasions. Last night was such an occasion. About thirty minutes after my daughter went to bed I heard her crying and went in to check. She seemed pretty upset so I picked her up out of her crib and held her. It was at about that time that she suddenly puked up a rather surprising volume of partially digested dinner, lunch, and I think even a bit of breakfast.
Dripping and a little shocked, I rushed down the hall and into the bathtub just in time to get hit with round two. Unfortunately I had not yet aimed her at something other than me so it was another point blank shot. That was followed by blasts three, four, and five at which point the cannon appeared to be empty.
Standing in the tub, fully dressed and dripping in goo I was struck by the volume of material that had come out of such a little body and was thinking it could make for an experiment in conservation of mass. I tried to convince my wife to take a picture but to no avail. Apparently it wasn’t a memory she cared to collect although I personally thought it would be sort of comical given time.
At any rate, we all got undressed and put our clothes in the washer with a new found appreciation for such modern conveniences. Following a shower, a change in clothes, a change in pajamas, and a change in diaper (her’s not mine) it was back to bed and of course, another round of puking some 20 minutes hence.
Once more with the changing thing and then all seemed to be done.
My wife thinks it was a stomach flu, I think it was the honey. Regardless, she seemed to be okay afterwards although a bit worn out by the ordeal. I would have been more worried but somehow puking doesn’t seem like all that big a deal for kids. A little confusing perhaps but not terribly violent. By comparison, when I puke it’s such a full-body experience I wouldn’t be surprised to see my shoes come out my mouth. Fortunately it doesn’t happen very often.
Certainly a night to remember although I still wish we had gotten a picture.
Comments
Really enjoyed the puke story on your website for the reason that Fiona did that very thing to me when we lived in Mtn. View. 3am, projectile vomiting. I didn't have the presence of mind to think of taking a picture but in retrospect, wish I had. I knew at that moment, or perhaps a few hours later, that I had become a father and that NOTHING could gross me out when it comes to bodily functions. I wipe my kids' noses with a bare hand now. I'm sure there's something Darwinian going on there.
Posted by: Steve Jungmann on Mon Apr 28, 03
"I think it was the honey."
I don't know how old your daughter was at the time -- I'm sure there were no ill effects -- but you can't feed honey to a child under 12 months of age. Sparing a long explanation, it can lead to infant botulism, very rare, but often quite severe.
The immediate, acute vomiting was however almost certainly unrelated to this particular risk.
Posted by: UC on Mon Apr 28, 03