After several weeks of frenzied activity, everything ground to a halt this week – between choosing to stay at home and friends being sick, I’ve found myself at home TWO STRAIGHT DAYS IN A ROW!
I’m considering staying at home a few more days though, now that I’ve heard what my friends have been sick with. Have you heard of the Noro virus? The ugly GI virus that became famous after causing the evacuation of several cruise ships a few years back?
My 38-week pregnant friend thinks she had the Noro virus – and she was throwing up and having diarrhrea (every 10-15 minutes!) for 24 hours – until she became so dehydrated that her contractions started and they went to the emergency room. It took 5 bags of IV to rehydrate her. Thankfully the contractions stopped right away, and the baby seems well. Probably better for that baby to stay inside a few more days while the mom disinfects the house. (According to the wiki article, noro is completely wiped out by chlorine-based cleaners – although, what isn’t???)
Unfortunately, the virus started in the rest of the family and the poor little almost-three year old was vomiting every ten minutes around the clock. Poor baby! She okay now, but I don’t know if I’ve ever heard of a stomach flu as bad as this bug. Luckily the dad and brother just had a mild bout of vomiting and a short period of feeling unwell. But the two who got it, really were throwing up regularly for almost two days it seems. And only able to hold down popsicles and jello.
Apparently, there are outbreaks of Noro going on all throughout the country. The worst part is that the once-infected person can remain contagious for up to three days after the symptoms have passed. To top it off, people do not seem to be building any immunity to the bug, so you can get it again and again.
So, I’m nervously feeling healthy and well and popping a few vitamins. I was thinking about going to a free Family Yoga class tomorrow morning, but now staying at home and frequently washing my hands sounds more appealing than letting the baby crawl around a sweaty gym floor with dozens of other kids…
