Last week we went on holiday with Mark's Dad, sister, her husband and twin boys. We were staying in two adjoining bungalows in Teebay. The holiday started off with a traffic jam, a ten minute journey took about 40minutes, then the motorway was on and off between national speed limit and slowing right down to 40mph. But we got there eventually, and while C, P and the boys were exploring the area Mark and I decided to get the travel cot put up and everything unpacked and put away. The lady who owned the bungalows also ran a B & B, and was hosting a tea & cake party that afternoon, along with a raffle. Mark and I got there for the tail end of it, and bought lots of cupcakes for 10p each!
The nearest supermarket was a good twenty minute car journey away, and although we knew we were going self catered we'd decided to wing it rather than come prepared with food. So Mark and his dad went off to the motorway services off junction 38 of the M6 which has a farm shop attached to it while I stayed behind while Alissia napped. I've been told that the shop has won awards, but I couldn't comment because I never actually went.
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| Mark and my room - the four poster was lovely but the men kept banging their heads on it! |
Not long after it was bathtime and bedtime for Alissia, and considering we were in a new place, and she was sleeping in a travel cot in the same room as us, she went to sleep fairly easily. All that was left to do was to enjoy a nice glass of wine and meal and just relax. I think that was the only time on the holiday that we were relaxed, because of everything else that followed.
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The lounge where we spent an awful lot of time those first few days
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Half past midnight that first night Alissia woke up, which for her is very unusual because she's been sleeping though for weeks, and of she wakes up its generally after 6am. Well she'd had a very explosive nappy, which I was very surprised about, again never happens at night. So we sorted everything out, tried to get her back to sleep, but she just kept on pooing. It took us a couple of hours to get her settled and back to sleep. I thought it was just the change in water and that if we got her some Evian water everything would settle down. Boy was I wrong.
The next day, her tummy got worse, she became very unwell, alternating between screaming or just lying listlessly in my arms, which for her is unheard of. If she's awake she is usually alert and into everything. The next day (Sunday) we decided to ring the out of hours doctors, and were told we could take her in to be checked over. Because I was worried she would become dehydrated, and she was completely off her milk. So off we went to the minor injuries unit for out of hours patients, where the doctor checked her over, said she had a slight temperature, and just said to keep offering her fluids. Perculiarly she seemed a bit more alert and perky at the hospital, so while we were there we decided to have tea and cake in Penrith rather than driving straight back. Then as we did get bak she seemed to go downhill again, and later that evening just after we'd had dinner, she started projectile vomiting. It was the scariest thing ever, and we went straight back to the same minor injuries unit as earlier in the day. Again she was checked over and we were told the same as before, she'd picked up a gastro bug and we just had to ride it out and just keep an eye on her fluids.
That next night neither Mark or I got any sleep at all. Alissia would only sleep if she was next to me on the bed, I didn't sleep for fear of rolling over onto her, and Mark didn't sleep because he had no room on the bed. Monday, and Alissia was the same, with very frequent dirty nappies, which was making her bum incredibly sore, so bad that it was nearly bleeding. We told Marks Dad and sister etc to go out for the day without us as there was no need for them to miss out on enjoying themselves. Because she was very pale and because her bum was sore we made an appointment for her with a local doctor who gave us some strong cream. That night she went off to sleep in her travel cot, and we got a bit more sleep despite being up every couple of hours for feeds and nappy changes.
The next day, Tuesday, Alissia seemed to be a bit more like herself, so we said that we would meet the others for a day out at Trotters World. That day, Wednesday & Thursday morning were good days (and I'll blog about them with photos next time). But Thursday morning we notices that the fontanelle on Alissia's head (which is the soft spot on the front of her head) had become a bit swollen, but didn't think it was anything serious, and just decided to keep an eye on her. But Thursday afternoon she became very sleepy and quiet again, and projectile vomited again while we were out. So we decided we were coming home, being on holiday was just more stressful. The next day we took her to see our own doctor, who checked her head and said it was nothing to worry about. Then later that afternoon the doctor called us back in because he wanted a second opinion. The second opinion was to go to hospital to get her checked over by a proper children's doctor. So at 5:30pm last Friday evening that's where we went. More examinations, more questions about the feeds and nappies and sleeps and everything else, a nearly failed attempt at getting a urine sample, and four hours later we're told we can take her home, not really any the wiser. They weren't sure why her fontanelle swelled, and just wanted us to get her head circumference measured every couple of days to keep her monitored.
So, that was our holiday, which actually wasn't a holiday at all, and we came home more stressed than we were the week before. Thankfully Alissia seems to be over most of the sickness bug, and her fontanelle is no longer swollen, and the measurements are all coming back the same. So nothing to worry about now, but goodness we were worried silly this time last week. If I mention anything about going on holiday again, remind me to think again.
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