let me count the places

The first time I remember Owen throwing up was when he was less than 10 days old. It was late, probably 11pm or so and Owen had nursed and nursed and nursed, it seemed like all day. His belly was beyond full but he was fussy and only wanted to nurse so I let him. Well, the cycle of nurse, throw up, get upset, nurse, throw up, get upset started. I didn't know what it was at the time and I was worried so I called his doctor - and paid the $10 after hours fee. Only to be told it was nothing to worry about. Hmmm......ok then.

The next time that stands out in my mind was at Disney. I was holding him and Chris had taken Ethan to the bathroom. We were waiting in line at Casey's for lunch and Owen was snacking on popcorn. He got choked on a piece (I know - I missed my mommy of the year award that year) and started throwing up. I remember standing there thinking this is not happening, this is not happening, no one sees me, look the other way. Darn it! Someone saw me! Oh dear, what do I say???? They sent for someone to clean it up and we went on about our business. After all, Owen couldn't have been the first kid to throw up at Disney, right?

The next time I remember he had just eaten a hot dog and threw it up on our breakfast table and chairs. Oh my! Have you ever smelled hot dog throw up??? I could gag right now thinking about it.

And then there was last year at the beach. We had just eaten dinner and the waiter was bringing our check and talking to us about dessert. Owen started throwing up broccoli and goodness knows what else. I just remember it being green. The waiter never skipped a beat talking about dessert and promptly brought us some napkins to clean up.

There have been so many more times in between these, many more than I could even begin to count. So with all of that being said it does not phase me in the least now when Owen throws up. In public, at home, wherever. Been there, done that. So it is no surprise that it happened again this weekend while we were away. He had been playing and wanted to sit in the hot tub. He was just sitting on the edge and two teenage girls got in. Within minutes they started coughing uncontrollably and got up to get out. I remember thinking that is really odd. Then Owen started coughing really hard and I told him to get out. It was like someone being in the ocean and discreetly getting out because there is a shark in the water but not saying anything to anyone else. Just slowly people start to follow the leader.

So he gets out and says he is not feeling very good. I asked if he wants to go back to the room and rest for awhile and he says yes. I am holding Eliza and we start walking past the water slides and I turn around to make sure he is following me and there he was, standing at the bottom of the water slide covered in green puke and a puddle of it at his feet - oh and it was still coming out. I just let out a big sigh and thought I can do this. So I walked back over to him with Eliza off to the side of my hip and started rubbing his back telling him he is ok, not to worry, it is not a problem. When I thought he had settled down enough that I could walk away for a second (note: there were at least 100+ people in the area and not 1 person noticed or offered to help), I walked over to a man and woman that were sitting behind us and asked one of them to go get an employee so I could let them know what had happened. She did and the gentleman brought me a few towels to put over the throw up so we could go back to the room.

After talking to the employee, I found out they had just put more chlorine in the pools and didn't open the sliding glass doors to ventilate. It was way too strong for Owen and considering his ever so sensitive gag reflex, he started throwing up.

So, where will we be the next time it happens? There is no telling. But I do know that it isn't going to phase me. Just one of those things that I have had to get used to being his mother.