I hope you have a strong stomach.

Not that it wasn't real before, but tonight, things were very real.

This is very much a TMI post, so those with a weak stomach, you should stop reading now.

Clara took and extra long nap after shopping with my mom and I. When she woke up, I put her in her highchair for dinner, pulled out her pacifier, and she puked all over her tray. I'm not talking about spitting up. Oh, no. I handled spit up for months. What I'm talking about is everything she ate all day today, was on her high chair tray, partially digested. I know you wanted a visual. You're welcome.

I took her straight to the bath tub, in fear that she'd do it again. She took a bath and was her normal, cheerful self. After bath time and jammies, I gave her some water/juice (which I rarely allow her to have) to try and settle her tummy and get fluids in her. I (slowly) let her drink the whole bottle. I knew it was a bad idea at the time, for shortly after, it all came right back up. All over me this time.

About an hour later, I let her have an ounce of juice and some toast. She kept it down. For now. She went to sleep at 11, but we'll see if she's sleeping in vomit when I wake up in the morning. (gross... I just pictured it.)

The thing you don't know, is that puke makes me puke. It's gross. I can't handle the smell/sight. But when I get into care mode, it overrides the grossed-out feelings. It happened while taking care of my drunk friends in college, and now it has carried over into mommyhood. (Who would have thought that I would have learned something about parenting in college... haha). I kept telling Clara that "It's ok" and reassuring her. She was shaking, as many do when they puke. But otherwise, you never would have guessed that anything was wrong. She was a bit fussy, but otherwise, happy as a clam.

I feel like I'm in the club now. The mommy club. I know I haven't experienced anything close to the worst, such as four kids with norovirus or something. But it was a good initiation. I can't wait to share more gross stories and visuals with you as Clara grows. :)