He's At Camp!

Charlie is at camp -- his first ever sleepover camp! He has been so excited but this weekend, he started having some anxiety. At 4AM Saturday, I heard him gag. He didn't vomit then, but he started vomiting at 7AM. Everytime he moved after that, he would gag and retch. He never really had much volume to it and he had no fever, so I quickly figured out the problem. I had started him on Desmopressin a week ago to see if he could stay dry overnight. It did reduce his urine volume, but he was waking up in the mornings with a sore throat, and he was asking for more water. By Friday, he was more constipated than usual, and stupid me, let him have macaroni and cheese for lunch! He ate well all day, even at dinner, and drank some water before bedtime. At 4, he got up and went to the bathroom but said there wasn't much "pee" and that his belly hurt. I think he got dehydrated from the Desmopressin, which made the constipation worse and the macaroni and cheese must've done him in. He dry-heaved all morning, so I finally called the pediatrician and got some zofran for him. I gave him his first dose at 3:20PM and by 4, he was acting like his old self. He needed 2 more doses by 12 midnight but when he got up on Sunday morning, he said, "Mom, I feel much more better!" Needless to say, he got a lot of Miralax this weekend and no more desmopressin!

But, the fact that he needed so much care I think really worried him. He asked me last night, "What if I get sick?" and he also told me that he thought I might die when he was at camp. I asked him if he knew something that I didn't know! Basically, I reassured him that he was going to love camp and if he got sick, the camp moms and the nurse could help him. I also told him that they would call me if they needed me. This morning, he was so excited but then said, "what if I'm a little bit scared?" So, we had a nice talk in the car on the way over about how sometimes new things are a little scary but after you try them, you realize that you're not scared anymore. I told him about a couple of times that I had been a little scared when trying something. He seemed satisfied and everytime I turned around to look at him and talk about all of the fun things at camp, he would smile. When we got to church and he saw the busses in the parking lot he was really excited. I don't think he had thought much about how they would get to camp and he was thrilled by the look of the tour busses! He looked a bit sad as he hugged me good-bye, but he readily jumped up and went with his counselor when his name was called. I stood outside talking to 2 other brave moms and we waved as the busses pulled out of the parking lot.

You might be wondering how I managed to hold up....well, my little boy was a little scared, so I had to be brave for him. I think the gift of acting has to come along with motherhood! I have already written a card for him and will send another one tomorrow. The one I'm sending tomorrow is a music card, so he'll be thrilled. I'll be keeping my cell phone on at night in case they need to call from camp but I'm hoping they won't. I want him to have a terrific time and to be reassured that he can leave and I won't die while he's away. (I hope I don't!)