QUARANTINE

Thursday afternoon I walked in to get Mercedes up from her nap and found her throwing up. We were about to leave for an important doctors appointment for Taylor. Plans changed, Taylor's mom went with him while I stayed with sick baby.

Friday night was the last time she threw up. I was relieved when she made it through the night and the next day she was feeling better. Happy day!

My dad was in town for MTC work, I had been looking forward to the visit for weeks, but because Mercedes got sick we had to cancel. I hated knowing he was only 25 minutes away at my grandparents. Saturday night I sanitized everything and we planned to meet my dad at church the next day, where we would be able to spend part of the day with him before his flight home to Provo.

Sunday, 2:00 a.m. I'm in the bathroom, and I'm sick. So bummed, disappointed, frustrated, worried, etc. I texted my dad in the morning and told him we wouldn't be able to meet him. We'd just have to wait to see him for a couple of more days when we fly to Utah for our Christmas visit. I was still bummed though.

Now worry set in that we would maybe not make our flight early Tuesday morning. But more than that I was worried for my husband, who has a weakened immune system and just spent 5 days in the hospital.

I quarantined myself in the bathroom. Taylor's sister Hannah who had just gotten into town the night before came to take Mercedes with her to church so that Taylor could rest. We are so grateful for her and for the rest of our family.

For the next 24 hours I stayed in the bathroom. I realized something, and that is that you could actually survive in a bathroom for practically forever if you had to...as long as someone brings you food.

I began to see the humor in the situation. Every so often as I lay on my makeshift bed on the floor of the bathroom, my husband would bring me a snack, with face mask and all. We weren't taking any chances. If it weren't for the Ipad and the never-ending abundance of online streaming Netflix movies, I don't know if I would have been able to do it and stay sane.

My body was getting quite sore from laying on the floor, but I didn't want to bother sanitizing any kind of air mattress/bed that was being offered. All of the blankets I had would be thrown in the wash after I was done.

By late afternoon Sunday (yesterday) I was feeling much better. I decided to stay until the next morning, just as an extra precaution. This morning I woke up and noticed how comfortable the floor felt. "Hmm, that's strange." I thought. "Maybe this is how people all around the world are able to sleep on floors their whole lives." The day before I had been thinking about it and wondered how people in third-world countries and other places sleep on hard surfaces. Maybe their bodies always ache, I don't know?

I woke this morning, stuffed all of my blankets, pillow cases, dirty clothes, etc. into a plastic bag, I sanitized the bathroom, bathed, put on clean clothes and happy days I left the bathroom for the first time in about 30 hours. I felt like a new woman. Mercedes came into the hall and it was so wonderful to see her beautiful face!

I HATE hate HATE the stomach flu but one of the worst parts about this whole experience was listening to my husband and daughter the whole time from the inside of the bathroom and not being able to see them. Every so often Mercedes would knock or pound on the bathroom door and yell, probably wondering "why in the world is mommy staying in the bathroom?".

One of the sweetest moments during this experience was last night while I heard Taylor getting Mercedes ready for bed. I stopped my movie to listen. I could hear them on our bed, as Taylor read the scriptures to Mercedes and then had family prayer with her. My heart melted. I am so grateful for my husband, and I love him so much.

Today we are trying to get some rest and also prepare for our early departure for Utah tomorrow. We're supposed to fly out of Reno at 9:55 in the morning which means we're leaving our apartment at about 6:00 a.m. I keep praying that Taylor will stay well, both before we leave and after.

All I can say is, what a ride it has been!