I Survived Projectile Vomiting

(originally appeared on WorkIt Mom Entrepreneur Mom blog)

Had to republish this here because it was a monumental, rite-of-passage motherhood experience for me!


I Survived Projectile Vomiting

Not my projectile vomiting, but baby's.

I think I've just entered a new level of work-at-home motherhood. If you told me a few years back that my workday would be interrupted by a baby throwing up all day long, I would have thought you were crazy. Little did I know.

Yesterday was a day like any other weekday - babysitter arrived on time, I settled in to work. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Baby had just thrown up her breakfast.

Quick gear shift from work mode into mommy mode.

Was it something I fed her? Were those grapes going bad? Did I give her too many grapes last night? I don't know why I focused in on the grapes as the culprit, but that was my first thought. We wiped her off, changed her shirt, I comforted her for a while, then went back to the other room to work.

Knock knock. She threw up again. All over. This time, a bath was in order. We ran a bath and put her in. I made sure the babysitter was okay watching her as baby played contentedly in the tub, then went back to work.

Right after she was clean, dry and dressed, baby threw up again. By then I was in the middle of attending an online panel that I was covering for an online publication. So much for work. Baby was in need. Gear shift. Getting priorities straight.

We changed her clothes again, and I called the pediatrician. Yes, there is a stomach bug going around. Vomiting for a day then diarrhea for a day. Oh boy. My 17-month old daughter must have caught a stomach bug at the fitness club play center a few days ago.

I closed my laptop and spent the rest of the afternoon sitting with her, catching the vomit in towels, holding her, watching Elmo with her (thank God for Elmo, the new toddler pacifier), and changing her clothes and even bathing her a second time.

She couldn't keep anything down - not Pedialyte, not water, not any part of the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast). In face, her biggest throw up was after a little applesauce.

I was able to get her to nap for about an hour in the late afternoon and squeezed in a few work tasks in between worrying that baby was going to vomit in her sleep and choke to death.

Later that evening, she was asking for "Feff," her word for "Food." I mixed some plain white rice with a little chicken broth (per the nurse's instructions), and she ate it and kept it down. The entire household sighed in relief. Then she drank half a bottle of water and kept it down.

Once she was asleep for the night, I squeezed in one more task for work then called it a day.

That was my workday the other day. How was yours?

My Mommy Briefcase

I originally posted this on the Working Woman blog but thought it would be fun to have here as well!

When I was single, I used to have those embarrassing moments when I'd reach into my overstuffed purse for a pen during a client meeting and out comes a slew of tampons. Now that I'm a mommy, the fallout tends to be diapers and sippy cup. Not as embarrassing but still not so professional. I've been feeling like I need a Mommy Briefcase.


Okay, I'm using the term "Mommy Briefcase" loosely. I don't know about you, but I'm not really one to carry a briefcase. I'm more into the "everything bag," a canvas or nylon sack where I just toss everything into it. Not very professional. So I decided to find an attractive bag that I could carry to client meetings that didn't look like a bag lady's accessory.


I found a great compartmentalized bag from SkipHop that could also serve the dual purpose of professional looking purse and stand-in diaper bag so I wouldn't have to carry my bag and a diaper bag whenever I had baby in tow.

The bag is great, however, I somehow manage to overstuff it just the same - the only difference now is that everything is stuffed into its own compartment.

So what do I have in my Mommy Bag? Let's see...

1. Several pens - you can never have too many pens

2. Spiral notebook - to take notes at client meetings

3. Wallet - overstuffed, mind you

4. Envelope of coupons - I hated forgetting my coupons every time I went to the store

5. Digital camera - never know when baby is going to do something cute

6. Two cell phones - one for long distance calls, one for local (don't ask)

7. Terralina lotion - my new favorite lotion, unscented

8. Bobbie Brown lip color - a lovely neutral brown shade

9. Two spare diapers - in their own compartment, mind you

10. Baggie of diaper wipes

11. Pacifier

12. Two small plastic giraffes

13. Sippy cup with water

14. Baggie with Puffins cereal

15. Rubber duck

16. Anti bacterial spray

What's in YOUR Mommy Bag?