She'd been to an indoor saltwater pool frequently while she was pregnant to stay in shape, and they let babies swim there as long as they have on a swim diaper. It's not very deep, so it ended up just being us walking back and forth either holding the babies or putting them in a little floaty with toys to chew on while we talked. We have a lot of the same views on parenting, plus the added bonus of our kids being so similar in age. We also got asked if they were twins once!
We got into a routine of going to yoga on Tuesdays, and swimming once or twice a week in addition depending on Debbie's work schedule. I found myself looking forward to swimming because of the friend time and sometimes it lead to a good nap. We decided to sign the kids up for lessons!
Then one day we had a great time at the pool (it was the day before my 30th birthday). We put Abby to bed at the normal time, and about 9pm she started crying- just as we were going to bed. If I was a cry-it-out mom (I tried, and I was not good at it), I would have been very upset when I went to get her in the morning. When I went in to give her back her sucker, I realized it, and the bed, and her pjs, and her blanket were covered in vomit and she smelled like poop. I called Bean in, and he helped get her all cleaned up and sheets changed. As I was changing her diaper she started gagging, so I held her over the sink while she threw up some more. It was one of the saddest things I've seen.
I remembered the swim teacher giving us some pointers the first time we visited the pool- if they have diarrhea or vomiting they swallowed too much pool water. Well, she had both. We put her back down and then both sat in bed furiously googling what to do. We didn't know if we needed to pay $15 to call the doctor after hours, or take her to the ER, or go buy pedialyte, or sit up all night and watch her, or, or, or...
We decided the best thing to do was wait 30 minutes after her last throw up session (luckily the only one), and try to nurse a little bit to prevent dehydration. She was so tired because she's usually not ever awake at that time and basically just slept. She was feeling fine in the morning!
The next week was our first swim lesson and I'm sad to say it was disappointing. It felt more like a semi-private lesson with some group songs thrown in. Abby doesn't get the point that she's supposed to reach and pull with her arms to get the rubber ducky ahead of her, she just waits until it's close enough and grabs it with both hands. If I don't move forward, she still doesn't reach her arms out. And she kept trying to drink the water.
We did 2 submersions- one with me holding her on my hip and we both went under. That one went ok, I was freaked out at having water in my own face and eyes more than I was worried about her! I knew she would do fine. And she did! Then the teacher held her out in front by the elbows, dropped her under and encouraged Abby to swim toward her and pulled her up. Well, she came up screaming! She was so freaked out and truthfully, so was I! The whole point is to make it fun for them, and I'm ok with swallowing my fears and doing that for her.
Except the next morning she had a lot of watery stool that filled her diaper. And then the same thing the next day. I called and told them we wouldn't be coming to class that day. I got a little pushback- excuses like 'everyone's passing things around right now' and 'did you change her diet?' 'did you change your diet?'. Um no. It's the pool water. And I can't imagine having her in there 2 days a week going under, swallowing water, and having poop problems.
On top of that, Debbie said Neil had the exact same issues after we went the week before and didn't take Neil to any swim lessons because he was still dealing with the poop issues and had a bad diaper rash from it. Her babysitter Adelle also brought her granddaughter Christina that day, and wouldn't you know- Christina had issues too. Adelle didn't bring Christina to the 2nd swim lesson either.
Basically we are all quitting lessons, and feel a little weird about even going back to swim for fun now. It's sad, and it sucks to have to grow up and be a mother and deal with hard stuff like vomit, poop, and most importantly, advocating for your child. I'm not that great at advocating for myself, so maybe this is a lesson I need to learn.
Then one day we had a great time at the pool (it was the day before my 30th birthday). We put Abby to bed at the normal time, and about 9pm she started crying- just as we were going to bed. If I was a cry-it-out mom (I tried, and I was not good at it), I would have been very upset when I went to get her in the morning. When I went in to give her back her sucker, I realized it, and the bed, and her pjs, and her blanket were covered in vomit and she smelled like poop. I called Bean in, and he helped get her all cleaned up and sheets changed. As I was changing her diaper she started gagging, so I held her over the sink while she threw up some more. It was one of the saddest things I've seen.
I remembered the swim teacher giving us some pointers the first time we visited the pool- if they have diarrhea or vomiting they swallowed too much pool water. Well, she had both. We put her back down and then both sat in bed furiously googling what to do. We didn't know if we needed to pay $15 to call the doctor after hours, or take her to the ER, or go buy pedialyte, or sit up all night and watch her, or, or, or...
We decided the best thing to do was wait 30 minutes after her last throw up session (luckily the only one), and try to nurse a little bit to prevent dehydration. She was so tired because she's usually not ever awake at that time and basically just slept. She was feeling fine in the morning!
The next week was our first swim lesson and I'm sad to say it was disappointing. It felt more like a semi-private lesson with some group songs thrown in. Abby doesn't get the point that she's supposed to reach and pull with her arms to get the rubber ducky ahead of her, she just waits until it's close enough and grabs it with both hands. If I don't move forward, she still doesn't reach her arms out. And she kept trying to drink the water.
We did 2 submersions- one with me holding her on my hip and we both went under. That one went ok, I was freaked out at having water in my own face and eyes more than I was worried about her! I knew she would do fine. And she did! Then the teacher held her out in front by the elbows, dropped her under and encouraged Abby to swim toward her and pulled her up. Well, she came up screaming! She was so freaked out and truthfully, so was I! The whole point is to make it fun for them, and I'm ok with swallowing my fears and doing that for her.
Except the next morning she had a lot of watery stool that filled her diaper. And then the same thing the next day. I called and told them we wouldn't be coming to class that day. I got a little pushback- excuses like 'everyone's passing things around right now' and 'did you change her diet?' 'did you change your diet?'. Um no. It's the pool water. And I can't imagine having her in there 2 days a week going under, swallowing water, and having poop problems.
On top of that, Debbie said Neil had the exact same issues after we went the week before and didn't take Neil to any swim lessons because he was still dealing with the poop issues and had a bad diaper rash from it. Her babysitter Adelle also brought her granddaughter Christina that day, and wouldn't you know- Christina had issues too. Adelle didn't bring Christina to the 2nd swim lesson either.
Basically we are all quitting lessons, and feel a little weird about even going back to swim for fun now. It's sad, and it sucks to have to grow up and be a mother and deal with hard stuff like vomit, poop, and most importantly, advocating for your child. I'm not that great at advocating for myself, so maybe this is a lesson I need to learn.
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