Not So Chic Moments

** WARNING: if you have a weak stomach or simply don't like hearing about bodily functions, turn away!!!**

Never did I imagine I'd have to open a blog post with that.  Ever.  However, this is my little space and I've spent the last day trying to not just curl up in a ball and cry/burn my house down as a solution.  So I just need to vent.  But I meant it about the warning.  

Sophie is my baby.  At a whopping 59 pounds (approx.), British lab mix she's a big, sharp angled baby, but she's mine.  But she's always been sort of... different.  She was terrified of going out to our back garden when she was really little because the noises of the planes flying so low overhead scared the living daylights out of her.  Same for any other loud noises.  Not timid generally, but kind of a pansy.  Which is hilarious because she looks ferocious at times.

She's also always had a weak stomach.  I've spent her entire 4 years of life having to tell G that the kennel needed to be cleaned out again, while scrubbing the carpets myself.  At least once a year she gets horrific diarrhea, sometimes for no reason, sometimes from stress.  Last May when we were headed back to Missouri for my brother's graduation we awoke the morning we were supposed to leave to it all over our living room.  She did fine on the 20 hour car ride there, we gave her some chewable pepto bismol at the suggestion of a doctor, and she did fine.   Until we got there when she pretty much bled all over the place convincing me she was dying.  My trusted (favorite ever) vet back home assured me that no, she was bleeding because her intestines were exhausted from it all and that it should stop within 24 hours.  But she wasn't allowed inside the house for obvious reasons until the bleeding stopped.  And I usually can handle it in stride because it's G's job to handle.

Only he's gone.  And she's got it worse than I've ever seen.  But not so bad I'm worried, because it's just a bit stretched out.  I was awoken at 7 a.m. this morning by her... after the fact of course.  I let the dogs out, I dropped baking soda all over it (helpful advice, good for absorption of both liquids and smells, makes clean-up a breeze), and then cleaned it up before letting them in and feeding them.  It seems easier to clean, if you get my drift, and she's not bleeding all over the place (though I've cleaned up plenty of blood).  And I usually check more on her disposition.  She's not listless in the least and in fact the first time I thought it might be Audrey because Sophie was all hyper and ready to play.

But this was the 4th time in about 24 hours.  I can't find the pepto bismol and I just want to cry.  I've bleached and scubbed both her food dish and the communal water bowl (though Audrey seems fine, so who knows) because I wanted to nix even the idea of a flu bug.  I've only gotten about 3 hours of sleep at a time because I'm just stressed.  However, at least I discovered how helpful baking soda is, which should come in handy with a baby.  Silver lining.