Monday, May 01, 2006

Fondue Pot = Food Poisoning?

For Pete's sake! All I seem to write about here lately is getting sick and food poisoning. We just can't seem to catch a break.

So here's my weekend story - sad, but true. Please be warned that this post contains references to bodily functions that happen when one has food poisoning.

On Friday night, we dropped Ava off with friends so that Jody and I could enjoy an evening out to ourselves to celebrate our anniversary. We went to The Melting Pot - a fondue restaurant that I've heard great things about over the years and have been wanting to go to for quite some time. The ambiance was great, the food was delicious, the company was wonderful. :) It was a great evening. And, possibly best of all, Ava had no problems at all while we were gone. She was very happy to stay with our friends. Who could've asked for more, right?

Jody woke up first Saturday morning to diarrhea and vomiting. He NEVER, EVER throws up and hasn't since he was in high school, so he knew something was up.

I woke up about an hour and a half later to the same thing. First the diarrhea, then, about 30 minutes later, I ran to the toilet to throw up. My first thought (since I didn't know Jody had been sick yet) was that I had consumed too much of the chocolate fondue the night before (because I did indulge quite a bit) and my body was just getting it out of my system. But then I threw up again and a few times after that and, after finding out Jody was in the same predicament, I was certain we had food poisoning.

I called my OB's office a little while later to make sure the baby wouldn't be affected by my illness. The doctor reassured me that food poisoning is contained in the gut and would not cause the baby any harm. She did caution me to keep myself hydrated and I did my best, though it was really hard for a few hours to keep anything in my system.

It was a miserable day. I stayed in bed most of the day. Jody felt slightly better than I did, so he did his best to take care of Ava, who was still not eating very much after her recent bout w/ tummy sickness a few days before. She wanted to nurse and, while I let her a few times, I didn't feel it was in my best interest for her to since I was not keeping down any fluids and what I did have needed to go to the baby. So we let her drink milk with Ovaltine and Gatorade - not things she'd typically have, but we pretty much felt that whatever kept *her* hydrated and happy was good for us too.

We all took a nap together that afternoon, which was very much needed. I didn't eat anything, except for a few Saltines (which I threw up) all day long, but my stomach did NOT want food in it. I ate small amounts of food on Sunday, but it still felt funky. And even this morning, after having some scrambled eggs and toast, I feel blah, though definitely not nauseous (which is a relief!).

The conclusion we've come to is that the restaurant had to have had bad meat. Yes, I said the "m" word. I ate meat. Might as well come clean now that I've been having some meat every now and then for the past few weeks. I've decided to follow my body's lead for this pregnancy and, since I need in excess of 75 to 100 grams of protein per day to ward off pre-eclampsia and HELLP Syndrome (which I had with Ava), I am allowing myself to eat meat if my body craves it. (No stone throwing, please?)

Anyway, we think it was bad meat because we were very sure to cook the meat for at least the amount of time recommended, but I did all of mine for even longer than that because I am wary about undercooked meat and because I'm pregnant and did NOT want to deal with food poisoning.

I am going to write The Melting Pot a letter to explain what happened. I think they need to be aware of it, especially if others got sick from that evening as well. And it's even more frustrating that we got so sick after we paid more money that evening than I think we've ever paid for a meal. You'd think that for the price (over $100), they'd have really good quality food, meats, etc. Heck, just the fact that they serve raw meat, you'd think their quality standards would have to be pretty high or they'd be dealing with cases of food poisoning all the time.

So, here it is, Monday and we are both feeling better, but still not 100%. Jody stayed home from work today and I'm sure I would have as well if I were in his shoes. I will admit that I'm doing TONS better than I was on Saturday though. I spent 95% of Saturday either laying in bed or on the couch and the other 5% was spent in the bathroom. I think it may take a few more days before we are back to our old selves.

It sure does make you question all food (meat or not) though. I'm finding myself being skiddish of anything I put in my mouth now.

Anyway, I hope everyone had a much better weekend than we did.

9 Comments:

At 5/01/2006 10:46 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear that y'all have been so crappy. :) Food poisoning is the poopiest.
Feel better soon. Much love and healing light to you, Jody, and Ava.

 
At 5/01/2006 12:01 PM, Blogger Nelly said...

That night me and "the girls" went to dinner there, I had the same problem (not the vomiting part). I barely made it to J's house afterwards. It wasn't good. Nobody else had it though. I might have just had a piece of meat that wasn't cooked all the way or something. I had really bad stomach cramps for a couple hours but only had to run to the pot once. Much less than it sounds like you did. What a crappy way to spend your "anniversary" weekend a? Glad Ava did good though!

 
At 5/01/2006 4:15 PM, Blogger Primal Mama said...

oh no! That sounds like an awful end to a great dinner :(

No stone throwing here, you can't control what your body craves while pregnant, I say go with it, eat what you want to!

I would definatly write or call them and let them know you guys got sick, especially after spending that much money on dinner!

 
At 5/01/2006 6:30 PM, Blogger Crunchy Domestic Goddess said...

c-ster - thank you, sweetie. you always have such a way with words. ;)

nelly - sorry you had to deal with a bit of it yourself. it's kind of scary how easy it seems to be to get food poisoning. i'm hearing about more and more cases of it lately. ack.

dawn - thanks. yep, i have a letter ready to go into the mail. i think they need to know so they can look into the possibility of bad meat or cross-contamination, which sounds more likely to have been the case according to a friend of mine who used to work in food inspection.

 
At 5/01/2006 8:06 PM, Blogger Ms. Doe said...

Boy, you really are having a rough couple weeks. Man, I hope you get a break here soon! Big hugs to you, you really need it!

 
At 5/01/2006 9:58 PM, Blogger city dweller said...

I would definitely let the Melting pot know what happened and see if they'll compensate you for part of it? That really sucks. :)

 
At 5/02/2006 8:47 AM, Blogger Amy T said...

What a horrible way to end your anniversary celebration! At least your baby is OK -- our bodies do a lot to keep the unborn safe.

No stone throwing here -- I stay non judgemental about people's food choices and I'm a happy omnivore with no bone to pick with anybody. (pun intended this time!LOL!)

I hope you and Jody feel better soon. You haven't had a lot of luck with food and illness lately...

 
At 5/02/2006 12:36 PM, Blogger Mama T said...

You guys seem to get food poisoning an awful lot!? Did you ever think that maybe you both got the same virus your daughter had earlier? Whatever it was, I hope you're all feeling lots better.

 
At 5/02/2006 1:03 PM, Blogger Crunchy Domestic Goddess said...

tiffiny - thank you. :)

cityslicker mom - hi and welcome to my blog. :) yah, it does suck. we'll see what comes of my letter.

amy - thanks! it is amazing what our bodies can do to protect our babies.
hehe, liked your pun.

tonja - that's something we started considering earlier today, but i'm not so sure. ava was sick wed. night and only had vomiting for about 5 hours. her energy and mood never suffered. then we didn't get sick until saturday morning, but we both had a lot more symptoms than she had including extreme lack of energy, aches, poor mood, etc. - plus it coincided w/ our dinner. in fact, jody said he started feeling crappy on our way home from the restaurant. so...it's hard to say. i don't think we'll ever know for sure one way or the other, but if it may have been food poisoning, i do think the melting pot should look into it for health reasons, etc. i didn't ask them for my money back or anything in my letter. i just want them to investigate. i don't want anyone else to have to go thru that.
thanks for wishing us well.

 

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