I won’t sugar coat it. Today was yet another tough one.

Millie woke up and got into bed with us to snuggle, which is the sweetest red flag. 30 minutes later she told us her tummy hurt and 31 minutes later Nick was holding her on the way to the bathroom while cupping her vomit. I had hoped that after a week since my symptoms started we had gotten away with me as the only victim of the bug, but alas.

We gave up on the plans we had and allowed unlimited iPad time. She didn’t eat and had a fever. She even fell asleep for a couple of hours. I know just how bad she felt because I just went through it. I just hope she bounces back quicker than I did.

She perked up a bit after a dose of children’s Tylenol. At about 4 we all started to go stir crazy and the adults were starving. When we tried to pull her away from the iPad it felt like a scene from A&E’s intervention when they take the drugs away from a late stage addict. There was screaming. Our friends were working from home in the next room while we were trying (badly) to get her dressed and diffuse the situation. We all got frustrated and did not show up as our best selves. Dr. Becky would be horrified. We apologized for being the worst house guests ever: loud, not very fun, haven’t left the apartment in 24 hours, puked all over their things, constantly doing laundry, carrying disease.

Eventually we took a short walk to a local spot for some dinner. We tried to have a heart to heart with Millie—and each other—about what a hard time we’re all having. She did not want to talk about it. Nick and I split a Francesinha, which is a local Porto specialty that can only be described as a very wet meat sandwich. Here’s a internet photo:

We walked through a pretty market and got her a fresh fruit juice hoping she’d down it, but she barely drank any.

When we got home I left to go and meet up with ex-colleagues who happened to be in Porto on vacation (hi Katelyn!! Hi Angela!). It was nice to break away for a couple of hours and a good reminder that we should each figure out how to have a bit more solo time. We talked about work stress and in the Uber home I reminded myself that as tough as things can be on the trip, it still beats spending all day on Zoom.