BACK in the early days of parenthood when it felt like all I was doing was breastfeeding and I was sore and tired, I made myself a deal. I promised myself that if I managed to exclusively breastfeed Sophie for six months, I would treat myself to a trip to a spa. And you know what it worked. The idea of a day of complete relaxation was enough of a carrot that on the really tough days in the beginning it stopped me giving up – something I am really pleased about now.

I would daydream about going for a massage when Sophie was doing her hour-long marathon feeds and it seemed like something to aim for.

Well, more than five months after reaching my target, I finally got my day off and headed off on a luxury spa day. It was both wonderful and very strange. Since Sophie was born, a part of my brain has always been focused on what she is doing. This focus has at least tripled since she became mobile and at constant risk of getting into mischief.

But for once I could switch off (well almost, of course I still kept wondering what she was up to) and completely relax for the first time since becoming a mother.

In fact my little day out was the longest I have ever been away from Sophie. And while it was fantastic to get away and relax, I was really pleased to see her again when I got home. It was good practice being away from her as I will be going back to work soon, and at least now I know we are both capable of spending the day apart.

I did however come back down to earth with a bit of a bump. Just 90 minutes after I'd been relaxing in a Jacuzzi, I was covered from head to foot in banana vomit, reminding me just what a whirlwind ride parenthood is.

Luckily Sophie had seemed right as rain while I was gone, but that night was struck down with her first ever stomach bug.

I know we have been lucky to get this far without her getting ill like this before, but seeing her look so helpless and miserable as she brought up her dinner was a very upsetting end to a wonderful day.

After a conversation with an out-of-hours doctor and a very unpleasant and restless night, we decided she probably had the winter vomiting bug, also known as Norovirus.

So I have spent the weekend comforting a very poorly and fed up little girl. For one day she was only able to keep down small amounts of water, but she is gradually starting to get her appetite back. The most surprising thing is that it was almost like having a newborn baby again (albeit a much heavier one). She was content to just lie on my knee and cuddle (normally she's such a fidget I am lucky if I can get a quick hug as she cruises round the furniture) and would drift in and out of sleep as we snuggled up together. I also remembered what it was like to not be able to put a baby down without tears as she attached herself to me like a baby koala.

Hopefully she'll be back to fighting fitness soon, although I'll miss our lovely long cuddles.