A trip to the ER was only the beginning...

After three days of watching Henry be completely lethargic and constant vomiting I couldn't handle it anymore.  I consulted three doctor friends and all of them told me he was probably just dehydrated but my instincts told me something else was wrong so I took him to the ER. First time anyone in our family had ever been to the ER.  I assumed we would just go get some fluids and then be home.  Nick stayed home with the two older kids to get them in bed. Praise the Lord our friend, Eddie, was working that evening which was a huge comfort.  After many tests, x-rays, ultrasounds our little Henry was diagnosed him with Intussusseption.    Inutssusa what??  I was asking the same thing.  I was in complete shock when the doctor told me we needed to get him to Atlanta to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Hospital (Egleston) as soon as possible for possible surgery.  Time was of essence.  He was calling the life flight to come get us if the ambulance couldn't get there soon enough   I was in complete shock.  

Did I mention I was in shock?  Nick was at home.  I was all alone with my baby.  And who would keep our other kids since both sets of grandparents were sick?  How long would we be there?  Was he going to be ok?  Surgery?  But he was only a baby.  Of course God knew all these details and would be there every step of the way.  All I could do was the next thing.  I could only focus on that moment or I would get too overwhelmed.  The details of the unknown was too much to to think about.  God provided our dear friend/neighbor Elizabeth who dropped everything to come, pack up our two big kids to care for them so Nick could meet us at the hospital. 

…..  we were off….off to Atlanta….on an ambulance….at 10:00pm.

We arrived at the ER at Egleston and were greeted by three ER doctors.  They were waiting in the hall for our arrival. There was no waiting around involved.  Things were moving fast.

 After more x-rays, ultrasounds and consultations with a team of doctors it was evident that something had to be done soon, very soon.  They told us that they could do a procedure that fixes the problem 80% of the time.  Ok, that sounded pretty promising.  Much better than surgery, right?  So we met with a radiologist and he went over what was about to happen.  My job was to hold him down under this huge machine while they did the procedure to blow air up his hiney.  It was the most horrible thing watching him struggle and be in so much pain.  I tried to comfort him.  He kept looking at me with the most pitiful eyes like "mom, why are you doing this too me.  Make it stop." It broke my heart.  I had to hold him and be strong while crying out to the Lord to heal him and help this procedure to be successful.  After an hour of trying to push his intestines out it was evident that it was not going to work. At that point surgery was necessary. Up to the operating room we headed.  I've never been so scared and anxious in my entire life.  I wanted to take his place.  I couldn't bear the thought of watching him suffer any longer but the thought of handing him over the surgeon was more than I could bear. 

 At 2:00 am the surgery began.  The longest night of my life.  It was just me and Nick.  All alone.  In this huge waiting room.  In the middle of the night.  No one around but us and the janitor.  An hour passed by….

….and then another hour…

 My heart ached to see my baby.   

Every second that ticked by seemed like an hour.  

I was so ready to hear some good news. 

Decemeber 27th  3:54 am
Surgeon just came out and said he is fine.  They were unable to do it laparoscopically so they had to do an incision to cut part of of his bowel out.  They took out his appendix while they were in there.  They are now taking him to recovery room.  Will be about an hour before we can see him. Surgery took two hours.  My heart is aching to see my baby.

12/27  6am

         All is well.  Praise Jesus! He is resting peacefully so we are going to try to get a nap.  Thanks for all your prayers.

Very long and exhausting night but thankfully he is sleeping peacefully with us now.  They were not able to do it through a laproscopic surgery so they had to do an incision.  They removed part of his bowels and they removed his appendix while they were in there.  He did fine through surgery but now has four scars on his tummy to show as his battle wounds.  He has been such a champ but this momma is just about had all I can take.  Thanks for all your prayers, texts and calls.  Can't imagine doing this without the body of Christ.  We are going to attempt to get a few minutes of sleep now but I'll try to update as I can either by text or Facebook. Love y'all.

Sent from my iPhone

 12/28 9:55am

The doctors say that Henry is recovering well.  He has been pretty heavily sedated since the surgery so he has been resting very comfortably.  He started having some clear liquids last night and seemed to tolerate them well.  Dr said he can start having some basic solids today so we will see how that goes.  The only time he has even let out a whimper is when he sees me or nick drinking.  Poor buddy has not help down anything in 6 days so I know he will be a new man when he is finally able to get and hold down the good stuff:). Nick and I got some good sleep last night all snuggled up on a single couch bed together😉. I feel lots better this morning and will hopefully be able to think more clearly and have a better perspective on things today.  They mentioned this morning that we might get to go home tomorrow at some point.  That's very exciting and at the same time a little overwhelming thinking about caring for him on my own but I know that God knows every single detail and will give me the strength to do it when it's time.  I think I'll have a better idea of what it will be like when he's not so sedated.  Love you all so much and am so grateful for each of you. Sorry for writing a novel!!

     

A different kind of Christmas

As you might could tell from the previous post that the month of December was bliss.  Parties, decorations and sweet memories being made all over the place. All seemed right with the world but as Christmas Day approached the reality of this broken and hurting world became more and more real to us. The reminder that if it wasn't for Jesus being born on Christmas Day and living a perfect life in our place then we would never be rescued and would have no hope in such hard and difficult times.  We wouldn't be able to face what the next few weeks would hold for our family without knowing what Christ had done for us.

Usually when I think of Christmas Eve and Day I think of a long table of family sitting around together eating a delicious meal, laughing and children running around screaming and playing.  I think of grandparents helping us put together the kids last minute Christmas gifts and hanging stockings with the anticipation of the kids giddiness the next morning.  But this Christmas did not go that way. A week before Christmas Nick's mom was scheduled to have an out-patient surgery to remove a tumor in her colon.  Well, that surgery was anything but out-patient.  After complication after complication it was a surgery that will never be forgotten.  It led to a 6 week hospital stay and months of recovery.  Her pain level and care were questionable at best.  Our hearts ached for her.  Our hearts ached for the pain and agony she was going through along with Nick's dad and sister who were so graciously caring for her.  We longed to be with her and help her but with three small kids were not exactly the picture of help for them.  Meanwhile, my parents were in Auburn with the flu so it just left our family of five to be together for Christmas.  Nick went to visit his mom after work when he could while I stayed home caring for the kids.  My heart was sad and lonely missing all our family and knowing what heartache they were going through. So trying to make the most of the holiday I decided to take the kids to Zaxby's to get a milkshake to try to bring a little cheer.  While in the drive thru Henry started screaming bloody murder. I asked the kids to comfort him and they did all they could.  We offered him a milkshake and he swatted it away.  Nothing would console him. He was shaking and sweating he was screaming so hard. I rocked him, sang to him, tried to feed him, everything I knew how and nothing worked.  Finally, I put him to bed and heard him cry out every once in a while but nothing too alarming.   The next morning, I thought it was unusual that we had not heard a peep from him still at 8:30.  He was always up by 7 or 7:30 so the whole family went in to check on him.  And much to our horror he lay in his crib completely lifeless in dried up vomit.  Spaghetti vomit from the night before. When we went in he did not move.  He just laid their barely holding his eyes open and did not even let out a whimper. I have never in my life felt like a more horrible mom.  I could not believe my child had slept in his vomit all night and all the screaming he had done the night before was because something was wrong.  I quickly bathed him, cleaned him up and held him tight.  He vomited the rest of the day and laid on my shoulder completely lethargic.  I told Nick that this was the worst stomach bug (or at least that's what we thought it was at the time) I had ever heard of or seen in my whole life.  I couldn't believe how completely pitiful he was. I couldn't think about Christmas, or gifts or food. All I could do was think about how sick my baby and my mother in law were.  I ached for them. A precious neighbor and friend, Elizabeth, brought us some homemade soup for Christmas Eve dinner and I've never felt the Lord's provision in such a tangible way to comfort my heart.  

That evening after putting the two big kids to bed we put the gifts under the tree for them to wake up Christmas morning all giddy and excited.  Surely Henry would be better I thought to myself.  If it's the 24 hour stomach bug then he should be better by Christmas morning.  

                         

But that night he was still completely lethargic and all he did was sleep on my chest. Even though I was worried about him I didn't mind too much;)

"Santa" wrote notes to the kiddos...

while the stockings were hung with care….

A note was even found under the tree from Will to Santa….

The house was ready for the little people to wake up and come see!

The big kids were up bright and early and of course watching the joy on their faces and the delight in their eyes was one of the most fun and exciting times as a parent.  

Plasma cars, Rainbow loom, Lego's, puzzles, princess purses, neckelaces…oh the joys of being 3 and 5!

And I got the sweetest note wrapped up in a toilet paper roll from the most thoughtful husband in the world.  He was was in the process of updating our bathroom and he put this under the tree so I could have a gift to "open".

And the little man did this the whole time. For those of you that know him will know this couldn't be any further from his wild and crazy little self.  

We had a birthday breakfast for Jesus!

As the day went on I became more and more anxious about this little guy while trying to continue to be play with the big kids and all their new toys.  A very strange and different Christmas Day.