Dallin's Week

Having a sick baby is heart-breaking.  They can't tell you what they need, they can't tell you where they hurt, they just look at you with those big blue eyes and you just know that something's not right.  That's how it's been with Dallin this week.

On Sunday, my sweet little 5-month old woke up with an old man smoker cough.  It wasn't horribly frequent, and he didn't seem too bothered otherwise, so I didn't think too much of it.  By Monday morning, I could hear crackling and wheezing too, so I took him in to see his pediatrician Monday afternoon.  She could also hear the wheezing and crackling, but said it didn't seem too serious yet. She tried an Albuterol nebulizer treatment to see if that would lessen the wheezing, but it didn't make any significant changes.  She sent us home with instructions to come back if his condition got worse.

Not more than five minutes after arriving home, Audrey started to complain that her ears were hurting - go figure, so first thing Tuesday morning, we took her in to verify that she had an ear infection.  While we were there, the doctor listened to Dallin and sure enough, he sounded a little bit better.  The rest of the day, he continued coughing and crackling a little bit, but he seemed to be getting better, until right before bed when he threw up.

As soon as he woke up on Wednesday morning, I could tell that he was getting worse.  His coughs were not as strong, as if he were getting tired of working. After his morning feeding, he threw up again. I took him back to the doctor (trip #3!) and his condition was getting worse.  Now his breathing rate was getting elevated and his wheezing was getting worse.  We did another breathing treatment and some deep suctioning, and this time it helped his breathing rate come down a little bit.  

 We went home, and I tried to feed him, but he was just too tired to eat.  He just wanted to sleep and could hardly keep his eyes open.  Within a couple hours, his fever spiked up to 103 degrees and he was lethargic.  I took him right back to the doctor and she could see that he had taken a turn for the worse.  She did another deep suctioning treatment and put him on oxygen.  It was pretty obvious that he was going to need to go to the hospital for more intense care, so we started talking about going to Riverton Hospital for observation, but his breathing rate kept getting higher and his condition was getting critical.  The doctor ordered ambulance transportation with paramedics to Primary Children's Medical Center.  Before I knew what was going on, a group of 6 or 7 EMT's and paremedics rush into the room and I got Dallin ready for his little ride.  They asked if I wanted to ride in the ambulance or follow in my car.  I couldn't bear the thought of not being next to my little man, so I left my car at the clinic and hopped in next to Dallin.

At this point, I'm having total deja vu from Isaac's bout with RSV right before his 3rd birthday.  He had very similar symptoms and also had to be transported via ambulance from the doctors office up to Primary.  I remember the conversation with the EMT while in the ambulance reassuring me that he was going to be just fine, they didn't even need to turn the lights on.  She said that when the lights are on, you know it's serious.

So as soon as I climbed in with Dallin, then saw the lights blaring and siren wailing, I knew that things were serious.  His breating rate was over 100 breaths per minute, where it should be between 40-50.  He was working so hard to breath, they were expecting him to just quit at any minute, so the paramedic assured me that if that happened, he would be able to resuscitate him and keep him alive.  (AT THIS POINT I AM FREAKING OUT!!!) 

As soon as we get to the ER, they put him on the exam table, get him assessed, and start an IV to get him hydrated and give him some Tylenol to reduce his fever.  Within the hour, his heart rate was slowing down and he started to perk up a little bit.  They swabbed his nose to see what was making him sick and ran a bunch of blood tests.  A couple hours later, it came back that he has RSV and pneumonia!  I had suspected RSV, but it was different from our previous experience with RSV because he wasn't having the copious mucous secretions that are one of the tell-tale signs of the disease.  But the pneumonia helps explain the coughing fits and why his disease progressed the way it did.  One of the blood tests measured how much carbon dioxide was in his blood to see how well his lungs were functioning, and since his numbers came back good, he didn't need to be in the ICU.

By about 10pm, we were taken to his room and met with a handful of doctors that went over his condition.  He started antibiotics for the pneumonia, and supplemental oxygen to give his lungs a rest, and by morning, he was feeling a lot better.  The criteria for being able to come home were 1. to not need deep suctioning, and thank goodness, his mucous was not a problem. 2. be able to eat, and during the night, he nursed ever few hours and was able to have satisfactory urinary output, and 3. be able to breathe with a half liter of oxygen.  Since he was able to do all those things, we were on our way home by lunch time. 

My sweet brother Chris was able to give us a ride from the hospital back to the van so we could take our car home.  Dallin is still on oxygen and will be for a week or so.  He's still coughing and not feeling very good, but at least I am able to feel confident in my ability to take care of him. 

I'm grateful that I had  been through a similar experience with Isaac nearly five years ago so I knew what signs to look for, and I'm so glad that I listened to my gut feeling to take Dallin back to the doctor for the 4th time, just hours after being there before.  I knew that I was not able to help him feel better and that he needed more help. 

I am also humbled by how wonderful everyone was taking care of my sweet boy.  In D&C 18:10, we learn that the worth of souls is great in the sight of God.  Well, last night, I was pretty amazed when the cavalry showed up to take Dallin to the hospital.  All those medical professionals cared enough about the health of my sweet baby boy to take him to the hospital as quickly and safely as possible.  He's also worth enough for all the commuters coming home during rush out to get out of our way so that we could get my son where he needed to go.  Even though it was dark outside and I was looking out the back of the ambulance, I could see that people were getting out of our way so that we could drive as quickly as possible.   Yep, my son is worth all that fuss, because he's pretty darn special.

Welcome, Dallin!

It's been an embarrassingly long time since I've done journaling of any sort, so I figure it's better to just pick up and go forward instead of dwelling on my ever growing list of imperfections.  But before my memory fades too much, I need to recount a few important events of this past year, most notably, the birth of little Dallin.

I've known for a couple years that a little boy was still meant to join our family, and I knew his name would be Dallin.  I thought when we got pregnant with Audrey that she was him, but of course when we found out she was girl, I knew that our family would not be complete until he was here.  We had originally talked about starting to try to get pregnant some time this year, a process that usually includes a lot of medication and patience, but once again, I was reminded that I am not in charge of my life, but God is.  In January, I started getting sick and having strange symptoms, prompting Jarom to ask me to take the Lasagna Test.  I don't have many food aversions while pregnant, but for some reason, I don't like lasagna.  Something about the tomato sauce and cheese that does not sit will with me, when I otherwise adore lasagna.  So sure enough, I made lasagna, and had a hard time!  So that night, in disbelief, I took a pregnancy test and sure enough, was pregnant.

Since it was such a surprise, I had no idea how far along I was, so I went to the doctor for an ultrasound, expecting to be maybe 6-7 weeks along, and was expecting to see a little gummy bear.  But as soon as the baby showed up on the screen, I could see little arms and legs flailing around and I knew that I was much farther along than I first guessed, more like 11 weeks at that point!  A few weeks later, I had a Shirodkar cerclage placed and we were well under way.

The pregnancy itself was pretty awful.  With the more invasive cerclage, I was in a lot more pain than usual, plus Audrey was still very (VERY) young and I was doing my best to keep up with her and the older kids.  I was a frequent visitor to the ER including a very expensive and not very fun ambulance ride.

At 35 weeks and 5 days, Sunday, August 5, 2012, I was having another hard day.  I stayed home from church and rested while Jarom took the kids.  After church, we went to Michele's for dinner with the family, and as soon as she saw me, Michele suggested I turn right around and get to the hospital.  I didn't eat anything in case I would deliver, even though Michele made a yummy cake for the August birthdays. Since Dallin was due August 28th, it was pretty certain that he would be born at least some time in the month, we sang to Gevin and Baby Hatch (not knowing that it would turn out to be his birthday!).  After everyone was done eating, Gennelyn followed us home to watch the kids so I could get my things, then Jarom took me to the hospital.

Within an hour of arriving, I was in the OR being prepped for my c-section.  The way the light was positioned, I was able to see the procedure and watched, fascinated, as my sweet little baby boy was born.  Even a month early, he was still 7 lbs. 6 oz. and 21 inches long.  He was adorable and had the sweetest cry!

The kids were so excited to meet their new little brother, ESPECIALLY Isaac!  He loved his brother from the first moment he laid eyes on him, if not sooner, and is still the best big brother a kiddo could ever hope to have.

Dallin is nearly four months old now and is such a good baby!  He has a very calm demeanor and is just happy to be there.  He eats constantly and poops all the time, and I adore him.  Here are his monthly pics:

 

 

Spring Break

With Spring Break this week, I've been trying to get out of the house more and do fun stuff with the kids.  Monday, we went to the zoo (the pictures from that are on Jarom's phone, so eventually I'll get those from him and post them too).  Then on Tuesday we went to the Bean Museum at BYU with some friends.  The kids saw so many exotic animals this week, both dead and alive!

 Cute troop of kids: Kaleb, Katie, Mason, Emilie, and Isaac.  Notice how all the kids have such sweet smiles - except for Isaac's growl?  Yup, that would be my kiddo.

 Playing in the play room. And of course, Isaac found a truck.  Just shocking.

 Audrey was such a trooper being dragged all over the place!

I just love Emilie's smile, this little girl melts my heart daily!

Happy Birthday Isaac!

I knew as soon as I saw the idea for these online that they would be perfect for the party - spaghetti and meatball cupcakes!  Yummy, right?

Having a birthday on April Fool's Day is just begging for some silliness, right?  I think some silly glasses provides just the right amount.

 Lining up for some pinata beating.

 These kids really got into it! 

 Lots of fun presents, opened in such a flurry that I hardly got to see who gave what, but he was thoroughly spoiled!

 And the birthday cupcake! 

Sure love my big 6-year-old!

Happy Birthday Jarom!

Happy Birthday Jarom! (In March!)  But hey, a little extra celebrating isn't a bad thing, right?  So doesn't this cake look amazing?  Yeah, it tasted even better than it looks!  So happy to have an excuse to make a fabulous cake!

 He could hardly wait to sink his teeth into it.  So to explain the candles, Jarom turned 35, so he had one whole candle for each decade, and one half one for, you got it, a half  decade.  Leave it to Jarom to come up with that one!

 Happy Birthday Jarom!  Here's to another 35 (and much more)!

Audrey's Baby Blessing

It's about time to update my blog with some of the comings and going of late.  On March 6th, we blessed sweet little Audrey Marie.  We are so grateful for everyone who was able to share this special day with us!  Here are a few pictures from her big day.  First, with mommy and daddy:

 Some handsome uncles, Jeff and Chris.

 Some more handsome uncles and a cousin: Nathan, Justin, and Ammon.

Cutie cousins Betsy & Audrey with their mommies.  Just think of all the trouble these girls will get in to when they get older!

 Getting some love from Grandma Hatch.

And some love from Grandma Sugden too.

 Emilie made sure she got some much-needed attention too!

 This whole party thing really wore her out! 

Life lesson

Today was one of those hard-lessons-to-learn kind of days.  While I was at the grocery store, I told the kids that if they were really good, I would let them get a little chocolate from the check-out lane.  I hadn't ever let them get those before, even though they look at them every time I go to the store, so I thought they would be excited and grateful and all those emotions we parents want to assume our children will feel.  Because my transaction was a bit more complicated than usual (but worth it to get lots of cereal for cheap!), I wasn't paying as much attention to what my should-be angelic children were doing.  As I was balancing coupons and keys and credit card, I noticed that Emilie was working on her second piece of chocolate (arg!), so I was able to pay for that one.  It's hard to teach an almost 3-year-old about self control.  We left the store and I piled my groceries in the car when I noticed Isaac was *still* chewing on chocolate and was shoving a wrapper between the car's bench and the side of the car.  I eventually got it out of him that he was just finishing his 3rd piece of chocolate!!  I only paid for the first piece, and by now the kids and groceries  were loaded into the car, Audrey was crying, and I was done, so I huffed and puffed and lectured Isaac about stealing.  I was not in a good mood.

After dinner, we went out to get some frozen yogurt, but before we could have dessert, I told Isaac that we needed to go back to the store so he could apologize and pay for the chocolates he ate.  We made him use some of his coveted tooth money.  Before we left, he even wrote a little "I'm sorry for stealing your chocolate" letter.  Jarom and the girls waiting in the car while I took Isaac in.  We walked over to the Customer Service desk, and I could tell Isaac was really nervous.  The lady looked at me and asked what I needed, and I looked at Isaac, and she got a very kind look on her face and asked him if there was something he needed to tell her.  (From her reaction, I got the feeling that she had to do this often!)  Isaac was very quiet, but he handed her the note, apologized, and handed over the money.  She was very nice about it, but reminded him that taking things like that was shop-lifting and could actually get Mom or Dad in trouble with the police!  He was pretty worried about that part. 

While it was only a matter of $.66, I wanted to make sure that Isaac understood the severity of his actions.   It was hard as a mother to watch him be uncomfortable and to have to take responsibility in such a mature way, but I'm very proud of him, he was so brave!  I thought it was especially kind of him to write a little note to try to smooth things over with the store.  I just hope that he remembers this experience and will think twice before letting his appetite dictate his actions.