A normal day turned scary

Friday started out a normal day for us. I had 2 massages, Matt was working from home and we went grocery shopping that evening. Sometime between the 'normal' and putting groceries away, our day suddenly turned extremely scary. We live in a ranch house with the only stairs being the ones down to the basement. There is a door which is normally closed, but occasionally gets left open (my cat's food and litter box are down there). Friday night, I was putting groceries away, Tyler & Bria (and I thought, Cameron) were playing in their room, and Matt had gone to run another quick errand. Unbeknownst to me, our basement door was not latched and while I was putting groceries away, I heard the sound that makes any mother's heart stop...thump, thump, thump, thud. WAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Cameron had fallen down our basement stairs...13 steps and hit the concrete floor. I raced down as soon as I heard the first thump, but he was already at the bottom when I got there. He was crying (thank you Lord!) and was very scared, but doing a quick check over him, I didn't see any blood. I scooped him up and carried him back upstairs. I was shaking so badly, I called Matt and told him what happened. Cameron calmed down fairly easily and as I felt his head, I felt numerous 'eggs'. But he was playing happily with Bria so I was trying to will my heart to start beating again (or to slow down, I'm not sure which it was doing at the moment!). Matt suggested I call my cousin Lisa, who's a paramedic and ask her what she thought. She recommended taking him to the ER (which was Children's Mercy to us) just because he was so little and couldn't tell us if anything hurt, etc. We were getting ready to go (and take T & B to Grandpa & Grandma's) and Cameron threw up, which I vaguely remembered as being one of the signs of a concussion. I was immediately VERY stressed and concerned, but was trying to remain calm, for the sake of my children. We got everyone loaded up and the other 2 dropped off and Cameron started getting sleepy (or course it didn't help that it was close to his normal bedtime anyway). I kept talking to him and didn't let him fall asleep (my paranoia wouldn't let me!).

We got checked into the ER of Children's Mercy South around 8pm (I think he fell around 6:15/6:30). While we were checking in, he threw up again. We got in pretty quickly (and were put in the same room we were in when we took Bria in for dehydration...bad memories!!!) and while we waited to see the doctor, he threw up a 3rd time. After the doctor checked him over physically, she recommended a CT scan to determine if there was any internal problems. He had to be perfectly still though for the scan, so she recommended us getting him to go to sleep. Not a hard task, considering it as bedtime and he was thoroughly exhauted, not to mention he probably didn't feel so hot. We laid him down in a infant CT board (cut out specifcally so they can't move once in it) and between his little bear, his blanket, and me humming Psalm 4B, he fell asleep. When we were pretty sure he was really out, I carried him down to the CT room. But since I'm pregnant, I couldn't stay in there, so I went out in the hall and Matt stayed in with him. He apparently did awesome, only slightly waking at one point, which they gave him some sugar water on his pacifier and he was back to sleep. When we got back from the CT scan, he slept for a little while longer, but then woke up and threw up for the 4th time since the whole thing happened. Thankfully, the scan came back negative for any internal bleeding or swelling, but since he had thrown up again, the doctor recommended that we get admitted to be observed by the neurosurgeons and for fluid intake to ward off dehydration. Unfortunately, that meant going by ambulance to the downtown Children's Hospital because the South facility doesn't have neurosurgeons or the required equipment. So when that had been determined, Matt went home to relieve his mom, who had taken Tyler & Bria back to our house and got them in bed and had 2 other grandkids at her house with grandpa. He left around 11pm.

After they determined that Cameron would be admited, they decided to go ahead and get the iv going. Talk about traumatic, but thankfully he did much better than sister did (though I'm not sure mom did any better this time). After they got the iv in (the back of his hand, where I think is the MOST painful spot it could go), he was ready to sleep again. (They also included some Zofran, an anti-nausea medicine in the iv, with the hopes that it would keep him from throwing up again.) While we waited for the ambulance (that only does transports to and from the Children's Hospital (South to Downtown)), he slept, I cried and tried to eat something. (We hadn't eaten dinner that night) but nothing tasted good to me, but I knew there was a little person who was counting on me eating, so I was trying to get something in my tummy. The ambulance finally arrived around midnight and after checking Cameron again, they loaded him into a horizontal carseat on a stretcher. I rode with them in the front. Matt told me Tyler & Bria would be jealous that we got to ride in an ambulance, but I would have been just fine if I'd never had that 'priviledge'. Getting to the downtown hospital took about 20-25 min. Once we got up to his room, the nurses had to check him over yet again (poor Cameron only wanted to sleep, but everyone kept shining lights in his eyes and poking his iv (the original port wasn't in a great spot so they were having a little trouble getting him hooked up). One of the neurosurgeons stopped by and talked to me for a few minutes. He said that vomitting after a concussion was very common, especially in children and it was just a matter of time before they got over it. Sometimes it would be hours, other times it could be days. I was a little scared when I heard that...but he seemed convinced that that was normal. Finally, around 1:15am they were done checking him and he was back to sleep shortly after. I was still a wreck. And I'm sure being 19+ weeks pregnant didn't help the emotional factor (I'm an emotional person to begin with, but adding pregnancy hormones to the mix, really made things worse) so once the nurse who was going to be keeping an eye on Cameron got him all situated, turned to me and said "I know what you're going through. My daughter got a concussion and vomitted and she was only 1 too." She gave me a hug and told me that he looked good, that being admitted was only a precaution. She was very sweet (and even gave me a toothbrush and toothpaste and a comb and some soap, in case I wanted to wash my face) and I was thankful she was Cameron's nurse. She left me to "get some rest" (ha!) and I just stood there next to Cameron's crib and sobbed. She came back in and said that even though no monitors were called for, she was going to monitor his heartrate and oxygen levels from the desk, so I could get some rest. She said when her daughter got home after her concussion, she slept on the floor of her room, just to make sure she was breathing and didn't sleep a wink. I knew that was going to be me, (and she apparently did too) but she was sweet enough to do that so I could sleep and know that someone else was keeping an eye on him.

So I crawled over to the vinyl window seat type thing that I was to 'sleep' on. It wasn't the most comfortable thing to sleep on, but I think between the emotional exhaustion and the adrenaline, I didn't know if I would sleep. I kept repeating verses of comfort, trying to calm myself down, but everytime I said a verse to myself, I just started crying all over again. The last verse I remember saying to myself was the beginning of Psalm 121..."I will lift my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth." (emphasis mine). The Lord, the Maker of the heaven and earth, was watching over my son, regardless if the nurse was or not. That gave me a peace and probably provided me with the longest round of sleep, though I can't call it a restful one. Cameron slept well...he woke a few times and I put his pacifier back in and he fell back to sleep. I however, woke up at 5 something and could not fall back to sleep, no matter what I tried, so I had pretty much given up. Cameron woke up at about ten to seven and wasn't interested in sleeping anymore. He was hungry and really wanted to eat. I didn't know what the requirements were as far as that went, so I talked to the nurses at the desk (his nurse was already off shift and had been replaced by another one). They gave me some saltines to give him, which he devoured. When those were gone, he was getting restless, so we went down to the playroom and he played for a little bit (poor thing was still hooked up to an iv, so we had the pole and he also had a sock over his port because he was pulling at it. He couldn't play with much...he's pretty used to using both his hands.) While he was playing, the neurosurgeon who checked on him earlier stopped by and asked how he was doing...said he looked good and didn't see any reason that he could eat anything he wanted for breakfast and if that stayed down, said we might be able to go home sometime after lunch. So I took him back to his room and ordered some graham crackers, a blueberry muffin, and some apple juice for breakfast. Needless to say, the boy was thrilled when it arrived and he devoured it all. Thankfully, everything stayed down and soon after breakfast, he was ready for a nap. So I put him back in his crib and decided to nap myself.

I dozed for about 45 min and then Matt showed up (w/breakfast, bless that man!!! I was actually hungry!!) so we sat on the vinyl window seat (where I 'slept' earlier) and chatted. (God knew exactly what he was doing when he brought Matt into my life...he is so good for me. I love him so much!!!) Cameron slept for about an hour or so and woke up happy. He was pretty excited to see daddy, but after awhile, started to get restless again, so we went back down to the playroom and played for a bit. (I figured since he had kept his breakfast down, the discharge papers would come soon, so we'd be going home before too long). After we played, we went back to his room and the nurse told me I should order some lunch for him, but after looking over the list of available items, decided not to (I am apparently a very bad mother and feed my children all sorts of choking hazards before the recommended age of 3, who knew?). But he was getting hungry, so I went and asked for some snacks for him...they gave us some graham crackers, mini teddy grahams, applesauce and some more juice. After that, he & I both dozed for a little while too, but we were all anxious to get out of there. Entertaining a very active almost 1 yr old in a fairly small space (and many trips to the playroom) is kind of hard to do. When 'his lunch' stayed down too, I asked the nurse about the discharge papers and she said he hadn't heard anything about them. Finally, around 3:30pm, we were allowed to go home.

We got home and Cameron took about an hour nap in his own bed and I finally showered. It was a pretty laid back evening...Tyler & Bria had gone to their cousin Sawyer's birthday party with Grandpa and Grandma. When they got home, they were all so excited to see each other, it was really sweet how gentle and loving Tyler & Bria were with Cameron (not that they are normally rough with him, but there was definitely a softer touch). We tried putting Cameron to bed earlier, thinking he'd be ready for it, but I think now that he shares a room with his brother and sister, the last thing he wanted to do was go to bed without them! So after they were all bathed and we had worship, they went to bed. I must say that I followed soon after. I slept off and on, but much more restful than at the hospital. Cameron woke up a couple of times, which was fine by me. It was another reassurance that he was ok.

Cameron & I stayed home from church this morning, as one of the suggestions was to keep life 'low-key' for a few days and not overstimulate him. He didn't nap well this morning...so he's apparently back to his normal self. ;) I'm trying to be faithful with my trust of the Lord's care of him, but I am still a little edgy. But God is gracious with adults, just as he is with children. And He's being very patient with my anxious thoughts.

We are so thankful that God spared Cameron from greater injury during his tumble down the stairs. It could have been so much worse, but I really try not to dwell on that. He preserved Cameron through what could have been a very traumatic ordeal and I told Matt that even though we may not know why this happened, God has a purpose for it and we will learn something from it. In our women's discipleship group, we are going through a book by Jerry Bridges called "Respectable Sins". The last chapter we discussed was on discontentment and this quote really struck me: "Whatever your circumstances, and however difficult they may be, the truth is that they are ordained by God for you as part of His overall plan for your life. God does nothing, or allows nothing, without a purpose. And His purposes, however mysterious and inscrutable they may be to us, are always for His glory and our ultimate good." So while I don't know what God's purpose was in this weekend's incident, I know that He is going to grow us all from it. He will use it for His glory and our good. Glory be to God!!!


*The following pictures are taken from mine and Matt's phones...so the quality won't be the best*

Mmmm, breakfast. Nom, nom, nom. :)

Checking out the cars and buildings with daddy

They were trying to make a handprint wall...and even though it looks big, this is Cameron's chubby little hand. :)

Matt's favorite picture

His poor little iv port in his hand

Matt says he looks like he's in jail...obviously, they are extra cautious in a Children's hospital

More to size picture of his handprint