Here’s a switch; I am writing this blog instead of Aliisa.
It makes sense, though, when you consider the context. I had an adventure with
Baelor, one that I’ll never forget. When Rowen was born on August 30 Baelor had
been sick for 4 days. It started out as vomiting and then turned to diarrhea,
finally settling on a general malaise and cruddy feeling. He was not eating or
playing and he was spending way more time in bed than normal. He would often
complain about his tummy hurting. We assumed it was a bug going around that
gave you an upset stomach and that his body would fight it off in time. Well,
we were wrong. By the Friday after Rowen was born Baelor was still no better
and we were getting worried. So I came home from work and took Baelor to the Peacehealth
Emergency Department. We were there for 6 hours and the final consensus (after
blood draws, stool samples and an ultrasound) was that Baelor had a stomach bug
that would resolve in the near future, and it was probably viral so antibiotics
would do no good. In fact, at the hospital that night they give Baelor some Ibuprofen
and he was back to his normal self. Well, on Sunday when I came home from
church at noon, Baelor was still asleep in bed.
Baelor had already had a
priesthood blessing for this but a good brother, James Jenson, came over and
helped me give Baleor another one. Then it was off to the ER again. This time
the doctor on staff feared a potential life threatening condition, a ruptured
appendix. The ultrasound didn’t show anything, but the symptoms were similar to
a ruptured appendix. So Baelor and I got to take an Ambulance to Randall
Children’s Hospital in Portland. By now it was midnight and Baelor was
exhausted, I was a wreck and Aliisa was stressed at home with a new baby and
the worry over Baelor. I met with the pediatric surgeons who told me that it
was likely a ruptured appendix but that the Ultrasounds were inconclusive. They
would keep Baelor there and put him on antibiotics, ibuprofen and fluids all
done intravenously. In all honesty I think that was Baelor’s least favorite
part. The fluids meant he was not dehydrated, but the doctors did not want him
eating or drinking in case he needed to be rushed to surgery. My least favorite
part, though, was trying to get an IV into such a tiny vein. The first time it
was on the back of his hand and they had to splint him right up to his
fingertips so that he wouldn’t accidently (or purposefully) pull the tube out.
The second time was far worse. They had to go deep into his forearm after
blowing through the other usable veins that are closer to the surface. As he
lay there being pinned by a nurse and me, another nurse used ultrasound to find
the usable vein, another woman sang and stroked Baelor’s hair, Baelor screamed about
the “pokeys” in a way that sounded like he just couldn’t believe what was going
on, and I broke down and cried on Baelor’s legs as I held them down.
That was
the hardest time for me in the hospital. I am tearing up right now remembering
this. We ended up staying in the hospital for five days, Sunday afternoon
through Friday afternoon. Randall Children’s was great, checking up on Baelor
and me, doing Bingo with Baelor getting 4 awesome prizes, and as much ice cream
as he could eat , once the food ban was lifted on Wednesday. Some of the
pictures show Baelor with a very puffy face due to the intravenous fluids, but,
other than that, by Tuesday night he was pretty much back to normal. After all
was said and done Baelor had no surgeries. The Antibiotics did the trick. It
turns out it was probably a very bad intestinal infection, not a ruptured
appendix. We were advised to be vigilant and watchful for any signs of a return
of the symptoms. A month and a half later and Baelor is still his normal,
happy, active self with no infection in sight. I am so grateful for all the
help, prayers and blessings that helped get us all through this trying time for
Baelor and all of our family.
