“You get a feeling when you look back on life that that’s
all God really wants from us, to live inside a body he made and enjoy the story
and bond with us through the experience.” - Donald Miller, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
The reason to look back is for courage to move ahead...
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. I Peter 3:15
6 years and 75 seizures later
below is my unedited carepages post about December 6, 2008
Pray for DAVIS (baby brother of Avery & Carver)
Posted Dec 7, 2008 5:09am
It’s 3am and I’m writing from Blank Children’s Hospital Room 407 – Lance and I are here with baby Davis (who turned 8 months old just this week).
It's been a long day. The series of events unfolds below:
Friday, 10:30p – as a volunteer fireman Lance was paged to an accident scene that turned out to be a fatality. He came home around 1:30a.
At 2:30a on Saturday Davis woke up crying – which doesn’t happen too often for him. I went into his room thinking he would need a clean diaper and maybe a bottle. Immediately something seemed different. Something seemed wrong. He was extremely lethargic and seemed somewhat limp. I proceeded to change his diaper thinking that maybe he was just really tired and that he would perk up and then I would get him a bottle. His face seemed puffy and his tongue seemed almost swollen. I woke Lance up by yelling through the baby monitor. As I picked Davis up after the diaper change I immediately knew he had a very high fever. I knew we needed to take him into ER. I handed Davis to Lance to hold while I got dressed to go into ER. Lance yelled at me, “You need to go now! Something is wrong!” I knew if Lance sensed it to be that serious that I was not going alone. I carried Davis, Lance drove – and we called my mom at 2:30a to come to our house and stay with Avery and Carver (who were thankfully sound to sleep). On our way into town Davis’ body would shake briefly every 1-2 minutes. I was repeating scripture, singing songs that came to mind, and praying – praying for Davis, praying Avery & Carver would stay asleep (at least until my mom got there). In ER they assured us that Davis was okay. His color was good and he was alert. The doctor said he had a slight ear infection and an “awful – God awful throat!” His temp was 103.8. He got Tylenol and augmentin and we were back home around 3:30a.
Saturday was a great day. Davis, Lance and I all slept in til about 8:30a. Avery and Carver had been awake for awhile playing Wii (Avery’s birthday present – if you recall, we got hooked on Wii during Avery’s stay at Blank). I took Avery & Carver out to breakfast and then the 3 of us went to the Families First gingerbread house decorating event. Very fun! We ran errands and did a bit of shopping. Lance was home having a wonderfully lazy morning with Davis. Davis was doing very well. Lance then took Avery & Carver to swimming lessons (with cousin Annika) at 1:30p. Davis took a nap (and I snuck in a very short one). Then it was time to get ready for the Saturday evening plans. We needed to have all 3 boys at my parents by 4:45p, since Lance and I had planned a double-date to Des Moines with Russ & Jacque Zondervan. We had a wonderful dinner at Biaggi’s and then enjoyed the Tran Siberian Orchestra concert. I had told my parents I thought we would be back around 11p. I texted my mom at 10p and told her the concert was still going. Later then she tried calling me, but it’s impossible to take a call at a concert. I texted and asked her to text instead. She replied “in ER”. I texted “with Davis?” Her reply was “yes”. The concert ended at 10:37p. I called her. She answered and said, “you need to get here now…now”.
My mom had heard through the monitor that Davis’ breathing had changed (he was sleeping), so she went down to check on him. He was starting to turn blue. Mom rushed him to ER, Dad stayed with Avery and Carver. Upon stabilizing him in ER (my mom should be writing this paragraph as she knows the details and I really don’t), they diagnosed and began treating for croup.
Then Davis stopped breathing…for what my mom estimates to be 45 seconds. At that point the decision was made to lifeflight Davis to Blank. Meanwhile, Lance, Russ, Jacque and I are still trying to get out of Des Moines. We had just passed the fairgrounds when mom texted that he was being air lifted to Des Moines, so we turned around – and began the 45-minute wait in ER for the sound of the helicopter to arrive. Pastor Roger had gone to Pella ER, so my mom was not alone. Pastor Roger called me and kept me informed on what was going on. I then also talked with the Dr and he assured me that Davis was once again stable and he felt like Davis' situation was no longer life threatening, but Davis needed to be at Blank to be evaluated and monitored.
It was a blessing to have Russ & Jacque with Lance & I in the ER waiting room! Time became a blur. But the helicopter arrived safely and we finally got to see our baby. He was strapped down, but it was so good to see his face and his big blue eyes! They said he was alert and comfortable through the trip – didn’t cry a bit.
We were immediately settled into room 407. You have no idea how familiar and strange and scary it felt to be walking into a Blank hospital room again. Everything looked exactly the same, except we were 1 floor up and in the room was a crib rather than a regular bed. I could have never imagined we would be back at Blank in 2008 with yet another one of our sons.
Roger brought my mom up to the hospital. I wanted her to seem him in a more stable condition, but by this time it’s 1a or 1:30a. Davis is overly tired. He has an IV in his arm. He has endured many pokes and prods. And he is crying and inconsolable. Drs ordered to do yet another blood-draw. Lance and I chose to not be in the room, but rather to be the heroes to rescue him after the blood-draw. Praise the Lord that blood draw miraculously came from his hand without any tears involved. Following that, Davis was very tired. Grandma had brought his bedtime bear and it was obvious that was a familiar safe soft friend for him. Roger led the group in prayer – Grandma, Trish, Davis, Lance, Roger, Russ, Jacque. Davis has his toe attached to a machine that will monitor his oxygen and heart throughout the night and alarm if that gets too low. Roger, Grandma, Russ and Jacque returned to Pella. Davis went sound to sleep. Lance is sleeping (he’s not had much sleep in the last 48 hours). And I…well I am processing this day via journaling on Avery's carepage. I reflect again on how God gave us peace that can’t be understood. I do not worry. There was nothing I could do to change the situation, and I knew that it was in God’s control. It’s miraculous how if subtle things in this story were even slightly different the outcome could have been much worse. There is good reason why we do not plan and control our lives, but rather seek and follow with faith the plan God has already laid out for us.
So, not sure what the next few hours or days will bring.
And now it's 4:08a. Nurses are in the room checking Davis' vitals - and I'm praying Davis stays asleep through that.
Continuing to Praise Him through this storm,
Trish & Lance
It's been a long day. The series of events unfolds below:
Friday, 10:30p – as a volunteer fireman Lance was paged to an accident scene that turned out to be a fatality. He came home around 1:30a.
At 2:30a on Saturday Davis woke up crying – which doesn’t happen too often for him. I went into his room thinking he would need a clean diaper and maybe a bottle. Immediately something seemed different. Something seemed wrong. He was extremely lethargic and seemed somewhat limp. I proceeded to change his diaper thinking that maybe he was just really tired and that he would perk up and then I would get him a bottle. His face seemed puffy and his tongue seemed almost swollen. I woke Lance up by yelling through the baby monitor. As I picked Davis up after the diaper change I immediately knew he had a very high fever. I knew we needed to take him into ER. I handed Davis to Lance to hold while I got dressed to go into ER. Lance yelled at me, “You need to go now! Something is wrong!” I knew if Lance sensed it to be that serious that I was not going alone. I carried Davis, Lance drove – and we called my mom at 2:30a to come to our house and stay with Avery and Carver (who were thankfully sound to sleep). On our way into town Davis’ body would shake briefly every 1-2 minutes. I was repeating scripture, singing songs that came to mind, and praying – praying for Davis, praying Avery & Carver would stay asleep (at least until my mom got there). In ER they assured us that Davis was okay. His color was good and he was alert. The doctor said he had a slight ear infection and an “awful – God awful throat!” His temp was 103.8. He got Tylenol and augmentin and we were back home around 3:30a.
Saturday was a great day. Davis, Lance and I all slept in til about 8:30a. Avery and Carver had been awake for awhile playing Wii (Avery’s birthday present – if you recall, we got hooked on Wii during Avery’s stay at Blank). I took Avery & Carver out to breakfast and then the 3 of us went to the Families First gingerbread house decorating event. Very fun! We ran errands and did a bit of shopping. Lance was home having a wonderfully lazy morning with Davis. Davis was doing very well. Lance then took Avery & Carver to swimming lessons (with cousin Annika) at 1:30p. Davis took a nap (and I snuck in a very short one). Then it was time to get ready for the Saturday evening plans. We needed to have all 3 boys at my parents by 4:45p, since Lance and I had planned a double-date to Des Moines with Russ & Jacque Zondervan. We had a wonderful dinner at Biaggi’s and then enjoyed the Tran Siberian Orchestra concert. I had told my parents I thought we would be back around 11p. I texted my mom at 10p and told her the concert was still going. Later then she tried calling me, but it’s impossible to take a call at a concert. I texted and asked her to text instead. She replied “in ER”. I texted “with Davis?” Her reply was “yes”. The concert ended at 10:37p. I called her. She answered and said, “you need to get here now…now”.
My mom had heard through the monitor that Davis’ breathing had changed (he was sleeping), so she went down to check on him. He was starting to turn blue. Mom rushed him to ER, Dad stayed with Avery and Carver. Upon stabilizing him in ER (my mom should be writing this paragraph as she knows the details and I really don’t), they diagnosed and began treating for croup.
Then Davis stopped breathing…for what my mom estimates to be 45 seconds. At that point the decision was made to lifeflight Davis to Blank. Meanwhile, Lance, Russ, Jacque and I are still trying to get out of Des Moines. We had just passed the fairgrounds when mom texted that he was being air lifted to Des Moines, so we turned around – and began the 45-minute wait in ER for the sound of the helicopter to arrive. Pastor Roger had gone to Pella ER, so my mom was not alone. Pastor Roger called me and kept me informed on what was going on. I then also talked with the Dr and he assured me that Davis was once again stable and he felt like Davis' situation was no longer life threatening, but Davis needed to be at Blank to be evaluated and monitored.
It was a blessing to have Russ & Jacque with Lance & I in the ER waiting room! Time became a blur. But the helicopter arrived safely and we finally got to see our baby. He was strapped down, but it was so good to see his face and his big blue eyes! They said he was alert and comfortable through the trip – didn’t cry a bit.
We were immediately settled into room 407. You have no idea how familiar and strange and scary it felt to be walking into a Blank hospital room again. Everything looked exactly the same, except we were 1 floor up and in the room was a crib rather than a regular bed. I could have never imagined we would be back at Blank in 2008 with yet another one of our sons.
Roger brought my mom up to the hospital. I wanted her to seem him in a more stable condition, but by this time it’s 1a or 1:30a. Davis is overly tired. He has an IV in his arm. He has endured many pokes and prods. And he is crying and inconsolable. Drs ordered to do yet another blood-draw. Lance and I chose to not be in the room, but rather to be the heroes to rescue him after the blood-draw. Praise the Lord that blood draw miraculously came from his hand without any tears involved. Following that, Davis was very tired. Grandma had brought his bedtime bear and it was obvious that was a familiar safe soft friend for him. Roger led the group in prayer – Grandma, Trish, Davis, Lance, Roger, Russ, Jacque. Davis has his toe attached to a machine that will monitor his oxygen and heart throughout the night and alarm if that gets too low. Roger, Grandma, Russ and Jacque returned to Pella. Davis went sound to sleep. Lance is sleeping (he’s not had much sleep in the last 48 hours). And I…well I am processing this day via journaling on Avery's carepage. I reflect again on how God gave us peace that can’t be understood. I do not worry. There was nothing I could do to change the situation, and I knew that it was in God’s control. It’s miraculous how if subtle things in this story were even slightly different the outcome could have been much worse. There is good reason why we do not plan and control our lives, but rather seek and follow with faith the plan God has already laid out for us.
So, not sure what the next few hours or days will bring.
And now it's 4:08a. Nurses are in the room checking Davis' vitals - and I'm praying Davis stays asleep through that.
Continuing to Praise Him through this storm,
Trish & Lance
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