Wednesday, November 24, 2010

I'm Thankful

I am always thankful this time of year. I am thankful for my friends, my family, and all the other things God has blessed me with. I think most of all though I am thankful for my Coley Bear this time of year. It was around Thanksgiving 2 years ago that we almost lost him.
I can remember when he was born looking at his tiny hands and telling Jonathan that I don't see how nurses can put IV's in those tiny little veins. I did't know it then, but I think God was preparing me for the sight of an IV in my tiny baby's hand.
The week of Thanksgiving 2 years ago Cole got really sick. After each bottle he would vomit. This was much more than just "spit up" it was the absolute real deal. We did lots of traveling that weekend. We saw family in GA and after each feeding we would get towel and wait for "Old Faithful" to blow. He did it every time and would cry a terrible unconsolable cry.
We took him to the doctor on Monday and she said she thought it was just reflux and wanted us to change his formula, but she sent us to Children's South for an ultrasound of his stomach just in case it was something else. The first time we went in for the ultrasound we were told his stomah was too full. We couldn't figure that one out since he's just tossed everything he had eaten. We went to McDonald's and had lunch for us and the girls and went back to try again and they confirmed that Cole had Pyloric Stenosis. The muscle flap that allows food to go into his stomach was too thick, so it couldn't move to let food in. He wasn't getting any nourishment.
We were told to go home and wait for the doctor to call. We waited forever. Jonathan went to a basketball game and I had all the kids by myself at home. I called my mother-in-law and had her to come stay with the girls since we would get the call to go to Children's at any minute.
He sat in his carseat the entire time I packed and prepared for the trip. I was told we would be there for at least 2 nights. My mother-in-law got there and Cole was still in his carseat. It had been several hours and there were no wet diapers or crying. He was getting very dehydrated. We never got a call from the surgeon telling us to come in, but our doctor told us to go on. I took Cole to Children's by myself. I tried to stay on the phone the whole way because I didn't want to think about the possibility of losing my son. When I couldn't get someone on the phone I prayed. I know that I hadn't wanted another child when I got pregnant with Cole, but now that I had him I didn't want to lose him.
We registered and they took us to a room. A nurse attempted to do his IV, but had trouble. They sent for a NICU nurse who still had trouble because he was so dehdrated. He never cried the entire time at that point I don't think he could cry. They finally got the IV in, but didn't start fluids. It was 10 pm before they started getting him fluids. His last feeding had been around 11 am. We didn't see the point in feeding him since he wasn't able to digest anything.
The next morning we got up and got ready for surgery. It was around noon before they came and got us. I carried him to the surgical floor and we went to a room where they explained again exactly what would happen and they said it was time for him to go. My heart broke. I had to hand him over to complete strangers and trust that he would be ok. This was my baby. He wasn't even 2 months old. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I handed him over and we headed to the waiting room. There were times I felt really bad for being at Children's. Although he was very sick it was just a simple surgery and there are kids there that are going through things that are so much worse. In the waiting room they gave us a pager like they do at restaraunts. It went off about 45 minutes later. They were through and the doctor said he had done very well. We stayed another night to make sure he could hold down food. He did well. He had been sleeping through the night (he did that at 6 weeks), so getting up every few hours was difficult.
We went home the next day, but this time every year I think about that experience a lot. I guess I am thinking about it more this year because of the seizures he had a few weeks ago. I think that makes me even more thankful for him than ever.
He may be a boy and get into everything. He may try to beat up on his sisters and push babies down in the nursery at church, but he's my baby boy and I am thankful to my God for giving him to me and allowing me to keep him.
I like my girls too by the way!
Happy Thanksgiving!

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