Eli in the ER

Last week we had the single most frightening thing happen to our family. We have never been through something this serious or scary with any of our children. The next post "here's what happened" tells it all. We are just SO thankful that little Eli is ok now. There have been SO many prayers going up in his behalf. I am not the same person after this event. I am SO thankful for just a normal day when the least of your worries is a fussy baby or rambunctuos kids. My whole perspective in life has changed. It really makes me thankful for all the things in life we can so easily take for granted. Good healthy bodies for one. I am so thankful to my Heavenly Father for his love & care for our little family during this time. I am so thankful for answered prayers as well. What a good time of year to be thankful for so many things. It gives alot more meaning to this song I have playing on here "Every Breathe".

Here's What Happened....

Thursday morning around 7 am Eli nursed normal, he'd been acting totally normal the night b4 as well. Well, then he started crying pretty bad (Eli is not a major cyrer at all) and then he would kind of bring his knees up to his chest & wouldn't stop crying, so I thought maybe he was constipated? Well, he cried non-stop for about a half hr when he finally fell asleep in my arms. About 2 min later he woke up & threw up all over me. He just kept throwing up til it was dry heaves! SO sad! As he was doing this I had Austen (who THANKFULLY was still home from work, becuase we only have the 1 car right now!!) quickly call our Pediatric Office, & as he started to tell her the symptoms she told him to take him to the ER now! We jumped up to get all 3 boys bundled up (it was snowing!) and when I went to put little Eli is the carseat he was so ghostly white I panicked. He also went completely limp when I picked him up (like his head falling back) and his eyes rolled in the back of his head!!! He looked like he was dying!!! This all happened in like a matter of no more than 5 min too! I started crying becuase I KNEW this was something serious! So we just drove as fast as we could to the ER (I was panicking even more becuase it was 8:00 morning traffic & the ER is like 20 min from our house!) So, when I got him in there we discovered quite a bit of blood in his diaper. As soon as they saw that they really hurried & got the Dr in there & told me we needed to do an ultrasound to see what was going on inside. The US tech couldn't answer any of my questions becuase she wasn't my Dr and that drove me crazy! But at least the resluts & the DR came back fast. The Dr told me he had condition that 1 in 1000 babies get, called Intessususeption. It's basically where something goes wrong in the intestines which causes them to spurt blood & stop pumping blood, and then cram up (or down) against the walls of the bowel. That then cause the bowl to "telescope" as they call it, or rather fold into itself & obstruct. That causes horrible muscle spasms and cramping for the baby and that was when Eli cried so bad. Then he had every single other symptom like the vomitting, bloody stool, rapid pulse, & shock. That is what happened when he went to white & lythargiac!!! I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It was super hard to not have Austen in there with me either, but he has to be with the boys. Everything had to be done so quickly too, so there wasn't even time for Austen to get someone to watch the boys. So they had me talk to 2 more Dr's a a surgeon. The surgeon told me that hopefully we wouldn't meet again, becuase there is a procedure that they try to correct it with first. They really try to avoid the surgery at all costs b4, esp becuase he is still so little. So, then they took us back to Radiology. I was so scared of exposing him to radiation, but this was 100% neccesary! They has me help, esp where they needed Eli as calm as possible & to hold still as much as possible, plus I told them I wasn't leaving his side! So, we put on lead gowns (which was so hard for me as I laid him on that table under that radiation machine!!!) They inserted a long tube up his bottom and taped it to his cheeks, and emptied 2 big bags of white fluid called bernium inside him. The goal of this procedure was to have gravity (becuase the fluid bags were hung from up high on IV hooks) but to have gravity force this fluid in and show in the screen at the same time to try to get the intestines to push away from his bowel & to "puff" his bowel back open the way it should be. Poor little Eli was crying & crying & I think I about passed out from the trauma of it all, as one of the nurses came over to me & took my spot holding Eli's hands & said I wasn't looking very good! I ended up holding his hands again & trying to sooth him. The first try at this was NOT successful! I about had it when I heard that!!! So, they started over & tried again!!! The 2nd time around was successful, THANK HEAVENS! I then was able to hold him & comfort him, but still not feed him! (he was SO starving & I also knew that nursing him comforts him) but we had to keep his tummy empty. So they kept me a little while longer to obseve him, then let me feed him to see how he would do. He didn't throw up & he went right to sleep. (he was SO exhausted!!) I was about ready to collapse too becuase of being emotionally drained!!! The Dr's then explained that we needed to watch him very carefully over the next 72 hrs as there is a chance that the bowel will relapse. So, we went home that night. Friday rolled around and he was doing pretty good all day until about 7pm, and then he started up with the pain & symptoms again (minus the blood) and so I called & then said bring him in. They did another ultrasound & didn't see anything. They explained that it can often times be intermittent...where it slides in, and then back out again, which is incredibly hard to catch on an Ultrasound. They said to go home & bring him back if he does anything like it again, becuase they would most likely send us to Salt Lake to Primary Children's Hospital for the surgery if this continued. Well, he slept well that night, but over the course of sev hrs he has nursed 4 times & not pooped, and then Sat morning he started it AGAIN! So, in we go to the ER for the 3rd time! They did another US & the dr had me stay there & wait till he had heard back from 2 other Dr's a the Surgeon in Salt Lake. They finally decided to try the procedure again with the radiation only this time with a different/clear fluid that served more as a diagnostic rather that a cure, so that they could see more clearly in there, becuase they were thinking that is was happening again & the US was not catching it. I couldn't believe I had to put him through that again! (and once again without Austen!) So, they did the procedure again. Eli cried even worse this time, which really scared me. They were unable to detect anything in that same area where he had it b4, & so they quit (they wanted to expose Eli to as very little radiation as possible) The Dr was comfortable enough with sending us home late that afternoon since he wasn't able to see another Intessususeption, but said that if Eli started back up again that he would just send he & I in an ambulance to Primary Children's in Salt Lake for the surgery. So, home we went.



Eli has been alittle fussy but no more symptoms so far! Thank heaven, literally! Austen was able to give him a blessing early Thurs morning b4 we even knew what was going on, so I was very thankful for that since he wasn't even able to come in because of how quickly they had to move with the procedures (plus being with Brendan & Liamm) Anyway, so now we are just really hoping & praying that we are all done with this, and that Eli will permenantly heal from this condition. They say they don't really know the causes of this. Sometimes the elderly will get this, but it's usually because they will develop a tumor or other that will cause the obstruction & problems, but with little ones there is just no known cause really.

After going through something like this (esp where our family has never really experienced something this serious before) it really just put things into perspective for us. When they told me that if babies are not treated within 24 hrs of the symptoms being shown, they can die....I Just about lost it. I never really FULLY realized b4 just how easily a terrible thing like that could happen. I always thought "well, it'll never happen to me (or my kids)" But I guess I cannot say that. It has really made us SO much more thankful for just a "normal" day, and made us see that other ordeals are not as huge as we thought they were, when you experience something like THIS! We are SO thankful for the Priesthood and the power that there is in having faith in that. So thankful for the power of prayer, and that it truly does work. When I was in the hospital & had just heard what was going on with Eli, I had a min to myself (with Eli) b4 they took him back, and I of course was crying & just trying to be strong, trying to have faith in that blessing, and pouring my heart out in prayer, I prayed that I would be able to have "peace" that Eli would be ok & that the outcome of this would all be good, and even though I didn't know that for a fact, and the Dr's couldn't promise anything, after pouring my heart out to the Lord, and I'm sure after MANY prayers of all of yours went up in our behalf....this sudden overwhelming peace came over me, that I actually felt literally, that felt like someone putting a big warm blanket around me, and that suddenly made me feel that everything really would be ok, and I was SO comforted. I could even breathe easier. I don't know, I guess it just really strengthened my testimony of The Holy Ghost, "The Comforter". I look at that in a whole new light now. I am just so grateful that our baby is ok, and so gratful to all of you who sent prayers in our behalf. We really appreciate the emails & phone calls, and we love you all.

We will keep you all posted. Again, thank you so much for your prayers, love & concern. We also ask that you'll just continue to keep him in your prayers as well. :)

We love u all.

One of my FAVORITE collections of Eli! His face is just perfect!

I love that you can see in this pic that Eli is actually going to have BROWN hair! After having two blondies (esp with Austen & I having brown hair & brown eyes!) I'd say it's about time!!!

So, Daddy laid down by Brendan to "help" him take a nap and....looks like Daddy was the only one who got one in! lol!

I love this expression on Eli's little face!

Right now Brendan's favorite toy/action figure is BATMAN! I took this pic of him laying down on the liv room floor getting ready to "take a nap with Batman"!

Right now Brendan

My Beautiful Little Eli~

Eli...two months old

This is one of the several Professional Pics we had taken of Eli at JcPenny when he was 2 months old! He had just started smiling big like this, so I was SO glad we caught it! I love his smile!! The photographers's fell in love with Eli! They took TONS of different poses & shots of him!

Brendan & Austen having a snowball fight! Brendan is pretty fearless!

Liamm did NOT want to go in!

Our First Snow!!! The little boys had so much fun in the backyard playing on our first batch of snow (well, that stuck!)

This is a recent pic of Brendan. After I took it & looked at it, I realized...wow, my little boy is growing up! I think I can see what Brendan will look like when he gets older!

I Love Eli's Big eyes!

What a beautiful Couple

This is a pic of my younger brother Stuart & his wife Nicole. They are expecting their first...

My Lovely sis (inlaw) pondering about her sweet little unborn daughter~

In our backyard there is an ancient old swing set, but the seats/swings still seem to be holding up! The boys really like to sit out there & mostly just ponder. (just like their Daddy!) I caught Brendan doing that very thing, so glad I got the pic!

Prego Nicole! Having the FIRST Tucker grand DAUGHTER! Yeah!

Brendan laying in the leaves in the backyard with aunt "Coley"! Sept '09

Little Brendan loves playing in his backyard!

Brendan & Liamm in their backyard with their Aunt Coley! (Stuart's wife, Nicole)

This is Rayanne! This was taken last summer at the BYU Idaho Gardens (so beautiful) I was about 7 months pregnant with Eli.

From the Mouth of Babes...

So Brendan just came running to me to & yelled " Hey Mommy, I just prayed all by myself"!!! (he had been playing in his room with Liamm) and so I said to him, "good job Brendan! What did you pray for?" He looked at me & said...."for my brudder, for the apple trees, for my toys, and MOUSE TRAPS!" It was so hilarious & precious all in one! I loved it!!! He has always been really pick about when he wants to say prayer or not like at the dinner table & whatnot, and I was very happy to see him so excited about this! It was so cute! And yes...we have ONE mouse left! Ewww! I think we may have had a prego one, becuase after we killed what we thought was the only one about a month ago, all of a sudden we had 2 more!!! Yuck! I can't stand it! Luckily it stays downstairs most of the time in the laundry room, but eww! So, Brendan has really gotten in to this "catch the last mouse" thing! And, maybe now that he has asked for some divine intervention, we may just catch this last sucker! From the mouth of babes, my children never cease to amaze me. :)

This is Liamm as a baby. I can't believe how much he looks like Eli!

The Flood....

Today while I was on the phone ONE room away, I suddenly hear the sound of alot of water running?? I followed the sound to the BATHROOM, and could not believe it!!! The toilet was POURING out water, faster than I've ever seen any flooding toilet before! And....there was little Liamm, standing right next to the flooding toilet, looking at me like "uh oh Mommy, look what I did!?!" I was on the phone with my sister in law Melanie (who unfortunately had to hear me say a not so good word!) & hang up on her real fast! (don't worry, I later called her back & apologized! She of course understood!!) Anyway, I ran to the toilet & reached down & turned off the water (eww!) LUCKILY there was no POOP in the toilet when this happened....just an ENTIRE roll of TP, two maxi pads, the cardboard to the roll, & a metal spoon!!! OMG! I couldn't believe it! Then of course we have to have CARPET in the bathroom (who puts CARPET in a bathroom???!) and so it is soaking wet! I grabbed Liamm & got him out of the bathroom (who ran for hiding! JK!) and started soaking it all up. Well, there is ALSO a heater vent  on the ground right to the toilet,& so I hear TONS of water rushing down the vent! Then I realized that the tenants in the basement ( we live in a house split into two/up & down) and right then the doorbell rings! She tells me there is water all down her wall into her laundry room. I tell her I'm so sorry, I'd turned off the water, etc. She just kind of stoof there & looked at me?! I then said I had to run finish cleaning up & she said mentioned b4 I shut the door that she had already called the landlady! How kind of her! I just think, come on, are we not all adults here, can we manage to clean up a poo mess on our own?! (she's also just kind of a funny lady too!) SO...that was the highlight of MY day! How was yours?! LOL! :)

Austen & I designed Eli's Birth Announcement, I can't believe how much he has already grown!

Beautiful Blue Eyes!

Liamm

My Yummy Baby Eli

They were so excited to paint!

We love homemade bread!

mmm...sexy profile! lol!

Brendan & Liamm were BOTH Blue the puppy from Blues Clues! They are both really into the same things right now, so we were super lucky to find them each a matching costume like we did at the DI! They had so much fun being little puppies!