HAPPY Valentine's Day????

So, last year Valentine's Day was EXTRA special and one of the most exciting and happiest days of our lives--it was the day of my doctor's appointment where we officially found out I was pregnant. =) I'm not a huge Valentine's Day person, but that will make anyone a fan! =)



After this year, however, I am pretty much going back to not being a fan of the holiday. I was excited at the beginning the of the day because my dad was just about finished with the fence and we were getting so much accomplished that morning while Brody napped. It was turning out fantastically, and I was so proud of my dad's effort! =)

That afternoon is where things started turning sour. I mentioned in the previous post that Brody was taking some new medication (called Reglan) for his acid reflux. He had taken 4 doses already, and that afternoon I gave him a 5th dose (he was basically starting Day 2 of taking it) at 4:25. I fed (or tried feeding him) at around 4:25. He didn't want to eat very much and was fussy. This is normal and happens about 8 times a day so I didn't think anything of it. He also started looking up at the ceiling....again, not TOO out of the ordinary because he had done that before when he was younger and is easily distracted while eating. After about 10 minutes of trying to get him to eat, I decided to take him in the kitchen with me to make a bottle of formula instead. Sometimes he will take that instead of me because he is a very picky eater (like ME!). He's been on a bottle boycott lately, but we still try to feed him with a bottle so he won't forget how. While I was holding him in the kitchen, he bent his head backwards to look at the plant and almost fell out of my arms into the sink. This has happened before because he's so active, but he usually grabs ahold of my shirt and doesn't do it again. Saturday, he didn't grab my shirt and he did it AGAIN right after the 1st time! I thought that was getting weird.... His head was still looking up at the ceiling and he wouldn't really look down at me. I tried feeding him the bottle and he wouldn't really take much of it--just fussed and cried and looked up at the ceiling and at the computer screen.

After all that fighting I took him outside because it was warm and sunny and that usually calms him down. I sat down on my porch and tried feeding him the bottle. He actually started sucking on it, but the milk was just dripping all down his mouth, chin, and neck. I stood up with him and he started looking at the sky, roof, and ceiling fan on our porch....

This was really starting to worry me because now things are starting to become uncharacteristic of him. I just thought I was paranoid though because the night before I got online to look up what Reglan did and see how it would be beneficial for Brody since I wasn't familiar with it. All over the internet people were posting on sites about how you shouldn't give your baby Reglan because it could cause involuntary movements, and with infants the effects could actually become permanent! That freaked me out so I told Dave about it and he said that almost all medications have bad side effects but the chances of that are very rare. I hate taking medication and I really don't like giving it to Brody, but Dave is just the opposite. If it will help Brody feel better, why keep it from him? I guess I see his point, but I still don't like it. After that previous night's conversation, I began to get really nervous and thought I was just "seeing" things (that may or may not have really been a concern) because of the potential side effects.... I didn't want to call Dave and bother him at work (like I frequently do when Brody won't stop crying for naps....) so I just kept an eye on Brody instead. My dad was still there working on the fence, but I didn't think he would notice what I saw and would tell me he was OK--you know how dads are sometimes. =)

I kept him outside for a while laying on my lap....he kept just staring at me perfectly STILL. The only thing he would do is occasionally move his legs slowly or his mouth. When he moved his mouth, it looked like he couldn't control it. Now, if you know ANYTHING about my son, you KNOW he is NOT a calm baby! He is ALWAYS moving!! This was when I was REALLY starting to get concerned... I tried playing Peek-A-Boo with him (a favorite game that he ALWAYS smiles at now....) and NO RESPONSE except still staring at me. I tried blowing on his tummy--NO RESPONSE. I was almost panicking, but trying not to at this point. I tried calling Dave but he wouldn't answer so I texted him to call me ASAP.

I was taking his picture and trying to get a response out of him since that is a normal thing at our house. He looked so cute even when he was "sick". His arms stayed this way the whole time he was on my lap.

To see what would happen, I picked him up and took him inside to lay him in his crib--this ALWAYS elicits some type of response! On the way in there, his head is still looking straight up and I had to hold it so his head wouldn't fall back. I put him in his crib with his paci and all he did was stare at me sucking on his paci--no looking around (this happens occasionally when he is in an especially good mood), no fussing (this happens much more often), and no immediate crying (the response most often elicited...). I now was freaking out. When he tried to move his legs they were shaking almost like a seizure.... Dave happened to call me at this point and I told him he needed to come home because Brody wasn't acting right and wasn't himself.... it's now 5:26.

He called at 5:30 to tell me he was on his way home (whew!) and told me to just keep watching him. At one point I couldn't take it and picked him up and called Dave back and he told me to try letting him play with a toy (another thing that always elicits a response...). Nothing happened except that his head was back and he was crying because he was trying to move his arm and couldn't. I now was crying because it looked like he was trapped in a body and couldn't do anything about it..... My dad came in at this point to tell me the fence was finished (something I should have been rejoicing over) and he saw the terror on my face and knew something was wrong. He could tell right away that Brody was not himself and said I needed to call the doctor. Since the doctor wasn't open at 5:38 Saturday evening, we decided I needed to take him to the emergency room. I called Dave to see how long he would be and he was almost home. I won't tell you how fast Dave was driving to make it home, but his usual 25 minute drive only took him 15..... As soon as he got here, we put Brody in the car and took off. It's now 5:46.

We made it in the ER by 6:03, had gotten him into triage to check his stats, into a room, and given an oral dose of Benadryl all by 6:20!! Now THAT'S a miracle!!!! Only God could have gotten that to happen. The waiting room was overflowing with people who had been there for hours (literally), and after Brody continued to cry and Dave and I continued to press the workers to get us help (in a nice manner surprisingly...), they took Brody as the very next patient and helped us immediately. Everyone was very nice (we had 4 nurses and a doctor all checking on Brody) and patient and calm. I could NEVER be an ER nurse or doctor! At one point, Dave had to go back out to give the front desk nurse all Brody's info and a lady in the waiting room said, "How come he got to go? We were here first..." I think Dave wanted to go punch her, but he refrained.....THANKFULLY! Plus, those doctors and nurses have to know about anything and everything that could possibly come into the ER... I was actually surprised that every nurse and doctor that looked at him knew right away what his condition probably was: dystonic reaction to his medication. I guess it's more common than I thought, but I had never heard of it! Dave and I were both panicked because we couldn't stand the thought of him being almost paralyzed like that the rest of his life or even worse, the possibility of losing him! When they said he would be perfectly fine after giving him the dose of Benadryl, my heart was so relieved! They checked his eyes and the doctor told me that Brody wasn't going to like it. I am sure he HATED it, but since he was so stiff and rigid and couldn't even move his head, all he did was lay there and the sheer terror and frustration was all over his poor little eyes....he wanted me to do something and I couldn't! It had been like that the past 45 minutes at least........ What a horrible feeling!!! They also had to take his blood to make sure his electrolytes were ok. This involved a tourniquet, a needle in his hand, and a nurse that took at least 3-4 minutes to push the blood out. Poor thing cried as loud as he could (which actually wasn't as loud as usual because he couldn't open his mouth very wide) the whole time, but again, wasn't able to move like he normally would. (I guess that was a good thing for Dave--who was holding him--and the nurse.)
This was after they gave him the Benadryl and we were waiting for it to work...WAY too still for a normal Brody! =(

He had just gotten his blood taken and Daddy was trying to calm him down...

I held him on my shoulder to try and comfort him as much as I could....you can see how his head wouldn't lay down....scary!

It took over 30-40 minutes for the medication to work and by that time he had fallen asleep on my shoulder. That was kind of a relief because we could tell he was much more comfortable and finally able to relax. I was never more excited when he woke up and started kicking his legs like usual and slinging around the rattle that we gave him! =) He even smiled when I played Peek-A-Boo with him! =) We were thankfully out of the hospital by 8:30--a record I'd say for a true emergency!! Dave and I were so grateful that God gave us another (NORMAL) day with Brody! Even though he still cries and thrashes at naps now, and is still a very fussy and active eater, they're a welcome relief now! =) We LOVE our extremely active baby!!!! It helped me know that there was something not right about him. Thank you, LORD, for being so gracious to let us have more time with Brody and for helping him to be ok and not have any permanent damage!! WE ARE SO THANKFUL!!!!

Here are the Valentine pictures I was planning to take earlier in the day but with all the fence-building and ER commontion couldn't take until after our trip to the hospital. As you can see, Brody was tired and probably mad that I was taking a photo shoot of him at this point!

Poor baby's little hand....he has a bruise there now...

ER band....

"So THIS is Valentine's Day?? No Thanks! I think I will skip it next year!" Mommy's with you on that one, Buddy!

He DID get some treats for his Valentine's Day: a box of chocolates (that Mommy will FORCE herself to eat for him--that's the only way he could get any of them right now anyway, right?!) and a pair of monkey crocs (NEVER thought I would buy these silly shoes, but I guess you will do a lot of things for your kid, huh??)

I guess our scary Valentine's Day turned out to be a day of TRUE LOVE in the end! Still not a fan of the holiday, but grateful none-the-less for the blessings of the day!!! =)



Oh, and our fence looks TERRIFIC by the way!!! =) Thanks, Dad, for all your extremely hard work! It was fun helping you with it!!!




AUTHOR'S NOTE: In case you were wondering how I have the exact times for some of these events, I keep a very detailed journal of all that happens during Brody's day to try and see if there is a pattern to the things he does (like naps, eating, fussiness, spit-ups, etc.). There is NO PATTERN but it will be useful in the years to come when I want to look back on Brody's infanthood to see what God helped us get through! =) I also mark in it when milestones happen, etc., and Dave uses it when he comes home to see what all Brody did that day in case I forget to tell him some details.