The Scariest Moment Ever

As most of you know, Xavier suddenly stopped breathing for a moment one morning when he was 3 weeks old. Jay called 911 while I performed rescue breathing on him. By the time the paramedics got there, he was crying, but looking a little "dusty" according to the EMT--meaning he was a little blue around his lips--meaning he wasn't getting the proper oxygen. They wanted to take him to the hospital just to check him out thoroughly since he was so little.

While in the emergency room, they determined that he was not doing well without oxygen and decided to admit him to monitor him a little more. They took x-rays of his chest and determined that he had brochilitis and that it was taking over his body since he was so little. While at the hospital, he had quite a few episodes in the middle of the night where his heart rate dramatically dropped. He scared the doctors and nurses enough for them to start running every kind of test on him. They did everything from an EKG to a spinal tap--poor little guy!! As you can imagine, this made Jay and I and our family very anxious. However, all of the tests came back negative reaffirming that it was just the virus taking over. Nevertheless, it was still just as scary.

The nurses in pediatrics decided that it would be best for him to be under the care of a Neonatologist and transferred him to the Newborn Intensive Care Unit, better known as NIC-U. While there, they did an x-ray of his abdomen and found that his large intestine was grossly enlarged. They decided to take him off food and immediately put a tube down his throat to suck out whatever fluid or air that was causing his intestine to swell. He didn't get to eat for 3 days! Oh, it was heartbreaking!! Especially since he was in a little incubator with IVs coming out all over including the top of his head!! ---I know, sorry to be so graphic.

So I won't give you ALL the horrible details, but the story does end good. Xavier was able to come home the day before Thanksgiving. And since we ended up missing our flight to Colorado, Jay's mom, Joyce, was able to fly to Utah to see Xavier and spend Thanksgiving with us. We definitley had a LOT to be thankful for. Oh and did I mention, Kalea's birthday party was already scheduled while Xavier was in the hospital--but the show went on and everything worked out. We also learned a LOT--way more than the average person should know about hospitals! And we thank all our family and friends who sent their prayers and thoughts with Xavier during that time.

Xavier did end up going into the hospital one more time in January while we were here in Denver. But I am VERY happy to say, he is a very healthy, oh so smiley BIG boy now!! We will have a story to tell him when he gets older though!!