Grateful

Since Sunday we've had a sick little boy at our house. The above picture has been common till about 2 hours ago. It started Saturday night when we were at Amber and Che's house for a Harry Potter party. Brycen wouldn't eat dinner (things he normally loves, like baked beans and watermelon) and we didn't really think much of it. He also felt warm, which got us wondering. We went to bed that night and stayed up most of it with a crying baby. He threw up once and ended up staying in our bed a lot to get back to sleep.

Sunday morning he woke up sick still and had thrown up again. We worried he had a stomach bug and decided he should stay home from church. My cousin Tanner's mission farewell was that day and Tyson was scheduled to sing with a group of men. We made the decision that I would go to the meeting and he would stay home with Brycen. After the meeting (which was wonderful and amazing) I came home to an even fussier and sick baby. He didn't have as much of a fever but he acted super irritable. I had talked to my besty Ashlee and her mom at the church about Ashlee's niece Averie and how she's had strep. The last round of strep for her turned into scarlet fever. Some of Brycen's symptoms seemed similar as Averie's. Tyson and I decided to take Brycen to see a doctor as soon as I got home.

We went to Ammon Urgent Care (I HIGHLY recommend it). The appointment was a tough one. Brycen was really upset and didn't want anything to do with anybody. We had to take his temperature under his armpit and it took a long time to finally get a good reading. He got really upset and cried harder than I've ever heard him cry. We had to hold down his arms and legs so he could hold perfectly still. We felt really bad for him and it was all just awful. The nurse was super nice (as was the rest of the staff, we were really impressed) and felt bad for him as well. By the time we got to the strep test I thought Brycen was going to lose it for good. We had to hold down his arms and legs again, which made matters even worse. Thankfully the test was quick. The results came back negative so we were happy, yet totally confused as to what was going on. The nurse practitioner asked us a lot of questions about Brycen's symptoms: diarrhea (yes), rash (yes), fever (yes), not eating or drinking (yes), coughing (yes), vomiting (yes), etc. Then he looked at his ears and discovered that Brycen had a major ear infection in both ears. This would make his first ear infection ever that we've been aware of. We were given a prescription and sent on our way. We were very grateful we could figure out what was going on with the poor kid. That night he spent a lot of time on his tummy. We could tell he had a stomach ache because he kept moving his stomach around and curling up to a blanket or his pillow pet bear, Moosh. The picture above shows what he looked like all evening.

We gave Brycen a lot of pedialyte and water but he just wasn't interested. He also didn't really care to eat. I decided to cancel piano lessons on Monday so I could focus my attention on Brycen. We were able to go out a little bit (which wore him right out) and then we went to dinner as a family at Costa Vida. He ended up eating rice and beans, as well as drinking from his cup. We were really excited about it. We figured he was on the mend so we gave him milk to go to bed.

He slept all through the night till about 7 am when he woke up whimpering. Tyson and I both went into his room this morning and as soon as Tyson picked him up he got puked on big time. I felt really bad for Brycen and realized we were starting all over again with his sickness. The fever was back and he was lethargic all day. He wouldn't eat or drink anything and it was difficult to give him any medication. He was able to take two naps, the second of which was two hours long. Sleep is so good for babies when they're sick. Or for anyone, for that matter. He got up around 4:00 or so and was acting super weak and wouldn't eat or drink anything still. It had been a rough day of a lot of tears and lying down. His diapers all day were just diarrhea and no wet. I ended up calling the pediatrician and talking to the nurse about it. His little lips were dry and he seemed weak. She said if he cried and there were no tears and if his mouth felt dry we needed to take him in for an IV. Every other symptom of dehydration was there and we had reason to worry. Not what a parent wants to hear about their child.

Tyson came home around 6:00 tonight and Brycen was still not wanting any food or water. My mom came over for the second time today soon after that and brought Brycen some orange pedialyte, thinking he might like a different flavor other than the grape that he has. She brought Tyson and I Cocoa Bean, which was very delicious. She seemed really worried about him as well and tried to help him with the water issue. He wouldn't take the pedialyte or any of his sippies so she gave him a "big boy cup". He did much better with that but still wouldn't take much.

At about 6:45 Tyson decided to call our friend Ryan to help him give Brycen a blessing. He came right over with his sweet kids (his wife was at mutual) and didn't hesitate. I love our friends and how willing they are to help us out. He ended up calling his wife Dani over to help with the kids so it was nice having her there too. The blessing was really nice. Brycen struggled through it, crying and trying to get their hands off his head. After the blessing we said our thank you's and goodbye's. Then it seemed like a miracle took place.

We decided to take him outside and sit on the grass for a bit. He sat there and was super happy. We started weeding and cutting down tulips while Brycen crawled around. He was excited and more energetic. We had gone outside a lot through the day and he cried every time. Soon after we went outside Tyson's mom came by with a slushy for Brycen and a fountain Diet Pepsi for Tyson and I. It was so nice of her to do that and for my mom to come over to help as well. His mom had also felt really bad to hear about Brycen's condition and was worried about him. She stopped at the Maverick down the road for a popsicle for Brycen to eat but thought a he would do better with a slushy. And he certainly did. He loved it and ate a majority of it. That was the most he'd had to drink/eat all day. He was in much higher spirits and really enjoyed being with Grandma Miller.

We came inside by about 8:40 and decided to put Brycen to bed. We filled up a bottle with some water, a sippy with grape pedialyte, and a sippy with orange pedialyte to get some more liquids in him. We changed his diaper and it was completely wet. No diarrhea. Yay! We took his pants off and let him sleep in just a t-shirt and diaper. We said our family prayers in his room and them put him in his crib. I gave him the water assuming it would be like it was all day and he'd push it away. But he immediately grabbed it from me and chugged it. We couldn't believe it. We were so excited to see such a dramatic change in him. I turned on his fan and his night light, closed the door, and he went right to sleep.

There is no doubt in my mind that the blessing Brycen received is the reason he feels so much better. I'm feeling grateful tonight for the priesthood. I'm grateful for friends who are so willing to help us out when we need it the most, and that we feel like we can call on them for such a sacred thing. I'm grateful for the power of prayer and for the spirit we feel in our home. And most of all I'm grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who is aware of my needs and the needs of my family. The last couple of days have been challenging, and who knows, tomorrow may be as well. But as for tonight and the present, we have felt truly grateful for all our blessings.