Poor babies...

And I thought I was caught up! I am sure I am not the only one to say ENOUGH with all the illnesses! Since before Christmas it seems like one of us has been sick with some sort of bug. Don't get me wrong I am so grateful it hasn't been more serious but we did find ourselves at Cook's Children's Hospital here in Fort Worth about three weeks ago. We had all been sick and for about two or three days Bryton was fighting off some croup that the other kids had recently had. It was Sunday and as the night progressed I just felt like Bryton was getting REALLY sick. Thankfully Ryan was home and he kept reassuring me that it was croup and that he would be fine. I was sleeping with Bryton in the rocking chair because his breathing seemed so labored that I was afraid to put him down. At around midnight he was getting worse so I bundled us up and went for a walk outside to try and help him. Eventually his crying and coughing woke Ryan up and when he saw how labored his breathing was we decided we had better take him in. I still don't know me way around here that great and really haven't been to Fort Worth at all but I couldn't let Ryan take Bryton without me, so we woke the other two and put them in their carseats with blankets and pillows. It took about 30 minutes to get to the children's hospital all the while Bryton seemed to be getting worse. Ryan dropped me off at the ER and stayed in the car with the other two. As I was checking in the triage nurse came over to assess Bryton as they could hear his stridor from the other room. They took us right back and hooked him up to a pulse oximeter to measure his oxygen level. Normal levels are above 90% Bryton was registering in the low 70's! I had been worried but when I saw the numbers I was terrified, I tried to act calmly and they kept reassuring me as they called back for a room for us and a doctor right away. Things could have been really scary but after some steroids and a breathing treatment his oxygen popped right up into the 90's and pretty much stayed there. To make a long story short we were there forever as they debated admiting him. They gave him breathing treatments and decadron every two hours too which he responded well at first but then after an hour he was displaying difficulty breathing. This whole time Ryan was in the car with the kids, he took them to breakfast, home to get dressed, back to the hospital, just waiting for the doc's to make a decision. Ryan had to call into work which he has never done but they were very understanding and just told him to come in as soon as he could. After 14+ hours in the ER and a little perssuasion we were able to go home with meds. The doctor really wanted to keep him but to us he was doing SO much better and the faster we could get away from that germ infested place the better. It does help to have a husband that is a doctor otherwise I don't think I would have felt so confident in taking him home. It was a scary night but we feel very fortunate, very blessed that things worked out like they did. It doesn't take much to realize how fragile life is and how precious these little ones are. There is nothing worse than watching your children suffer and not being able to help them. I am afraid to even admit this but neither Madison or Jackson have made trips to the hospital but Bryton is making this an annual event...almost to the day! I hope this isn't any indication of what lies ahead for our little guy. I am happy to report we are all happy (for the most part) and healthy...it feels good to say that!



I never got any pictures in the hospital but these are a few the next day as we were getting the meds. ready.



He was super eager to taste some of those steroids.

...Now...to Jackson, he had his routine dental cleaning a while back which checked out great. No cavities teeth look great, that is all but the front tooth he fell and hit about eight months back. The x-rays now confirmed that the tooth and nerves are completly dead. Obviously we don't want to pull it because it is a front tooth and he won't get his permanent tooth for like 4 years, also the dentist said pulling it could cause damage to the bone and permanent tooth at this stage. So...six appointments and lot's of cash later we still have a tooth. Although there is no guarentee they tell us one little bump and all this could be in vain. I am quite sure Jackson has never fallen and been able to avoid his teeth so we are just hoping to buy some more time before the inevitable happens. We did learn one thing from this whole experience Demerol and Phenergan barely phase the boy!