So I want to hurry and record this story before I forget details cause I think it is one I will look back and the details will be fuzzy. I am sure Jake would argue that I shouldn't want to remember something like this but I think it is a story worth recording.
Brody has been teething since he was 3 months old!! But somewhere in the past couple months things had gotten better. Since he is 2 1/2 I was hoping Brody was done. But in just the past couple weeks the signs have come back and worse. So I concluded that he was getting his two year molars. For anyone with experience with small children or babies with teething there is some drooling, hands or objects in the mouth constantly, interrupted sleep, crankiness, refusal to eat, diarrhea, etc. It has been tough on both Brody and myself because his little body does really need more sleep and with being pregnant I need more rest - so the worst has been his interrupted sleeping. I had been telling myself, perhaps this is all for a purpose - he can get all this horrible teething out of the way before the next baby comes. I had been catering to the symptoms, getting through it one day at a time and then Saturday hit!!
On Saturday morning I was out with Jake's mom Donna running errands. Saturday night was Becky and Trevor's reception and we were getting a few things. Brody had acted like he didn't want to eat any food that morning which wasn't really abnormal because, like I said before, with teething, he often would rather drink something and not eat. He had a sippy cup full of milk and then an hour later we were at Hobby Lobby and he was getting impatient so I gave him the sippy cup I packed just so that he would calm down and be content until we left the store. We went to check out and Brody puked all over. Slightly lucky (in a weird way) since the sippy cup was full of water and a little bit of juice, at least the vomit wasn't as messy or chunky as it could have been. It was a lot though, everything he had just drank. He ran outside with him and he threw up some more. We dealt with the mess and clean up (along with the employees of the store). I counted it as my bad judgement in giving him the second sippy cup with no food in his system and so soon after the other sippy cup he had.
So the rest of the day he refused to eat and he had another couple sippy cups. He seemed out of it and not feeling well but I passed that off as teething symptoms cause it really can wipe him out and molars can be really tough on toddlers. Then later that night we were at Becky and Trevor's reception and (fortunately it was a the end) I was holding Brody and noticed he was sort of gagging. I thought maybe he was going to throw up again so I ran to the women's bathroom and as soon as we walked in he threw up on the floor and I was able to get him to lean over the the trash can and finish. It was tough to clean up and we were blessed that a lovely lady at our church help mop it up while I took the trash to the dumpster. It was a heck of a day but after each bout of vomiting Brody didn't seem to be too affected so I didn't think too much of it. Then Sunday hit and everything changed!!
Jake now has Sundays off so it was a nice, relaxing morning together as a family. Then time for church rolled around Brody was not feeling good and neither was I. We both had cold symptoms with runny noses and coughing and slight fevers. So Jake took care of us while Donna went to church. We were hoping to feel better so we could go visit our friends Shannon, Glenn and Gage. But the weather was terrible where they were so we decided to literally take a rain check for another time when it was sunnier and better weather for a BBQ (plus Brody and I weren't feeling very good any way). I am SO grateful we didn't go cause starting around 2:30 or 3ish Brody started throwing up and was not keeping anything down. He threw up EVERYTHING. Jake went out and got pedialite and still he threw it up. Not only was Brody not keeping anything down, it seemed his body wasn't wanting anything in his stomach so after throwing everything up Brody threw up bile a couple of times. We were all concerned here at the house so I decided to call my mom and ask her advice. Luckily my sister Jada was over at the time that I called and she had taken her little boy in the ER last summer thinking he was dehydrated cause of diarrhea and throwing up. She told me some of the things the doctors and nurses had them do. Like try 2 oz of fluid at a time and give it 30 mins or an hour to see if it is kept down. We tried that too and all it proved, in my mind, that Brody was getting worse. It was getting really tough to see Brody like that cause once he started throwing up bile he was absolutely miserable and it is difficult to see his little body trying to physically force up anything that was in is his stomach when there was nothing there. At this point I knew for a fact this was way beyond teething symptoms. I called the on-call nurse at our pediatrician's office and told her everything. She was worried that at this point he was throwing up a good amount of bile because of his age it could damage his esophagus. Also by describing his pale and green coloring in his face and his extremely lack of energy (I used the word lethargic). He hadn't had a wet diaper in quite a few hours. So the nurse's advice was to take him in to an Urgent Care or ER.
Around 7 pm Jake and I took Brody took to Phoenix Children's Hospital East Valley Urgent care which, we are blessed to have one just down the road from us. Brody threw up some bile while we were talking to the triage nurse and she even commented on how sick he looked in his face. Needless to say, were admitted pretty soon, within 15 minutes of arriving. Brody who is usually a handful and a toddler who messes with everything, wants to explore new places just sat in our arms and had a vacant, expressionless face.
The doctor examined Brody and ordered a blood culture to test a bunch of things as well as x-rays to look at his belly. I guess there are a lot of conditions that vomiting is a symptom of that have to do with what is going on the stomach, intestines, etc.. Sadly enough, to help hydrate Brody and get him to stop throwing up he was going to need an IV. I was so nervous and scarred, for Brody to go through such a traumatic thing at his young age was going to be so terrible. My first IV was when I was 23 and I was having a baby and even then I hated it. How could this little boy who hated if you combed his hair handle an IV. I was glad that Jake and I said a prayer together before we left the house. I need all the help I could to comfort Brody and myself during this procedure. I needed to be there for my son and to not freak out so that Jake was not left alone to be the only parent that was holding it together!
Tears streamed down my face during the whole thing and poor Brody cried as well but he was so dehydrated that no tears came out! They put the IV in and took blood for testing at the same time (thank goodness). Jake and I held Brody's hands and I stroked his face with my fingers. Jake and I whispered to him that everything was going to be okay. We told Brody that what they were doing were was going to help and that he was being very brave. Being an urgent care for children the nurses were able to wrap the hand and wrist where the IV was so good that he wouldn't mess with it. Brody calmed down and then Jake and I took turns hold and cuddling with him. So with waiting in between the initial exam with the doctor, getting the IV in, giving the fluids to Brody through the IV, x-rays and waiting for the labs to come back we where waiting for a while. Before the nurses gave him the fluids he was given this medicine that would stop the vomiting and any nausea. Then after that Brody's body took the fluids very well.
So after lots of waiting the doctor gave us the good news that nothing came back abnormal from the labs and x-ray and it was looking good that he was taking the fluids so well. Shocking to me with how much Brody had thrown up and how long he had gone with no wet diapers and nothing in his system he was still considered very mildly dehydrated and not considered lethargic but just inactive.
Jake and I then questioned, with all that had happened with Brody's poor little body, what was causing all the vomiting. The doctor said it must be a virus or bug and it needed to run its course. She said he was most likely contagious. The medication that caused him to stop vomiting would last 8 hours and the next day we would need to slowly introduce clear liquids then bland food and see how he handles it.
We left the urgent care a little after 5 hours of being there with an exhausted little boy in our arms but nothing horribly wrong with him either. Jake and I were grateful that, though we had to deal with the IV and such, Brody was going to go back to normal. The staff at the PCH east valley urgent care were extremely helpful and very nice and we are grateful that they handled everything so great with us.
Jake and I are lucky to be living with Donna who did some sanitizing and laundry while we were gone and left work early to take care of Brody and myself. For the few family members who knew of our dilemma yesterday thanks for the prayers and offer to help. Things could have gone very differently and Brody been very sick and it was a comfort to know how many people who have been there to help.
So that was the big story about the craziness we experienced in the past couple days.
P.S. One a side note I am apparently teething as an adult. My wisdom teething are coming in more and my mouth is killing me and I think my horrible congestion and runny nose is related. I sympathize now with babies and toddlers because I have been pretty whinny myself !!!
No reason for these Brody photos, they don't mark a special occasion just my little boy being priceless
Last year for our anniversary I posted a ton of pictures and spoke all lovey-dovey about Jake and our years of marriage. This year this is just this little collage of photos I put together. Jake and I celebrated 5 years of marriage and also it was New Years Eve 9 years ago that we had our first date so it was a very special day. He doesn't read this blog so I won't go on and say all the mushy stuff. I am grateful for Jake and so happy that no matter what our marriage is happy and healthy!! 
I really don't think any of these pictures will do the reception and its decor the justice it deserved. It was like a winter wonderland!
Really, the Stepp girls could give Martha Stewart a run for her money!
Sorry this is such a dark photo but here is the happy couple greeting guests as they stand under the arbor (Amy's dress was beautiful and suited her perfectly).
Very happy on Christmas morning...not necessarily for the normal reasons children are happy with presents or treats, just a simple decoration!!
Brody still doesn't really understand or care about presents so its basically me opening them with him next to me. We got him a Thomas the Train video! He is at a great age where one present is totally fine and all that he needs
He got new warm pajamas and a bunch of books he LOVES from Grandma Donna
One of my favorite presents he was given was from Sarah, Jared and Evan - a little Nike outfit.
Not sure if these are going to be his warm ups before he hits the basketball court or if he is going to join the Sopranos in a hit but he is just too cute in them!!
Then it was onto Christmas at my parent's house
For his age and his personality it was perfect. A very simple car track with two cars that twist down. Brody played with it for SO long.
Also I had to take pictures to show the adorable pj's the Thad and Eva had. Thad had some cute ones with dogs.