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| See if you notice anything similar in these two pictures... I'll explain later in the post. |
This past weekend our little Foreman family experienced one of the scariest events ever! We were out of town in Boerne, TX for my brother-in-law's wedding. Our precious Liv was having a blast exploring new places and staying up WAY past her bedtime for all the wedding activities. On Friday we attended the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner where Liv and her duck Howard made their debut as the flower girl and flower duck.
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| Us leaving for the rehearsal! |
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| Liv and Howard (in his tutu) at the church. |
Liv was a little crankier than usual but she had been teething and was WAY off her schedule since we had been out of town all week. We got home late from the rehearsal dinner that night and Liv was her usual energetic self, running all over the hotel room, climbing all over the furniture and pulling everything out of the suitcases. We had to literally chase her down to put her pajamas on and try to settle her down for bed. We said a prayer over her, kissed her sweet cheeks, and laid her down to sleep with no indication of the horror that would take place in just a short period of time.
Around 5am that next morning I awoke to hearing Liv grunting and moaning a little bit. I flew out of bed to check on her but it had looked like she was just having a bad dream. I changed her diaper in the pack and play she was sleeping in just to make her more comfortable. She never once woke up while I did this... I thought it was weird but I knew she was exhausted from the day before.
From 5-6am I could hear how restless she was and she would occasionally wimper. At 6am I heard a weird rustling noise coming from her pack and play. Jarryd rolled over and asked me if something was wrong with the baby. I almost didn't get up because I didn't want to be that "crazy over protective mom" who checked on their child every time they made a noise... but my spirit was so uneasy. Trusting that instinct (what I now believe was the prompting of the Holy Spirit) I walked over to see the baby convulsing violently.
The next 20 minutes were a blur...
I screamed for Jarryd to call 911 as I pulled her shaking body out of the pack and play. I laid her down on the floor and ripped her pajamas off of her body that felt like a furnace... she was burning up. I immediately noticed that she wasn't breathing... my heart is racing as I even type these words reliving all of this. At this point the convulsions stopped but her jaw was locked. I pried her little mouth open and saw that there was vomit blocking her airway. I stuck my fingers in her tiny throat and cleared it... I then heard her take a big breath... then I felt like I took my first breath.
I listend to her chest and heard her beautiful heart beating but other than that... Liv, whose name means "life" (and she is usually so FULL of it) laid there lifeless. I was crying hysterically begging her to open her eyes.
Nothing...
I ran and got my cell phone to call my in-laws who were thankfully just down the hall from us. My mother-in-law later told me I was so hysterical she could barely understand me... all she made out was... baby... and seizure... and they came running.
They walked into to a room of panic.
Jarryd was still on the phone with 911 and I was lying over Liv... praying and screaming... begging God to let her be ok.
Liv was still lifeless...
I got Howard the duck out of her bed... for those of you who know Liv, she doesn't go anywhere without that duck (who she calls Baby).
I kept asking her "Liv where is Baby?! Open your eyes so you can see Baby!"
At this point a police officer arrived and told us the paramedics were almost there. He relayed over the dispatch that Liv was unresponsive on the floor. Looking back now I feel like he was an angel... I never got his name but he brought with him this presence of peace that for some reason calmed my heart.
A few minutes later Liv let out the biggest cry!
I didn't think there could be a more beautiful sound than the one I heard the moment she was born... but this one trumped that!!!
She still couldn't open her eyes BUT she was responding... and loudly! Then her gorgeous blue eyes finally opened right as the paramedics walked in the door. They told us that she had a febrile seizure caused by her fever spiking up so fast.
In the ambulance, they got a temperature of 103.9 and in the emergency room they did a battery of tests just to rule out an infection while they got her fever to reduce with medicine. Howard the duck even took a chest X-ray with her ;)
While we were sitting in the exam room Jarryd looked up and mentioned that this day was June 1st and that was EXACTLY one year from the day we were in the emergency room with Liv last year.
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| Liv caught a strange virus that made her have high fever, labored breathing, a crazy rash, and vomiting for days on June 1st of 2012... our very first and unfortunately not our last ER visit. |
Then to top off the creepiness, I pointed out that Jarryd was wearing the SAME green shirt that he wore the last time we were in the ER...
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| Liv's hair in this picture says it all... us leaving the ER in Boerne, TX. |
We are not superstitious people but needless to say... we got rid of the green shirt!
When they released us from the hospital they gave her a big dose of an antibiotic and prescribed her to be on round the clock fever medicine.
Liv slept the rest of that day in the hotel room. Most of which in my arms. I literally just watched her sleep and praised God over and over again. In reliving all of this I am able to see His sovereign hand in every aspect of that day. The fact that this all happened while we were out of town where she slept in the same hotel room as us... I don't think I would have heard her rustling against the side of the bed through her baby monitor. The fact that my amazing in-laws were right down the hall to come and keep us calm. The fact that the hotel was literally right next to the ER... needless to say this will be the most expensive 2 minute drive we've ever taken... but oh well! ;)
God was so gracious to us on that day!
Finally, we are thankful that none of this upstaged my brother-in-law's beautiful wedding that night. Liv was not able to be the flower girl but she did make her presence known in the cry room at the ceremony. My sweet mom watched her that night in the hotel room so that Jarryd and I could enjoy Bryan & Shanna's beautiful wedding... which totally redeemed June 1st for us! It was actually hard to believe all of this had taken place in the same day.
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| The four of us at the wedding! So excited I finally have a sister! |
I don't know why we need such a traumatic event to make us notice the important things in life. We never took Liv for granted before, probably because we went through so much to get her, but the miracle and blessing that she is to us and all of our family is just magnified and my worship of God through that has been strengthened.
Thank you to everyone who prayed for us and sent us your love and support!
I am so grateful that God chose me to be Liv's mommy... I hope she reads all of these things one day and is reminded of how loved she is by her family but more importantly her Heavenly Father. I have no doubt that God is going to do big things in her and through her in the future... June 1st, 2013 was not going to get in the way of that.
See if you notice anything similar in these two pictures... I'll explain later in the post. This past weekend our little Foreman f...
