After our week in Houston, the fun continued. My mom stayed in town for about a week to help me work and pack up and then we {mom, Jesse, me, and boys} ventured off to Utah! We flew in late Friday night and Saturday morning we hit the lake.
The lake is quite low and we put our stuff in the shade by these nice trees...
which meant it was quite the walk to the lake.
But other than the hike, it was amazing!
{My brother Brad and his girly friend Taryn}
{Our cousin Allison and my sister Kylie}
{Uncle Mike}
{Dad aka the boat master}
{Yours truly and my handsome hubby}
We tried to proved we are still young.
{D}
{Although I wiped out pretty hard and had a sore neck for several days from the whip lash that resulted.}
Jesse rocking the wake board.
We had been talking about the new tower my dad had installed on the boat and how it was going to give everyone so much air to do all their tricks (even though for some of us just getting outside the wake is a trick these days!) But much to our delight, Jesse gave us a 1-2-3 count down and did a flip!
Or as much a flip as this maneuver resembles.
I have to admit I laughed so hard because I had no idea what to expect when he started counting!
Everyone else was awesome too.
{Austin}
{Taryn}
{Brad}
He had a perfect run and didn't even get his hair wet!
{Uncle Mike}
He might have spent half his time like this.
{We were trying to help him out the best we could by shoving everyone in the front!}
{Including the driver!}
{But once he was up, he was awesome as usual.}
{Maybe it wore him out a bit?}
{Kylie}
{Allison}
{Oh Jesse....}
{We learned that Taryn is a swedish fish fan!}
After nearly everyone had taken their turn to ski and wake board my dad received a phone call and said we needed to head back to the beach right away. I immediately asked why and he said we had a sick baby. I racked my mind with what could warrant an immediate trip back to the beach because Ian seemed to have a bit of a fever when we left but we had given him some Tylenol and I didn't think twice about it. I had just figured we were getting some molars.
When I pressed further, my dad quietly said, "Ian had a seizure."
What?? My heart skipped a beat. You never want to hear anything remotely like that, especially with regards to your children. My dad drove to shore, Jesse and I jumped off the front, and just started running, all the while my mind was jumping to worst case scenarios.
Once we made it to our little camp, we found a very lethargic baby with a wet burp cloth on his head. They handed him over to me and he was on fire.
We then heard the details of what happened. My mom said Ian was acting a little tired and just not his usual self. She laid him down for a nap and when he woke up, he still didn't seem quite right. She sat with him and gave him some love, and then he seized in her arms. Luckily our family friend who is a chiropractor, as well as had a son who experienced a seizure, calmly talked her through all the stages of a seizure. He told her that his eyes would roll back, the seizing would last about a minute, he would stop breathing when it was over but he should start breathing again on his own, and that he would be quite lethargic when it was over. My mom said Ian followed what he said to a T.
Once he started waking up again, they (my mom, Aunt Kerry who happens to be a nurse, and Ryan, the family friend) realized how feverish he was and immediately took steps to cool him down and of course called us right away.
Ryan said it looked like a febrile seizure.
I turned into a mushy mess and started crying as I held my baby in my arms. It is so hard to see your children suffer, especially when you do not know what is wrong. I did however start to count my blessings. Ryan had not planned to come to the lake that day, but at the last minute was able to make it which was a huge blessing in knowing what to expect as well as keep everyone calm during the seizure. I thankfully threw in the baby Tylenol just in case we needed it, which of course they gave once he was awake enough to swallow. And I had even felt prompted to bring my wallet which was fortunate to have our insurance information when we headed off to Instacare. The Lord had given me promptings and tender mercies that turned out to be so valuable.
At Instacare, we were seen fairly quickly and with Ian's fever still at 102 even after receiving Tylenol and a cool rag on his head, I was very grateful. The doctor checked him out and told us he had a double ear infection with one ruptured membrane.
The poor kid was so tired, and I don't blame it. I can only imagine the toll a seizure has on your body.
{Yeah, he started looking pretty sick after we had a diagnosis.}
Well that explained the fever. But good grief, this child had not shown any other signs of being sick! Sometimes I think my kids are too tough for their own good. The doctor honestly didn't touch much on the seizure since it was the only one he's had, and just reiterating what Ryan had told us about it most likely being a febrile seizure and that we would treat him with antibiotics as well as Tylenol and ibuprofen to control the fever. Apparently with febrile seizures it's not so much related to the actual temperature, but more how quickly the body changes in temperature. It's clear in hindsight that it was a poor parenting choice to take him to the lake with a fever, but like I said, he didn't show any other signs of being sick!
In the meantime, while Jesse, Ryan (the stable one), and I took care of Ian, Briggs was having the time of his life.
{I of course texted my parents while we were sitting in the Instacare and told them I hoped they were taking pictures of Briggs playing at the lake. Thankfully they took a whole bunch for me!}
He loved throwing sand up in the air.
He got to go on a canoe ride.
{Briggs and my cousin, Liv, who is just six months older than my boys.}
And ride in the boat!
And yes he came home a red head. Gotta love that red sand!
Oh and everyone else had fun as well!
I of course was terrified of Ian having another seizure. I have obviously read about seizures and know what to do in theory, but haven't actually seen a seizure in practice. Any twitch he made caught my eye and sent a wave of panic over me. I just didn't want anything else to be seriously wrong with our sweet boy. I could handle an ear infection and managing a fever. Although that proved harder than I anticipated. That poor kid would not cool down. We were trying to keep cool rags on his head, I got in the kiddie pool with him, we put a wet shirt on him, and of course kept the meds on board. I even woke that pathetic sick child up every few hours in the night to take his temperature and give him some more medicine. Finally in the middle of the night, his fever came down. What a relief.
{He sure was snuggly though!}
I had also turned to my husband that night and asked if he would give our Ian a Priesthood blessing.
We believe that men with the Priesthood have God's power to act in his name and provide blessings of health, comfort, or for other needs. Jesse, my dad, and brother Brad, surrounded Ian and me and laid their hands on Ian's head. They blessed him with health, that his fever would go down, and things would be OK. My mom also suggested I get a blessing, because I was a mess. These same great men laid their hands on my head and blessed me with comfort. I don't remember what all was said, but I remember the feeling of love, peace, and comfort that came over me. I knew my Heavenly Father knew my pain, that He loved me, and that everything would be alright. It was such a testimony builder for me to feel such love and comfort at this difficult time.
I am so grateful for a worthy husband who is able to give blessings to our family whenever we need them. I am also grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who is willing to send his love, support, and power to our family. I know the Gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is true and am grateful for it in my life.
{Well folks, that was just our first day in Utah! Actually not even the entirety of the first day... but don't you worry, I'll continue our Utah adventure in another installment or two. Or perhaps 12.}
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