James, James, James

The infamous cough syrup, and the formula that never ran out....
Two child locks on the fridge doors, one just wouldn't work
James has two loves right now. Balloons and trucks. A two in one toy. Sweet!
Holding his balloon, while watching the show UP. Because it has balloons, of course.
Asleep at the top of the stairs. This boy has the hardest time falling asleep at night after the hospital stay. I only thought it was bad before then....


So almost a month ago, James gave us quite a scare. I had the kids with me at Costco, and he puked while we were there. I got him cleaned up the best I could, and we go out of there as quick as I could. He kept looking at me so sad. The sick look, I thought. I called and canceled our babysitter on the way home. (We were going to go out that night) I got the kids home, and James looked worse. He couldn't stand, sit straight, or focus on anything. It was scary. Jess and the bishop gave James a blessing. We felt we needed to take him in fast. I dropped the other two kids off at the bishop's house, and we were off to E.R. #1. We went to a hospital that was closest to our house. The boys were born there, I had both of my surgeries there. We got checked in, and the first nurse said most likely we would be transferred to Primary Children's. He didn't have a fever, just not acting right at all. We were there for 3 hours. Went through questions of did he fall, crash, eat my thyroid pills etc. Nothing. His blood work came back normal. They attempted a CAT scan. That didn't work. He wouldn't hold still. They had Jess pin him down, but still didn't work. I got to stand out in the hall and listen to a screaming kid telling Dad he wanted out and that he was done. I was so sick to my stomach. The first doctor said things like brain tumor, cancer, epilepsy, brain hemorrhage. He didn't have a good bedside manner. The scan attempt did wake up James a little. His sweet little personality was coming back through, but he still couldn't balance. We stumped the doctors there, so they said to head over to the children's hospital. By now it was 11 p.m. I called and checked on our other kids, and we were off to emergency room #2.

We arrived to the second hospital, and it was busy even at midnight. When we got called back they took his vitals again, but he still couldn't stand on his own, so they sent us back to some specialists right off. Within 2 minutes of being in the observation room we had two doctors, and three nurses there. I must be getting older, because they all introduced themselves and they all looked like teenagers to me. (Including the doctors) He was hooked up to monitors, blood drawn again, and questions started again. They asked the same questions, except if there was anyone sick in the house. I told them my daughter was. Did I give her anything? Yes, cough syrup the night before. What kind? Delsym. They all said it at the same time, that is what he took. This particular type of cough syrup doesn't show up in tests. I was so relieved. We finally had an answer. Then I was so sad. I still to this day, cannot figure out a time he was in the bathroom that day. He hadn't spilled a single drop on his clothes, face, or floor. Yes there was a safety lock on the lid. He opened it. I know I had locked it the night before. It was in the far, back corner of the counter. It still makes me sick just thinking about it.

We stayed overnight for observation just in case it wasn't an overdose. They didn't make us do another CAT scan. (They would have knocked him out) He was so cute in the hospital the rest of the night. James flirted with the nurses, ate tons of food and drinks. He was dehydrated. He watched a big truck show over and over again. Jess had to finally rock him to sleep at 3. He slept so good with all of the little monitors hooked up to him. (There were 5) And we were released in the morning.

We feel so blessed that it was something so little. We came home, and dumped the cough syrup, and added even more child locks to our house. Now the story about the formula. When I dropped off the kids, I gave our poor neighbor one bottle, no diapers, and a can of formula that was 3/4 empty. It was the little can that makes like 15 bottles total. While we were gone, he drank bottles before bed, 5 bottles during the night, and a couple more in the morning. She said the last scoop of formula was used right after I called to say we were coming home. It blew my mind. There should have been no formula left even for the night feedings. Her boy and Logan wear the same size diapers, and clothes worked. We were very watched over at the hospital, but the other two kids were watched over at our neighbor's house too. The formula really amazes me though. It reminds me of the fish and bread feeding everyone in the scriptures. WE WERE BLESSED over an over again.

So all of our medicines are now locked in cupboards even if they have safety locks on the medicine lids. Please learn from us. Lock away ALL of your medicine. Kids are a lot smarter than we think they are. I hope we can save you some heartache. No one likes to see their kids like that....We were so BLESSED.

Sorry this turned out to be a novel.