A Crazy Couple of Weeks...Part 2

In addition to preparing to speak in sacrament and waiting for updates on Bailey that first Saturday, Marcos took me aside and told me he had something to tell me. The stake president wants to meet with us tomorrow. Oh man! My stomach dropped.

We met with him and found out Marcos was being called as the 2nd counselor in our ward's new bishopric. YIKES! I don't think you ever feel prepared to receive a calling like that. Marcos was overwhelmed and...well...I was definitely overwhelmed too.

The following Sunday (the day Bailey finally got to leave the hospital...although she had to stay here local for a couple more days) Marcos was sustained and set apart. It was a really cool day. There were lots of kids (between the three members of the new bishopric) and some other family members, plus the stake presidency. But each blessing as the Bishop and then each of his counselors was set apart was AMAZING! They were each very different, and yet exactly what you would think that person in that calling needed to hear and be blessed with that day. There are a couple specific blessings Marcos was promised that I will record in my personal journal. Suffice it to say, it was a very spiritual experience and I was bawling by the end. Andrew, the new Bishop's oldest son, looked over at me after Marcos was set apart and said, "Are you okay?" I couldn't help but laugh. "Um, yes. Well, no. I don't know. Do I look okay?" :)

We were already fairly busy juggling Marcos' busy job, his part-time on-call job, homeschool, dance, music, soccer, and other extra curricular activities, but I'm sure it will all work out somehow. I know it's going to be hard - a huge sacrifice - but that's okay. We've been blessed and the Lord expects us to serve. Someone in my ward came up after sacrament meeting when he was sustained and said, "Well congratulations. You've lost a husband, but gained a ward." As nauseous as that statement makes me, it seems like a good trade off. I like having lots of supporters and our ward has definitely become a family to us. Another lady came up and said, "What are you going to do? Are you going to be okay? Your kids are really hard." I wasn't sure how to respond. Thank you? I know. I'm used to it. I will be fine? Gotta love well-intentioned comments. Instead I said, "Yeah, I guess it's good I'm already used to pawning them off on so many ward members. I will just plan on passing one up the row and one down the row every week." We definitely have community kids. Many of the older ladies in the ward affectionately called Marissa the "ward baby" when she was younger because I would send her to Relief Society with someone different every week so I could focus on teaching the young women.

Marcos changed his on-call hours so he no longer works Wednesday (YM/YW night) but is on call on Tuesday night. He also juggled some of his Sunday on-call hours so he can at least be there for all his morning meetings and church every week. We are still trying to figure the weekend out, but I think it will work out somehow. It makes his schedule a little tight - you should have seen me trying to find a time I could go visiting teaching when Marcos could be home this month - but although I am nervous and already planning on never hearing one word during sacrament meeting, I feel peaceful and know that this is what is supposed to happen right now.

A Crazy Couple of Weeks...Part 1

My sister, Angie, is two years younger than I am. She is a peacemaker, the life of the party and has the most tender heart ever. She is my oldest and one of a few of the closest friends I will ever have. She also has kids very similar in age to mine, which is super fun when they all get together. Dylan will be 8 this week and Connor turned 7 in January. Preston will be 5 on March 15 and Tanner turns 5 in June and Marissa will be 2 in July and Bailey turns 1 on March 15...same birthday as Preston. Two boys and a girl, just like us.

Angie and I talk often. Not as much as Angie and Alicia because they both have a bluetooth and can chat while they multitask, but still. We talk often. She called me up to ask me what "BRAT" in the BRAT diet stood for on Monday, February 6th. Her babysitter had called to tell her Bailey was throwing up. Bananas, rice, applesauce, toast. And maybe do some pedialyte so she doesn't get dehydrated. I knew Angie was home from work with her, but I didn't realize how sick she was. Sure enough she couldn't keep anything. When Friday rolled around (Feb 10), they took her to the doctor. He wasn't sure what was going on, but knew she needed an IV and gave her the option of getting an IV and sending her home or taking her to the hospital. I'm not sure what was the deciding factor, but they ended up taking her to the hospital, which turns out to be the best decision they could have made.

No one at the hospital could figure out what was going on with this sweet 10 1/2 month old baby girl. She continued to vomit through tests and questions that continued all night. The next day, Justin was holding her and she projectile vomited clear across the room and then just passed out. Thankfully the nurse walked by as this happened and called for oxygen, checked for a pulse, didn't find one and called for a code blue. My mom called to let me know and I dropped to my knees in the middle of Target to pray for her baby. It was one of the scariest things. Angie had to leave the room and was not allowed back in the room with Justin and Bailey while all of this was taking place. Poor thing. It kills me to think how she must have been feeling. She began having frequent seizures that they could not get to stop until they loaded her with massive amounts of medicine. They also had to intubate her. The doctors at Idaho Falls Regional Medical Center still had no idea what was going on. They took x-rays, a CT scan, used the ultrasound machine, took blood, etc. No clue.

By this time they decided it was necessary to transfer her to Primary Children's Medical Center. Only, it's a little complicated. Bailey wasn't very stable and Idaho Falls is pretty far for gas capabilities of the helicopter. So...they had to fly a team of specialists from PCMC up to Idaho Falls on a jet, take the ambulance to the hospital, transfer Bailey in the ambulance and take her to the airport where she would be flown with the team back to SLC and then transfered by ambulance up to the hospital. In the meantime, my mom was watching the boys at Angie's house and Justin and Angie got their stuff and drove to the hospital.

Let me mention that during this whole process I was preparing to speak in sacrament the next morning. So I was a little stressed not knowing what was going to happen and still trying to be inspired and prepare to give a talk on personal revelation in my ward. I have not prayed so hard in awhile. I pray a lot. But this was pleading. Pretty intense. I wanted so badly to be there for my sister, but what could I do? So I prayed. And I waited and worried.

The next morning at 8:30 a.m. (our church starts at 9) my mom called to tell me she had arrived at PCMC okay and that the surgeon was just as puzzled as the doctors in Idaho. So they decided to operate. They knew something was wrong and they needed to open her up. As soon as the incision in her abdomen was made, the surgeon could tell there was something about the size of a tennis ball inside her intestine, but it wasn't really hard so he only had to make a small incision in the lining of her intestine to get to it. After the surgery, he brought Angie and Justin over to look at what he had found inside little Bailey. Angie was perplexed for a minute, but Justin recognized it immediately. He turned to her and said, "It's one of those damn orbs." My mom bought the older boys these things called giant orbs (click on the link to see what they are) for Christmas. They are tiny - like the size of a marble - but grow to many times their size in water. Apparently Tanner (the 4 year old) liked to play with them and somehow Bailey ended up swallowing them. They would easily pass through a child, but because they expand with liquid, it had continued growing and growing inside Bailey, which explains the fact that she couldn't keep anything down. It was blocking it. At this point, we were all so relieved that she was alive and expected to make a full recovery that I was able to give my talk and relax for a minute.

I went to visit Bailey the next day and only then realized just how bad it must have been. She was in the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) and in room 1 (not a good thing). She had one nurse all to herself and had just barely been extubated. They were hopeful her oxygen levels would stay up, but they didn't so she had to be on a CPAP machine for several days. Once her breathing was okay, they were concerned with her waking up. That also took longer than expected, as did getting her to eat and eventually getting her to drink. It was a long process. She was at PCMC for a full week, not to mention the two days she was in the hospital in Idaho Falls. They finally let her go home hoping she would continue to recover and drink more there. It seemed she was associating the hospital and drinking with pain.

We are now over a week past the initial scare and things are going well. She continues to heal and has spent the week at her own home with her mom and dad. They both took another week off work to be with her and make sure she was doing great before they attempt to leave her with the babysitter.

All I can do is thank the Lord for tender mercies, for tiny miracles and for huge ones. We almost lost her. But she made it. And it seems like she is going to be able to celebrate her first birthday happy and healthy.

Bailey on Christmas

Marissa and Bailey "bonding" during Tony's birthday party this fall

(or is Marissa trying to tell her who's boss...I can't be sure)

Another cousin bonding moment

Sweet little Bailey Michelle