Let me start off by saying that I am the least protective parent around. Anyone who is my close friend or family know this. I don't freak out about anything. I'm very laid back when it comes to germs, dirt, injuries, etc.
Last night, October 22, I was at home with all 3 of my kids. We had just finished up dinner and were about to leave to go to our small group meeting at church. John was meeting us there on his way home from work. I washed Micah's hands off and put him down so he could play. I was wearing a tank top at the time and decided to go into my room to change my shirt. I had only been in my room for two or three minutes tops, when I heard something hit our floor. Immediately, I knew what it was, and I knew it was bad. We have stained concrete floors and Micah has hit his head on them several times, but he has always been alright. Tonight was different and I knew it the moment I heard the sound of his head hitting the floor.
I ran into the living room where I heard Micah screaming. As I was running, I asked Emma what had happened. She said he climbed onto the couch and fell right on his head. He was screaming as I picked him up, but after about 3 seconds, the screaming stopped. I was holding him cradle style (his head and legs draped across my arms) and he suddenly arched his back, his mouth fell open, he got stiff, and he stopped breathing. That's when I lost it. It almost reminded me of when a child throws a fit and they take that deep breath in before screaming...only he didn't scream. It was a seizure. He didn't breathe again for what seemed like forever, but was probably about 15 seconds. As I carried him, I was running around frantically looking for my phone. I started crying and yelling "MICAH! MICAH! He's not breathing!" He wouldn't respond. I told Emma to call 911. How was she supposed to call 911 when I couldn't even find my phone? Emma began to cry as she realized the severity of the situation. She kept asking "what's wrong with Micah? What's wrong with him?" I said "he isn't breathing! I have to call 911!"After a few seconds, I realized my phone was in my back pocket, pulled it out and dialed John's phone. His phone was dead. Then I remembered him calling me from work earlier and telling me that his phone had died. I called 911. After they transferred me THREE times (I got so angry), the dispatcher asked me what happened. By this time, Micah had started breathing again, but he didn't cry. He didn't make a noise and he wouldn't open his eyes. I would try talking to him, but he wouldn't respond. As I was on the phone with the dispatcher, Micah began to lose all of his color. What terrified me most was that his lips turned white. A horrible white color. He started sweating profusely and was just lying in my arms as if he were asleep. Only he wasn't. He was unconscious. The fear I had is indescribable. I have never been so scared in my entire life. It felt so unreal. The 911 operator told me to say "now" every time Micah took a breath so she could keep track of his breathing. I kept asking her when the ambulance would be there and all she would say was "they are coming as fast as they can", which I translate into "she has no freaking clue".
I sat on the end of our couch, holding my precious boy. My only boy. He wouldn't move. He wouldn't open his eyes when I said his name. So many thoughts were going through my head:
"Will he ever be able to talk again?"
"Does he have brain damage?"
"He is going to die here in my arms."
"I won't have my little boy anymore."
The helpless feeling I had is inexplicable. I have been working in the medical field for almost 11 years. I know CPR. I know a lot of stuff, but none of my knowledge nor my CPR would help a brain injury. There was nothing I could do for Micah. Except wait and pray. I begged God not to take Micah from me. I asked Him to please heal my boy. My sweet boy, who loves his sisters, is addicted to remote controls and phones, who is the most amazing boy I have ever known and one of my most treasured blessings was laying almost lifeless in my arms. I looked over at our table by our TV and our mantle, where there are quite a few pictures of Micah and the most devastating thought ran through my mind - "those are going to be the last pictures I have of my son because he is about to die." I tried to tell myself not to think about that. I had to keep it together both for Micah and for Emma.
The ambulance took forever to get to my house. At least 20-25 minutes. At one point, I even asked the dispatcher if I should just go ahead and drive Micah to the hospital myself. She assured me that wouldn't be a good idea. I told her that I needed to call my parents so they could come stay with my girls and she said that I had to stay on the phone with her but one of her coworkers would call them. I can only imagine the horrible feeling my mom had when she got a call from a 911 operator saying that her grandson was unconscious and she needed to go to my house to stay with my other kids while he went to the hospital. On a little side note - I seriously have the most amazing parents ever. Emma was outside waiting for the ambulance, so I carried Micah outside and told her to run next door and see if our neighbors were home. I needed help because now Ella was crying and I was all alone. I didn't know what else to do. My neighbor, Roni, and her 2 girls were home. Emma told them what had happened and they ran over. On another side note - I have incredible neighbors on both sides of our house. Just incredible. Roni came in and held Ella and she tried talking to Micah. A few minutes later, Micah woke up...screaming and trying to get away from me. As if he had no idea what had happened. Right after that, the ambulance arrived. I told them what had happened and they looked him over. I saw one paramedic feel Micah's head then whispered something to the other medic. When they were done, they said the words that no mother ever wants to hear: "We need to Careflight him". They thought he might have a brain bleed and needed to get him to the hospital ASAP. My parents arrived right after the ambulance. My mom told my dad to go get John at the church and to meet the ambulance at Ovilla Christian School because that's the closet place the paramedics could get the helicopter enough room to land. Thankfully, OCS is only a 4 minute drive from our house and our church is only 2 minutes from OCS. I grabbed my wallet and got into the ambulance with Micah.
John was in the parking lot of our church when he saw my dad drive up and walk in. John followed and my dad told him that Micah fell and had been unconscious and was about to be Careflighted (Careflown? Not sure which is correct) to Children's. My dad drove him to meet us in the OCS parking lot. When John opened the ambulance doors and saw Micah laying there, I saw tears starting to come into his eyes. He didn't cry, but I knew he was trying to be strong for our son. We both sat there for a minute, holding Micah's hand. Micah just continued to cry. Once Careflight landed, they came to get him out of the ambulance, and I asked if I would be able to ride with Micah to Children's. They said no because there wasn't enough room. I began to cry and said "but he will be so scared. He won't know anyone. He isn't even two years old." The Careflight nurse assured me that they would take good care of him and got my cell number to let me know when they land.
My dad drove John and I out to Children's and I have never seen my dad drive so fast or with such intensity. He was on the verge of tears as well and I could tell he had been crying before we got into his truck. I hate seeing my dad cry. It has always gotten to me because he is so strong and to see him like that breaks my heart. I wrote a quick status on Facebook asking people to pray for Micah. He needed prayer and so did we.
The Careflight nurse called me and said they had landed with Micah when we were about ten minutes from Children's. When we finally got there and they took us to see him, he wasn't wearing any pants (just a diaper) and they had cut his shirt off his arm. The doctor told us that they would be giving him some medicine to sedate him so they could do a CT scan of his head. While we were waiting for them to bring him the medicine, Micah was holding my finger and wouldn't let go. I leaned down to him and said "Mommy isn't going to leave you, buddy". What Micah thought I said was that I was leaving and he began to scream and cry. He tried to roll over towards me and just kept clinging onto my finger. I felt awful. I kept reassuring him that I was not going anywhere.
The CT tech brought him his medicine and we went for the scan. They strapped him down so he couldn't move anything and started the test. I was able to stay in the room with him while his CT was being done, and I guess the medicine kicked in because he started laughing at every face I made at him. At that moment, nothing else in the world could have brought me more joy.
We went back to the room and waited for the results. I have to say that whatever medicine was given to Micah made him act hilarious. I know his head hurt but you would never have known it because he was drugged up.
Still obsessed with phones
You can see the knot above his left eye
Sleeping on Daddy
After about 30-45 minutes, the doctor came in and said that the preliminary report on Micah's CT was clear. No brain bleed! I couldn't believe it. My baby boy was going to be alright. We were going to get to take him home. God answered our prayers and the prayers of the many people who prayed for Micah. I truly believe that it is a miracle and that the Lord touched Micah's body.
So, to all of you who prayed, called, text, posted to pray for Micah on your own Facebook, and came up to the hospital, THANK YOU. It's so wonderful to know that so many people (even some I don't know) care about my family. To my parents, thank you for being the most amazing people I know and coming to our aid so quickly. Thank you, Mom, for staying with our girls and keeping them safe. I know how much you wanted to be at the hospital too. Also, thank you Roni for being such a great friend and awesome next-door neighbor. You're more than I could ask for. Most importantly though, thank the Lord for healing Micah and hearing our prayers. I'm so undeserving, yet so blessed.
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