The most terrifying night of our lives...but God is gracious

We almost lost Jakob. I’m not talking in a figurative way, or even an over dramatic kind of way. It’s only by God’s grace and mercy that he’s with us today. Everything started Monday night. It was a normal night. Jeremy put Jakob to bed at 9 o’clock just like always. They read their Jesus storybook Bible and said their prayers. Jeremy said goodnight and that was that. Me and Jeremy started watching Fear Factor on t.v. (kind of seems ironic now), we had no idea just how fearful we’d be in just a short time. The show was just about over and I heard a noise. I muted the t.v. and heard Jakob cry out. It didn’t sound like a normal cry though. It was muted and he sounded scared, so I thought maybe he’s having a bad dream. I got up to go check on him. I slid open the pocket door that leads to his bedroom and Jakob was lying on the floor. He lifted his head just a little to look at me and his face looked so scared. He looked at me like mom you’ve gotta help me. He could barely make a noise by this time. I picked him up off the floor and said Jakob, what’s wrong??? His little face was the shade of a blueberry. That’s when I realized he couldn’t breathe. “He’s choking!” I screamed. I couldn’t even think of what to do. I looked down and noticed his sleeper was unzipped. “He’s choking on his diaper!” I told Jeremy. Jeremy ran over and grabbed him from my arms. He held him upside down and hit him on the back (very hard) multiple times. Nothing was coming out. Jakob’s face continued to turn a darker shade of blue. Jeremy just held Jakob on his back and stuck his finger down his throat to pull out some of the cotton/gel things that are inside of a diaper. He pulled out a wad of it and there was also a string of mucus and blood that came out with hit. Of course seeing blood terrified me even more. “He’s bleeding!” I screamed. Jeremy told me he probably scratched Jakey’s throat when he stuck his finger in there. I took Jakob. I started to beat on his back. “Call 911” I said (actually I was screaming. I know I’m saying I screamed a lot because I did. You cannot imagine the panic we were in.) Jeremy called 911 and just started saying our address. We have a choking baby and we need paramedics at ---- saying our address over and over. I took Jakob outside to wait for the ambulance and also hoping the cooler air might help him breath better. I could tell he was at least able to breathe a little because he wasn’t continuing to turn blue. He was now only a shade of light gray. He kept wanting to pass out. His eyes would roll back and his head would fall over. I kept grabbing his face and talking to him. Telling him not to go to sleep. We needed him to stay awake. In between talking to Jakob I would be yelling at Jeremy to tell the EMT’s to hurry. I didn’t know if Jakob was going to be able to stay awake much longer. It seemed like forever until the ambulance got there. We took Jakob out to them and they listened to his lungs. They checked his oxygen and by then he was getting better oxygen. I had to run inside to change clothes because I was already in my pj’s and got in the ambulance for the 45 minute ride to the hospital. (whenever I’m reminded of stuff like this I remember why we need to move! 45 minutes to the nearest hospital is ridiculous) About 15 minutes into the drive Jeremy called me and said , “what’s going on?” “is Jakob o.k.?” I said as far as I know. I had to ride in the front of the ambulance so I didn’t know what was going on back there. The driver said Jakey was fine. Jeremy said we’d started driving really fast and he just wondered if something bad had happened. I told him I’m pretty sure the guy is just trying to get us to the hospital as quickly as possible. A little while later the lady EMT stuck her head through this window and told me they gave Jakob some oxygen and he was sleeping now. I asked if they could still see his bpm (heart) and oxygen intake and she said yes they were monitoring all that. About 15 minutes before we got to the hospital the guy EMT stuck his head through the window and said what kind of cartoons does Jakob like. I told him he likes everything. Jakob had woken up and they put dora on their I-phone and let him watch cartoons :)  When we arrived at the hospital Jakob had his coloring back. He looked so much better. He had crusty dried blood on his cheek but I was hopeful he’d be o.k. The lady EMT told me he’d thrown up a large chunk of the diaper crystals mixed with blood. We were glad he was getting that stuff out of his stomach. In the ER they put a monitor on Jakob’s toe. They put respiratory monitors on his chest. They bundled him tight with only one arm sticking out and put an i.v. in it. That was rough. He was screaming. I was trying to comfort him. Jeremy was trying not to watch. The doctor explained that his lungs are the real danger. If he inhaled the cotton/crystals into his lungs he could develop pneumonia. They wanted to keep him overnight for observation. We were transferred to the picu (pediatric intensive care unit) for the night. We had one set of x-rays done on Jakob’s chest that night. The doctor said he didn’t see any masses in Jakob’s lungs. The night in the picu was long. They put oxygen on Jakob. He didn’t like having it on at all. I rocked him in the rocking chair until 3 o’clock in the morning. Thankfully Toy Story 3 was the movie on that morning (yet another gift from God to Jakob). I think it helped him get his mind off of everything that was going on at the time. I laid Jakey in his crib around 3. Once everything was quiet and both of my boys were asleep I finally felt the weight of all we’d been through that night. I felt sick. I kept having to just push the picture of Jakob’s blue face out of my mind. I tried to thank God for Jakob’s life every time my mind would go to those horrifying moments. I didn’t sleep at all. Around 4:30 Jakob woke up and didn’t go back to sleep. His cries got louder and louder so I took him out of the crib and just rocked him. Every time I would move him something would get unhooked. He had monitors and cords everywhere so it was quite a task to move him around. The nurses in the picu were awesome. They were so kind and you can tell they love children. The little teddy bear Jakob is holding in the picture was in his crib when he was put in the room. His teddy was his buddy all night. Even when I rocked him in my arms he had his free arm wrapped around that teddy bear. Yesterday people kept coming to the picu to bring the kids Christmas presents. The FGCU college basketball team brought little connect blocks to all the kids. Another group of people brought Teddy bears and candy. The picture of Jakob is from yesterday when they finally let him get disconnected from everything and he ran around the unit a bunch and then sat in a chair to watch some cartoons. The cast-like thing on his arm is covering his i.v. He was a trooper and did well on everything. The nurses would crack up because when they took his blood pressure or temperature or anything else he would see them and say “no!” and then wag his little finger at them and tell them off in his own language. We are so thankful to have Jakob here with us today. I know it’s only by God’s grace and mercy that he made it through.    

We are now using cloth diapers at night. I got these gdiapers at Baby’s R Us yesterday. They have little cloth inserts you put in them. They basically look like undies when he wears them. He will still wear regular diapers during the day (he doesn’t pick at his diapers except when he’s alone for nap or night-night) Once we get back from Christmas at home we will start trying to potty train, but at least me and Jeremy can rest at night knowing he’s not going to choke on those diapers anymore. Monday night he slept on my lap in a rocking chair. Last night he slept in bed with his daddy and me. This morning I woke up and looked at him. I could only thank God a thousand times as I watched his little chest rise and fall. I am so thankful he’s still with us.