1 year, 16 Teeth, and Two visits to the Emergency Room

Our little Cam man turned 1 year old last Friday.

He loves his bottle, soft blankets, giggling at his sisters and wreaking havoc around the house (i.e.  unrolling all the toilet paper, pulling out all the DVD's, pulling things out of cupboards and off of shelves, you know, typical 1 year old mayhem. : )

 He is busy busy busy. He army crawls so fast it looks like he's swimming across the floor. He's not walking but he pulls up on everything he can get his hands on, and knows how to climb up and down the stairs like a champ.

One of his big accomplishments this year was sprouting 16 teeth in 12 months.  8 on the top, 8 on the bottom, including 4 molars. Made for some rough nights and lots of drool, but I sure love that toothy little grin.

Despite all those pearly white chompers he still prefers mostly soft food. Baby food, yogurt, canned peas, canned green beans, bananas, mushy sweet potatoes and oatmeal are his go to favorites.

He is really, really, ridiculously good looking (gets it from his Dad) and even though he has yet to say any formal words, he fills the house with his adorable low belly laugh.

Besides sprouting lots of teeth and learning to climb and crawl, Cam has also given us a couple of scares this year. In September he had a febrile seizure that landed him in the hospital for 3 days.  Our doctor told us that from now on we'd have to watch him because a spike in fever, or a high fever over a sustained period of time could trigger another seizure.

We experienced that today when his fever spiked and his whole body began to tremble and seize. His lips and fingers turned blue and his skin became blotchy. I called 9-1-1 but this time I was able to stay calm (for the most part) and hold it together until the paramedics arrived. Cam's seizure lasted around 5 minutes but he didn't lose conciousness. He did throw up in the ambulance from the high fever and when we arrived at the ER his temperature was 106.

It was very hard to see our sweet little man in such a scary condition. Thankfully the doctors were able to get the fever down by layering Motrin with prescription Tylenol with codeine. They also discovered the cause of the fever, a double ear infection, and took care of that with a shot of antibiotics.

After 3 hours in the ER we brought our sweet guy home and he is doing much much better. I have an appointment with his pediatrician tomorrow and hopefully I can find out more about what we can do to prevent these seizures and also how best to handle them when they happen.

The good news is he's home and on the mend. It's been an eventful but wonderful 12 months, and now I'll end with a few cute pictures from last Friday's birthday celebration:

Didn't take him long to snatch the whole cake and ram it in his mouth.

Baby likes the Cakey

Happy Birthday little Cam!! Thanks for bringing so much happiness into our home!

A Scary Night

A few days ago we had quite the scare with our little baby Camden.  Wednesday afternoon he woke up from his nap burning up with a fever. I took his temp and it was 103.7. I gave him Tylenol and called my doctor who said to watch him and if it didn't come down to call her. An hour later his temperature was the same. I called back and they told me to bring him in. After a thorough examination the doctor determined it was a virus and told me to wait it out and keep layering Tylenol and Motrin to control the fever.

When I brought him home I gave him some Motrin and put him to bed but he was so hot and uncomfortable he couldn't sleep. I was supposed to go to a Relief Society presidency meeting that evening for church but I had a strong feeling I should stay home with Cam. He was very fussy and irritable but finally went down again around 8pm. He woke up an hour later still fussy and burning up. I gave him some Tylenol and passed him to Taber to soothe him. 

Shortly after I handed him to Taber he started vomiting like I've never seen a baby vomit. It was thick and streaming out of his mouth and nose. We brought him upstairs to clean him and give him a bath. 

Taber held him and I started to get him undressed. Suddenly his body started to spasm and after two violent jerks my heart froze and I looked at Taber and said, "what was that?"  right then Cam jerked backwards one more time, his eyes rolled back into his head and his body folded over like a rag doll. 

Looking back there are probably a million things we could've or should've done different. Most of all I wish we had been able to stay calm, but watching his body go lifeless like that was so horrifying we couldn't help but panic. Taber tried flipping him over and moving him around but he was completely unresponsive. His body was lifeless, his lips started turning blue and we realized he wasn't breathing.  Taber told me to call 9-1-1 and  I frantically dialed it on my cellphone. I just kept thinking, I don't know how to do CPR on a baby.

The dispatcher came on the phone and asked what was happening.

"My baby stopped breathing! " I told her. "please help me, he's not breathing!"

She asked me my name and told me to try to calm down. I ran upstairs and saw Taber trying to suction him with a bulb. I looked at Cam's limp body and his blue lips and saw the fear on Taber's face.

"Get Mary! GO GET MARY!" he said.  

Mary is our neighbor across the street who is an RN.  As I ran back downstairs I heard Taber yelling, "Help Me! Help Me!" I started to sob hysterically and began pleading out loud with God. "Please God! Please help my son!"

I ran out into the night in bare feet still clutching the phone with the 9-1-1 dispatcher but was so panicked I couldn't hear what she was saying. I rang Mary's doorbell over and over but she was watching TV and couldn't hear it. The 9-1-1 dispatcher was asking me questions but I couldn't answer coherently. I saw Taber run out of the house with Cam's limp body. His face was turning gray and he still wasn't breathing. I wondered how much time had gone by. How much longer did we have?

"Mary's not home!" I said.

"Get Beth!" he yelled. Beth is our other neighbor who is also an RN. I was about to run to her house when I heard the dispatcher say sternly, 

"Becca, I need you to calm down so you can help your son. You need to listen to me and do what I say so we can help him."

"Okay." I sobbed. "What should I do?"

"You need to lay him flat on the ground."

 We were outside and didn't want to lay him on the driveway so we ran in the house and laid him down. Taber still had the bulb and was trying to suction his airways. Every second that passed without a breath was filled with agony. It had been at least 3 minutes since he stopped breathing. I felt like he was slipping away from me and there was nothing I could do about it. I cried and cried, begging for help over and over again, praying someone could fix him.

Taber grabbed the phone from me and put it on speaker. The dispatcher directed him to clear Cam's airways. He tilted his head back and swept his airways. I saw Cam's chest rise and fall. It was the tiniest gulp of air but it was a breath.

"Is he breathing?" The dispatcher asked.

"Yes!" I said. "Yes, I saw him take a breath!"

"I want you to put your head right next to his mouth and every time you feel him take a breath a want you to say, "breath."

I did as she told me and again Cam took a tiny gulp of air.

"Breath!" I said.

 Again his chest rose and fell

"Breath!" I sobbed. "Breath!" Fear and anxiety started to leave my body in heaving sobs.

"You're doing great Becca, just stay calm, you're doing great."

Seeing his breaths relieved some of my anxiety but his body was still limp and his eyes were glazed over. Taber told me to get Beth and he continued to follow instructions from the dispatcher. I ran to Beth's house and rang her doorbell. She was still in her scrubs and when she saw me bawling on her porch she ran right out. "Cam stopped breathing!" I told her. "He's breathing now but he doesn't look good." She ran across the lawn with me back into our house.  At this point I could hear the sirens and a minute after Beth got there a fire truck, police car and ambulance showed up. Paramedics and officers streamed into our house and started tending to Cam. He was awake now and very lethargic but the color was returning to his face and he seemed to be improving with every minute. My neighbors started showing up at the house. Mary came in and I fell into her arms and sobbed and sobbed. 

In all that chaos and noise, with Taber and I yelling and the sirens and the house full of people, somehow the girls stayed asleep. I feel like that was a tender blessing because if they had seen me so unhinged and seen Cam the way he was I can only imagine what that would've done to them.

As the paramedics were assessing Camden everyone assured me that he looked much better and told me it was going to be okay. Cam was interacting with the officers and pulling the oxygen mask off his face. Mary said she'd stay with the kids so we could both go to the hospital. I rode in the ambulance and Taber followed behind.

At the ER Cam was still running a high fever so they gave him Tylenol and put him through a battery of tests to try and figure out what was going on. They determined that he had a febrile seizure caused by his high fever and believed he had aspirated some of his vomit which is why he stopped breathing. They thought the fever was caused by a virus, possibly hand foot and mouth disease, but gave him a shot of antibiotics just in case it was bacterial.  

Cam was in a miserable state from all the tests and the trauma of the evening but finally around 2:30am he drifted off to sleep. 

They admitted us to the hospital to observe him and make sure he didn't have another seizure. In the morning his fever hadn't improved with the medication, so they decided to keep him one more night. He was so sick he slept for 24 hours straight in the hospital, only waking up to nurse every few hours. 

I stayed in his room, watching him sleep, watching his heart and lungs on the monitor, not wanting to leave his side. Despite a continued high fever he didn't seize again so after 2 nights in the hospital they let us take him home.

It was an exhausting experience but we had such a great outpouring of love and support from our neighbors, friends from church and Taber's work, as well as many kind messages from concerned friends and family on Facebook. I can't tell you how much those messages lifted our spirits during that scary time. Every time my phone buzzed with another text or voicemail or Facebook alert it was like a little electronic hug to help get us through. : ) We also felt the many prayers that were being offered on Cam's behalf and were so uplifted by the spiritual strength we received. I know Heavenly Father was watching over us and have a testimony of the power of prayer, especially when so many prayers are being said for one person.

This experience has taught me to be grateful for every minute we have with our loved ones. I look at Cam differently now. My heart swells with gratitude for each little laugh, each little cry, each little spit bubble and toothy grin. : ) I'm so happy he's still here with us and know that angels were watching over him on that very scary night. 

Emotional Night

Last night I gave Brinley a whole apple to keep her busy while I was making dinner. She's eaten whole apples before and never had a problem so I didn't think much of it. A few minutes later I heard her coughing and gagging. She'd swallowed more than she could handle so I picked her up and started pounding her back to get it out. She gagged up a pool of drool and started crying so I thought she was okay. Crying means breathing, breathing means fine, I thought.

When Taber got home 30 minutes later she was still acting like she was in pain and was drooling excessively. Nothing we could do would make her smile and she kept coughing and crying. Taber suggested calling the nurse hotline so I gave them a call and explained what was going on. That's when things got emotional. The nurse said I needed to call 911 or take her to an ER immediately. I hesistated at first and the nurse got upset and said, "what are you going to do? are you going to call 911 or go to the ER?" I told her I didn't think we needed an ambulance and she got frustrated and said, "well I'm a registered nurse and my professional opinion is that you need to call 911." I told her I'd take Brinley to the ER and hung up and started throwing things together to leave. We don't have a hospital in Maple Grove so in my panic I just took her to the Urgent care. She must've looked pretty pathetic because they didn't even make me fill out paper work, they brought her straight back and the Dr. came in right away. After a brief exam he said she had an esophogial obstruction, blocking her ability to swallow (which is why she was drooling so much) and that he was sending us to the Minneapolis Children's hospital. He was worried the apple could move and be apsirated so he called an ambulance to take us there.

I've never been in an ambulance before but I actually thought it was very comforting because I knew if anything happened on our 30 minute drive to the hosptial that we had all the help we needed to deal with it. We got to the ER and they put a little hosptial gown on Brinley. within 5 minutes it was drenched with drool. The Dr. came in and saw her and quickly decided this was serious enough to book an OR. They called a gastrointestinal pediatrician and started prepping Brinley for surgery. The nurses came in to start an IV and that was the toughest part for me. Brinely has such thick little rolls on her arms and tiny veins that it was very hard for them to get it in. They poked her 3 times, blowing 3 veins before the anesthegiologist came in and said the OR was ready and they would do it themselves.

We went back to the Surgery prep room and listened to the nurse, the Dr, and the anestigioligst tell us what was going to happen. They were going to give her laughing gas to calm her down then put in the IV to put her under. Once she was out they were going to go in with a scope that has a video camera on it to find the apple and then pinch it out with some grabbers. We signed some papers and then they took her out of Taber's arms and whisked her away. She cried when they took her and I cried watching her go. A few hours earlier when I gave her that apple I didn't think our night would end up like this. Thankfully Taber was there to comfort me. Together we went to the waiting room to wait it out.

20 minutes later it was over. The surgery was a success! They found the apple, got it out, and everything was going to be okay. The relief I felt was indescribable. All night I was crushed by guilt for giving her that apple. Knowing that she was okay was like the weight of the world being lifted from my shoulders. When she woke up we went back to see her and she looked wonderful. Such a difference from her miserable state before the procedure. After monitoring her for 30 minutes we were able to take her home. We got in around midnight, picked up Teya from our sweet neighbors who were watching her, and got the fam all settled in bed around 1.

This morning Brinley is completely herself and doing better than ever. It was a very emotional night but a good reminder for me that all those strict guidelines about foods to avoid for small children are out there for a reason. For now we'll be sticking with applesauce.

Ear tubes are in!

Today we had Brinley's eartube surgery and I'm happy to say it was a huge success. The trickiest part was just keeping food away from her from the time she woke up until her surgery at 11:30. I tried not to eat or let anyone else eat in front of her. I think that helped. Anyway, Here are some pictures of her in her hospital jammies getting geared up for the procedure. You can tell that the lack of food didn't have that big of an effect on her, she's still smiling.


They had a great little waiting area with tons of toys to keep Brinley distracted. Taber was able to come too and I'm SOOOO glad because one of us had to hold her when they put her to sleep and just hearing them describe it made me get all emotional. So Taber was the brave one who went back and held her.

The surgery went so fast. We were watching the progress on the screen in the waiting room and from start to finish I think it took around 12 minutes. The Doctor came out to give us an update. He said he was so glad we did this because when he went in there her ears were full of fluid and pus. He gave us some instructions and then we just had to wait till she woke up before we could come back and see her again.

She was really groggy and a little bit fussy when we first saw her. We calmed her down with her trusty old bottle.

After her bottle I rocked her till she fell asleep and she slept for over an hour on my shoulder. When she woke up we were discharged and she slept again for another hour in the car.

When we got home she was still kind of out of it for an hour or so but it wasn't long before she was laughing and smiling and climbing her way into all kinds of mischief. We're so happy that everything went well and hope that now she can finally have some relief from all those awful ear infections!

On the Mend!

Just wanted to give a quick update on Brinley. Today she went in for her third shot of rocephin. That stuff is as thick as glue but it sure seems to work well! The Doctor said her ears have improved quite a bit and to my great relief her fever is gone!

Here's a picture of her in the waiting room. It was great to see her interested in playing and exploring. She was definitely getting back to her normal self. After her shot she went down for a long nap and when she woke up she was a new baby! crawling around, laughing at Teya, and smiling her big crooked teeth smile. We're so happy to see her feeling better again. Thanks for all the supportive comments and for keeping her in your prayers. Hopefully now that the weather is getting better we won't have any more ear infections!

Sad sick little baby

On Sunday night Brinley started burning up with a very high fever. I started giving her Tylenol every 4 hours but the fever wouldn't go down. By Monday night I was getting worried. At 11 p.m. she started crying. I went to get her out of her bed and I felt like I was picking up a ball of hot lava. Her temperature was 104.7 degrees. I called the nurse hotline and they told me to take her into the ER.

At the ER her temp was down to 103.5 but they were still very concerned. After 3 hours and some heavy doses of Tylenol and Motrin her fever came down to 101 and they let us go home but told us to see the Dr. as soon as possible. Her fever was above 103 when we went to the Doctor yesterday morning. It turns out that even after being on antibiotics for 9 days her ears have gotten worse and the right one looked like it was about to rupture. They gave her a shot of their strongest antibiotic and told us to come back for two more shots.

After our visit to the Doctor I brought her home and my normally happy and active baby continued to be withdrawn, lathargic, and completely out of it. Watching her suffer was torture. I wanted to make her better but I felt totally helpless. I knew the Dr. had done everything she could be I still found myself wishing I had a degree in pediatric medicine.

I gave her a luke warm bath to try to cool her down a bit. When Taber got home we spent the evening taking turns holding her because it broke our hearts to put her down. When we finally put her to bed I set my alarm to wake up every 4 hours to give her more medicine. At 4 in the morning I went to get her and for the first time in almost 3 days her skin didn't feel like it was on fire. I checked her temp and it was down to 101.8.


This morning her fevers have stayed under 102. We're going into the Doctor's to get another shot today and I'm optimistic that things will just keep getting better. Please keep her in your prayers, I know they help!

Pink Eye, Uda Time and Mini High School Reunion

Pink Eye:
Half way through our trip Brinley woke up with her eye swollen shut and full of green gunk. (you can't really tell in this picture but her eye was nasty!) I was all panicky since we were hundreds of miles away from our regular Doctor. My mom saved the day though and scheduled us an appt. with her trusted family Doctor.
What was even cooler, my mom called me later in the day and said she would meet me at the Doctor's office so she could be there for moral support. I haven't lived in the same state as my family for the majority of our married life so getting that kind of support was huge! I love my mom!!!
Brinley was a champ at the Doctor's office. He diagnosed her with Peri orbital cellulitus (sp?) and said she was going to need a shot and a 10 day dose of antibiotics.
Luckily Brinley has some killer juicy thighs to obsorb shots. She only cried for a minute and then got lots of Grandma loves to make her feel better. The shot worked wonders and by the next day her eye was almost 100% better! Gotta love modern Medicine!
Uda Time!
Most people who know the Uda's know our mild mannered pleasant side. But when we get together, our wacky alter egos come out.

From left to right: Becca, Sarah, Liz, Mom, Rachel, Jake
These are just a FEW of the many funky faced shots we took while hanging out. One of the many reason I love my crazy family : )

We also hit the Bean Museum and Los Hermanos with my family. Bean Museum is always a favorite with the kids and Los is a Utah staple that we can't miss eating at.

Mini High School Reunion!

This year is my 10 year high school reunion (Class of 99!!) but since I'm not going to be able to fly out this summer I decided to throw together a mini-reunion with some of my old friends. My mom made a delicious Hawaiian spread with all the classics and my friends brought plenty of sides and desserts. We even rented a bounce house for the kids to burn off energy.

It was so good seeing my friends and how they've all grown up into such accomplished and wonderful people! It was also crazy seeing all of our kids together. I know I'm getting older but are me and my high school friends seriously parents? Weird!!

Anyway, so that is the final summary of our time in Utah. Thank you to all our family and friends for making our trip so memorable! We love you guys!!

The Drawbacks of Having an Easy Baby

You wouldn't think there would be drawbacks to having a super chill, easy going, sweet, mellow baby, but there are a few.

1) Unless she makes a stink bomb it's hard to know if she's pooped her diaper. Unlike most babies, she doesn't cry, she just sits and waits for me to figure it out.

2) It's hard to know when she's hungry unless she's STARVING. She'll go 4 hours without eating (if we're running errands or something) and I'll just keep going not even thinking about it until I get hungry and then I'm like! Oh no! Poor Brinley! I can barely handle going 3 hours without eating. She's much more patient than me!

3) And worst of all, it is hard to know when she's really sick. Colds are obvious, but other things can go undetected. A couple days ago I noticed that her lymph nodes at the back of her head were swollen. I got online and learned that usually that means there's some sort of infection. She didn't have a fever and wasn't fussy so I had no idea what it could be. After 3 days of swollen nodes I finally took her into the Doctor. It turns out she had a DOUBLE EAR INFECTION! My poor little baby! I never would've known if I hadn't felt those nodes and also listened to my mother's intuition that something wasn't right. Guess I'm really going to have to rely on my instincts more often now that I have such an easy little baby!