Sunday Thoughts

At 2:10, very early Sunday morning, Hyrum woke up gasping for air and wheezing terribly. My first scared reaction was that we had to hurry and get him to the hospital and within that same thought I knew exactly what to do. As I thought about it about throughout the following 2 hours I realized that something had taken over my thoughts and I just acted. Call it intuition or the Holy Ghost or both but my mind went from panic to complete knowledge of what to do in a matter of just a couple of minutes. I really think that the reason I followed exactly what I heard in my mind or spiritual ears was because I was still half asleep. If it had happened during the day I probably would have convinced myself that I really don't know what is best and to just get him to the doctor.

So what did I do and how did it end? Well, I quickly zipped down his jammies so that they were more loose around his neck, wrapped him up in a blanket with only his face showing and took him out on the back porch and calmly talked with him as we shivered in the very cold middle of the night Idaho air. In just a couple of minutes he was calming down and within about 15 I took him back in because he had quit wheezing, though his breathing was still very labored. Then we spent the next hour sitting on the couch under the open window.

During the 15 minutes on the porch I had many memories pass my mind, showing me that I had been prepared years ago for this moment. When I was only about 16 I babysat overnight for a family that had a daughter with asthma. I spent the night up with her letting her talk and stay awake because even after using her inhaler she was having trouble breathing. I learned then that it is a terrifying thing not to be able to breathe and that just telling someone to take a deep breathe and calm down doesn't make it better for them.

All of my other experiences were with Derek from age 9 months to current. He would wake up doing this all the time. Especially when the farmers are burning their fields or the ditches and even when we were camping. One time in particular gave me great comfort that I was doing the right thing by taking them out in the cold and following my inspirations instead of just rushing to the doctor was when Derek was about 3. We were in Arimo and it happened during the night. Dad came into the living room to see what all the noise was as I was trying to get Derek wrapped up to take him outside and he was crying hysterically in a choked panic. Dad went out on the porch and sat with me as I cuddled and tried to calm Derek. Dad was so encouraging and almost talking to me the same way that I was talking to Derek, telling me that it would be ok, that I was/am a good mom and that it was ok to follow my instincts and that he believed that I would know if the situation was bad enough that I should take him to the doctor.

I remembered all of Dad's comforting words as I sat on the porch with Hyrum and it helped so much because I was unsure that I was doing the right thing for him as this is the first time it had happened with Hyrum and it hasn't happened with Derek in several years - the last time he just came to my bedside and asked if I would go sit on the porch with him. In a way I was receiving inspiration from both of my Fathers.

After about 1 1/2 hours Hyrum was doing well enough that he could actually nurse a little and that helped to settle him back to bed. While I was nursing Hyrum, Derek came upstairs to get a drink. When I asked him what was wrong he replied that his throat hurt and he was having a little trouble breathing. I found that to be another little boost to my motherly confidence that if the same thing was happening to Derek then Hyrum probably wasn't sick with pneumonia but rather just was having trouble breathing. We later figured out that it was probably from the ditches that were burned Saturday afternoon that triggered it for both of them.

I was a little wound up from the panic that started it all so I turned on the monitor and listened to him breath as I typed a blog post (top 10). If you notice it was posted ridiculously early Sunday morning. Then around 5 I was able to get back to bed and though it was still hard on Hyrum I was grateful that his breathing was still raspy enough that I could hear him. I was intrigued at how well I could sleep without consciously knowing that he was breathing but as soon as I couldn't hear it anymore, during one of his non-raspy moments of breath, I would immediately wake up.

I'm so grateful for mother's intuition, for my Dad giving me comfort in a great time of need which was stored in my mind for this night, and for a loving Heavenly Father that has blessed me with the gift of the Holy Ghost to bring to my mind what I can do to comfort and take care of his precious little boys Derek and Hyrum.