I asked Baden the next morning to tell me what had happened.  He didn't want to talk about it.  He acted like he was embarrassed or like he would get in trouble. 

It has taken a while, but he will now talk to us a little bit about it.  I think time and us talking about it has helped  him get over the trauma of the experience.

I need to write this down so I don't forget the details.(Something I have been doing a lot lately)  This is long.  I am writing for me and if you don't want to read it I understand. 

On Tuesday July 29th we had a major scare.  Something that still makes me sick to my stomach when I think about it.  It had a been a typical day where I was working from home and Jed was at work at Ancestry in Orem.  Ella was finally down for an afternoon nap, something she has been fighting a little bit as she is getting older.  Once I put her down, I just went to my computer to get some work done.  Baden had been downstairs, but he eventually made his way upstairs when he noticed that I hadn't come back down after putting Ella to sleep.  Baden was kind of bugging me and I was being a little short tempered and just told him to go play in his room.  Instead he went into our room and was messing around in there for awhile.  I wasn't really paying attention to what he was doing, but he didn't seem to be doing too much damage, so I just let him be.  I believe the window was open because it had been raining earlier that day, so it was cool enough to turn off the air conditioner and let the breeze cool the house down.  Normally we have a child safety lock in the window.  Whether Baden took it out or it was Jed or I, we don't know.  But it was out.  At some point Baden went from looking out the window, to climbing up and standing on the window sill.  He must have opened the window more than I had it opened because I know I didn't have it opened very wide.  He also must have been pushing on the screen and that is when he fell out. I did not see any of this happen. It is all guesses as to what happened, but piecing things together, this is what we came up with.  

I heard the screen pop out of the window from the other room where I was working on the computer.  I immediately turned my head to scold Baden for playing with the window.  But when I looked over he was gone.  I knew  immediately that he had fallen out the window.  I didn't even go over to look out the window.  I immediately rushed outside, expecting to see a horrible mess of my boy laying on the ground.  When I got out there, less than 30 seconds after he fell, I saw he was kind of curled up in a ball and trying to get up.  Obviously he was kind of shocked.  I'm sure the wind was knocked out of him and that was why he was just moving then.  I don't know if he was actually knocked out or not.  He was conscious when I got there and remained conscious the whole time I was waiting for help to arrive. 

Now as a little bit of background, you need to know that I worked as a registrar in the Emergency Room in St. George for a little over two years.  I saw ALOT of stuff that was pretty serious, including children who had fallen from ladders, windows, etc.  It was never a pretty scene.  They were always seriously injured.  It was my job to be in the trauma room when a critical case arrived so I could go through their belongings or speak to the person who came in with them to get their personal information so that we could get them registered in our systems and pull up medical records for them if they were available.   It was my job to do this as quickly as possible no matter the circumstances so that tests and procedures that were being run could immediately be linked with the patient's records.  Talk about high pressure!   Believe me,  more than once I came home after a shift crying because of a terrible case that I had to work on that just really got to my heart and made it hurt.  You have to try not to show that emotion when you are at work and it would often come out as I was driving home and had time to actually catch my breath and think about my day.

So when I say that I was expecting to see a horrible mess of my boy, it comes from my experience in working in the ER.  I have seen the worst!  I had the worst of thoughts running through my mind as I was running down our stairs to get to my boy. 

I immediately got to him and made him lie down on the ground.  I was sure he had neck, head, or back injuries.  He just fell 15 FEET onto concrete!   He started to cry at that point and I noticed that he had blood coming out of his mouth.  I kind of panicked at that.   Blood from the mouth could be a sign of internal injuries.  I ran into the house and grabbed a blanket and my phone.  I covered him up, and called 911.  This was all probably less than a minute after he fell. 

I connected with dispatch and was able to explain what had happened and give them all the information they needed.  I was shaking so bad, I'm sure the dispatcher could not understand me very well. She had to ask me to repeat myself several times.  While I was talking to her I was trying to calm Baden and make sure he didn't try to sit up or anything like that.  Anyone who knows Baden, knows it's hard to keep  him in one place.  He was surprisingly compliant to whatever I asked him to do.  I was able to look in his mouth and see that the blood was coming from his tongue which he had apparently bitten when he fell.  That at least, was good news.  I did a quick once over while on the phone with dispatch to see if there were any major injuries.  I couldn't see anything, but was very worried about a spinal injury or internal injuries.  I could tell he was going into shock and his belly was getting a bit rigid and distended.  I knew that couldn't be a good sign.  I kept thinking "where is everybody? I need help and there is no one here!"  Our neighborhood usually has tons of kids and their parents out and about and there was no one around.  I was dying inside trying to hold myself together while I was talking to dispatch.  Hoping that someone would see me and come over to help.  I knew I needed to keep myself together for Baden's sake until someone got there to help. 

Luckily, there was an animal control officer who must have been pretty close to our neighborhood.  He probably arrived only 2-3 minutes after I connected with dispatch.  He was able to help me hold Baden down and stabilize his neck until the EMT's arrived.  Once he got there, it didn't take too long after that for EMT's and police to arrive.  I honestly don't think it could have been more than 10-15 minutes from when I called to when they arrived.  Time usually slows down to a snails pace in situations like this, and for some reason it didn't feel like it this time.  Once the EMT's were there and took over, I was able to let the "take control of the situation" side of me go and let then the "mommy" side of me kick in.  I totally lost it.  I was crying and coming to the realization of what had just happened.  The dispatcher asked me if I needed her to call anyone.  I had her call Jed, because I knew that was a call I just couldn't make.  I was too emotional by that time and I didn't know how I was going to explain to him what had just happened.  The dispatcher saved the day and made the call to Jed.  Meanwhile, EMT's were getting Baden set up with a neck collar, getting him on a hard backboard for transport to the hospital, etc. I the police officer who was there to run to my neighbors  to see if anyone was  home so they could take Ella for me.  I am so thankful she was safely asleep while all of this was going on.  They finally found our neighbor Michelle Jensen,  was home and she immediately came over to help, no questions asked.  She just kind of took over care of Ella and told me not to worry.  I can never thank her enough!  Baden was loaded into the ambulance and we were off. 

I was sitting in the front seat of the ambulance on the ride to the hospital.  As we were coming off of our street passing all of the houses of our ward members, we passed Anne Cook.  Anne is such a special lady.  She is a primary teacher that sits behind Baden's class.  Her daughter Jamie is one of Baden's primary teachers.  She is always telling me how much she loves seeing Baden and hearing his hearty laugh.  Anne amazingly recognized me in the front of the ambulance as we drove past and she went straight over to our house to see what was going on.  She said as soon as she saw me, she knew something must have happened to Baden.  After she found out what happened, she immediately went up into our bedroom and tried to replace the screen and closed the window.  The screen didn't come all the way out and was just hanging by a corner in mid air.  She later told me she didn't want me to have to come home to see that as a reminder of what had happened.  At that point no one knew Baden's status.  We all feared the worst and it was such a small act, but meant the world to me that she would think of something like that.  Love her!  

Anyway, on to the hospital.  From the perspective of being in the front seat of the ambulance, I can honestly say I was surprised at the amount of cars that didn't seem to see them coming.  Lights flashing and sirens wailing and people were so slow to move out of the way. Some cars never did and the ambulance had to maneuver around them.   I was pretty much hyperventilating by this time and screaming in my head, "Why aren't these people moving?   Don't they know my baby could be dying back there?!!!!!"    I will forever be on the lookout and quick to move out of the way of emergency vehicles from now on.  As we were on the way to Utah Valley Regional, I could hear the EMT's in back working on Baden.  They sounded very concerned.  I heard them on the line with the hospital telling them he was much more serious that they thought.  He was becoming unresponsive.  I was literally sick.  I didn't think I would make it to the hospital without passing out or throwing up.  The driver was constantly telling me to take deep breaths in and out to try to calm me down.   That was the longest ride to Provo I have ever taken! 

Once we arrived at the ER, Jed met up with us.  He had just arrived from work as we were pulling in.  I remember saying to him "it is really bad!"  Baden was rushed into the trauma room.  I found myself so distraught that I couldn't stay in there.  I felt like I was going to pass out. I asked for a place to sit and they took me to a side room and a Social worked came in and sat with me.  During this time Jed was with Baden.
Here is a little snippet of something he wrote about the experience: 

"As the ambulance stopped and they wheel my son into the ER my heart simply stopped!! Here was my youngest son strapped to a backboard, wearing a neck brace, and completely non responsive or aware of what was going on around him. He did not return my grip as I held his hand, he could not move his legs or wiggle his toes when the doctor asked him, and his eyes were rolled back in his head as if he had suffered a major head injury.  Needless to say numerous scenarios went through my mind! What am I going to do if my son is paralyzed from the waist down or even worse from the neck down? OK I can live with that, we would have to move to a house with bedrooms on the main floor but we could make it work. Or even, what if he has some sort of major internal injury like a ruptured spleen or something and he ends up dying? Where are we going to bury him? "

I was able to calm down a bit.  I don't know when it started, but at some point in the first few minutes we were at the hospital, I felt calm and reassured that everything would be ok.  One of the EMT's from the ambulance came in and gave me a hug. I asked her how he was doing and she didn't really tell me anything.  I went back into the trauma room to see how things were going.  They had just finished giving him the once over and found no broken bones. They had also just done x-rays and an ultra sound and found no major injures so far. That was a good sign.  But not enough.  They needed to get him down to radiology for cat scans.  As we were walking down to the radiology department, the ER Dr. was telling us their findings so far.  We were amazed, but still not out of the woods.  He made it very clear there was still a lot of things to check over before we could know for sure what the prognosis would be. 

As we were sitting in the waiting room while the CT scans were being done, I again felt more calm and peace come to me.  I can't explain it.  I again just felt that everything would be ok.  I didn't know what that meant, but knew that whatever they found, we could deal with it and be ok. 

We got back to the trauma room after the CT scans and the doctor came in and told us the CT techs did not see any injuries, but they still needed to wait for the Radiologist to read the scans.  He was amazed that there were not injures. We all were!  We waiting for quite a while in the trauma room.  Baden was sleeping most of the time.  The staff was ok with that, as they said he had been through a major trauma to his system and it was normal for him to be very tired.  Since he had no major injuries they were not worried about him sleeping.  So, we just let him sleep while we held his hand and waited for the final word. 

When we finally got word from the Radiologist that all looked good, we were beyond  relieved!  The ER doctor came in and took off the neck collar.  Baden had woken up by then and was just being really quiet. They sat him up and had him move his neck back and forth, up and down.  No complaints of any kind.  Maybe a little sore, but he never really did say anything.  They brought him some water and cookies to try and eat to see  how he handeled them.  No problems there.  After a while they finally had him get out of the bed and try to walk across the room.  Again, no problems.  He was deemed fit and good to go home.

I truly believe there are no coincidences in this life.  Especially after this experience. 

During all the waiting and while Baden was asleep, I got my phone out and looked at face book because I saw there was a message for me.  I figured it was probably one of the neighbors asking questions, so I opened it up to see what it said.  I found an overwhelming response to our plight. 

One of the ladies who lives down the street, but is not in our ward, saw the ambulance come into the complex.  She got on our community page and asked if anyone knew what had happened.  She said she was not trying to be nosey, but was worried because she saw the ambulance come in slowly and then leave quickly with lights flashing.  That question from her, started a firestorm of responses from others in the complex, particularly our ward members and neighbors who happened to be there on scene, Anne Cook and Michelle Jensen.  They both got on and explained what had happened and asked everyone to keep Baden in their prayers. 

Someone called our Relief Society president soon after the ambulance left and let her know what had happened.  She called me the next morning and said she was sorry she couldn't come that night, but she was at work and couldn't leave and when she was told what happened, she immediately went into a private room and made a plea to Heavenly Father that things would be ok.

The face book feed for our community page was filled with people saying they would pray for us.  They didn't know us, but they kept us in their thoughts and prayers. 

I sent a quick text just after we got to the hospital to as many family members as I could think of and simply said Baden had fallen out of the window and we needed prayers.  I know that was probably shocking for them to get the news that way, but I didn't have time to call people and I needed to get word out fast. 

Jed had called his SIL Maggie and let her know what was going on so she could go get Ella if need be.  I know they were all praying for Baden as well. 

Word quickly spread throughout the neighborhood and ward, including the Elders Quorum president, and the Primary President(who I work with as the secretary).  Their prayers were added to the list of countless others.  I was overwhelmed by the amount of love and support we were getting from people. Prayers were being sent to heaven and I know without a doubt that they were answered. 

As we drove home from the hospital several hours later, I marveled at the experience.  Immediately the thought "Angels round about you" came to my mind. I am convinced that there were angels with Baden as he fell, when he hit the ground and every moment there after.  There is no logical explanation why he walked away from a 15 foot fall onto concrete with only a few abrasions on his chest and leg that were so minor the doctor didn't even need to dress the wounds.  He had a big bruise on one arm, around the elbow and one small bruise under one eye, along with a few scratches on his forehead.  The doctors said he probably had a small concussion, but nothing really medically points to that.  But, they had to put something in his charts! 

This boy is a miracle!  I don't know why he was spared and I may never know why.  What I do know is that my faith has been strengthened.  My outlook has changed.  I still get irritated by things he does.  He is all boy and he does the darndest things!   But, I am trying harder to keep my temper under control.  I am trying harder to stop and play when he asks. I am trying harder to enjoy the little moments we have together.  I am grateful for every day we have together!  You never know when you life can/will change in an instant.  I am trying to remember that we have been given some very special blessings for a very special boy.  He is destined to do great things! 

Baby Girl is getting big...

Her 4 month checkup went pretty good.

 

She weighed in at 14.4 lbs.

 

Her height is 24 in. (which is a little on the short side)

Her head is 15.5 in.

 

She got some shots...

Which made her unhappy

and feverish.

But she bounced back quickly.

She loves to hold her toes.  This is a common sight.

She is laughing at everything, especially when Baden gives her kisses. Ella is getting so much more animated these last few weeks.  She laughs all the time.  Not just little giggles, but big belly busting laughs.  She is "talking" a lot.  You can always hear her jabbering away no matter where she is.   She is grabbing and reaching for everything, including my hair. She seems enamored with Baden.  Always laughing and smiling when he is near.  Baden for that matter is becoming enamored with her.  He actually called her his best friend the other day.  Though I'm sure he doesn't feel that way all the time.  Ella is also almost ready to hold her bottle by herself.  She tries, but is not quite there.  She has a couple of toys she got for Christmas that she loves to hold and chew on.  She may be teething as she seems to want to eat everything in sight and is starting to drool a bit.  She is making bubbles and raspberries with her mouth and thinks it is funny.  She still dislikes tummy time pretty much all the time.  She gets really mad and lets it be known that she doesn't like that position.  She loves to lay on the ground and wiggle around and is able to move position pretty quickly.  She has turned over a few times, but it's still not a regular occurrence.   I went in to check on her the other night and found her sound asleep curled up on her side.  It was pretty cute.  She has outgrown all of her 0-3 month and many of her 3-6 month clothes.  She is a real sweetheart of a baby.  I often wonder how we got so lucky to have such easy going babies.  It's probably because I would go crazy if it was any other way.  We are all in love with Princess Ella and can't wait for her to continue to grow and wow us with her next tricks.

"Let's get this done already"

Baby girl has started sucking on her thumb or fingers a little more often

She is always pretty content

Her smiles are starting to come out at every turn.  They are so precious.

She sleeps through the night.  Usually waking about 5-6 am for a bottle.

She is strictly formula fed now as mom's milk has disappeared.  :(

She is beginning to get a bit of a giggle.

She's getting more control over her body.  Grasping her hands together.

She is focusing on more things, especially people around her.

She loves falling asleep on her daddy's chest.

She is growing all too quickly.

We sure LOVE this beautiful baby girl!

dancing in the sun

oblivious to the drama he has caused...

Baden dumped oil down the driveway.  He was "helping" daddy work on the car.

 

Making faces at me in the car as we got ready to go buy some kitty litter to clean up the mess.

Who can stay mad at a cute kid like this?