Eventful. and Long.

I didn't intend for this weekend to be quite as eventful as it was but as it turns out, someone had other plans in store for me.

I didn't have to work Friday night...the first night of the week that I didn't have anything to do or anywhere to be. After working Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday night and having our small group on Wednesday night, I was looking forward to a night to lay low and go to bed early since I knew I had to get up early on Saturday. That didn't go as planned but not in a bad way at all. We did dinner (chinese food!) and a movie (Safe House...Ryan Reynolds, need I say more...?) which was fun but we got home much later than expected. I got into bed about 11 and fell asleep around midnight...normal.

Saturday morning, I got up around 6:30 and was headed up the mountain to Camp Adahi - our local Girl Scout camp - by 7am with my mug of heavily creamed coffee. I had a really uneventful day of teaching fire building skills and tending the same camp fire from 8am to 4pm. During my last group of the day, I got a call from the volunteer that was running camp for the weekend. I didn't answer it because I was in the middle of the class but was able to call her back about 10 minutes later. She reported that another parent had a prolonged seizure down at the waterfront and they were now waiting for an ambulance at the front driveway. I headed to meet up with the troop leader to get the parent's medical history card - which thankfully, ever person at camp has to fill out - and her wallet and cell phone. Once the ambulance got there - and we had spoken to her husband - we decided that someone needed to transport with her to the hospital (an hour and a half away in downtown Chattanooga) since her husband would be coming in from out of town. Since the other staff member on the property could not leave (since she was acting camp ranger), I got picked. So, off we went...my first ride in the front seat of an ambulance (which is notably less stressful than if you are the one in the back). We arrived at the ER, had friendly and kind nurses, and I stayed for a couple of hours until her husband could get there. She was noticeably confused - couldn't really remember what happened or what she has said recently - which I hear is completely normal for a seizure. Either way, I'm glad I went with her. She kept asking about her daughter and I could offer more reassurance and information than a stranger at the hospital could have. I kept thinking..."if this was my mom, I would want someone to be there with her until I could get there." It was worth every minute of peace I could offer her.

Since my car was still an hour away at camp, Chad came and got me from the ER once her husband arrived. It took a while for Chad to get there so I stayed and talked to the husband and told him everything I knew at that point and what the doctors had said so far. As it turns out, they lived in Columbus for a while and we compared notes on our old stomping ground. Her youngest daughter even went to preschool at the same school I went to ::Calvary shout out!:: 

Chad had our nephew with him when he came to get me and he spent the night with us for the first time. We really enjoy hanging out with him and I hope that we can have a positive influence on his sweet little life. It was not an easy night...his first at our house and I'm sure we messed up his nightly routine. He went to sleep pretty easily but woke up soon after, missing his mom, upset. Chad took first shift for a couple of hours of up-down-sleep-up-cry-down-sleep-cry-sleep and got about an hour break before it kicked in again around 2am. I took that shift of up-down-cry-beg-sleep-flashlight-up-down-cry and finally got him to sleep around 2:45. I am not entirely surprised about the difficulty of the night and it surely was not unexpected but of course, I am exhausted now and have a new appreciation for all parents (of any age children! but especially babies!). I also have an appreciation for the power of prayer...in my early morning exhaustion, I didn't know what else to do but put my hands on that child and pray. First night of parenting and I turned to Jesus - I hope that is always the case.

There were some bright spots in the strange night...mostly his weird questions and thoughts during his own exhaustion. Our favorite so far: Wooby was snuggled in bed with him - which I found strange since he was making a lot of noise and moving around a lot - but she obviously sensed that he needed the company. At one point in the night, I was standing in the hall outside his room trying to decide if he was just talking/singing to himself or crying. Wooby had finally had enough and was headed out, down the hall. I heard him say, "Cat, why you leave Walker??" while in tears and had to stifle a good chuckle. Chad and I said that we should write a book of the cats responses...beacuse it would be something like, "Oh kid, let me count the ways..."

So, that was my eventful weekend. We have another small group family that just had a baby so we will try to see them today but other than that, we are laying quite low today.

Edited to add: the parent who had the seizure seemed to be doing much better when I left the ER and was under the watchful care of her husband and in good hands with the doctors. And I could not be more proud of the way that the volunteers who were on the scene handled themselves and the situation. They were professional, calm, kind, and used their training to help - well done on their part.