September 2013, we took our first family vacation to Galveston (Surf Side, TX). We read that ocean water could help eczema so we thought, ah what the heck lets take a mini family trip.
We left a Friday night after my husband let out from work. We checked into our hotel about 1am. We assumed Gavin would sleep since it was so late but he didn't. He stayed up till about 3 in the morning (he still wakes up every 3 hours itching so we have to soothe him every few hours throughout the night). Then we were up at 10am ready to get our vacation started. We checked the forecast and it showed showers about 2pm so we figured lets hit the beach first then lunch after.
Gavin hated the beach lol! I was so sure he was going to love it since he loves bath time. I think it was the waves pushing up against his legs that made him not like it. Well momma still got a photo for the baby book crying and all lol.
So we went on to having lunch at Chilis. We drove to a little town called Lake Jackson, TX. It was about 15 minutes from our Hotel. I was feeding Gavin (chicken, beef, & cantaloupe for dessert) while we waited for our food.
My husband and I talked about our lives blessings and how we love being parents even with our situation.
As we paid for the bill, we were getting up from the table and Gavin accidentally dipped his mitten into honey mustard (he still wears mittens at times so he doesn't scratch but some times he'll rub his eyes so much he burns his face rubbing with the mittens... like carpet burn). We didn't think anything of it. I immediately took his mitten off and rinsed his hands under water and rinsed his mitten too. I put his mitten back on so he wouldn't scratch.
5 minutes to live...
My husband sat in the back seat with Gavin to help entertain him. It was then, everything I'm about to write happened within minutes... 3 minutes to be exact...
My husband said, "He's starting to itch really bad. Maybe we should go back to the hotel and get his Benadryl." We had already drove into town and we wanted to hangout for a bit so I suggested buying another bottle from a nearby store and so we did.
I went into Dollar General in Lake Jackson, TX which was right by the Chilis we were eating at. I glanced outside as I was checking out and saw my husband waving at me with a scared and worried face. I made my purchase then ran outside. "Unique, we have to go to the hospital look at Gavin's face." I looked over at him and his left eye was completely shut. I'm not sure if I was going into shock myself or if I didn't know what to do. I stayed calm as my husband was only getting more upset. I halled ass to the hospital while my husband was comforting Gavin in the back seat. It was so painful to hear my husband crying till he couldn't catch his breath. He kept saying, "God please!! Help him!!"... "Unique! He's dying! Please hurry! Hurry! He's not breathing anymore. Unique, he's dying in my arms..."
Those 3 minutes from the Dollar store to the hospital were the longest 3 minutes of my life. I finally pulled up to the ER. My husband took the baby in while I found a parking spot. I walked in and I must have looked starteld because a lady asked, "Are you looking for the baby that just came in?!" I just shook my head yes and then she said, "Oh they took that poor baby to the back already." There was a room full of people in the ER waiting to be seen so it was then I realized this was SERIOUS! They put him in front of everyone who was waiting to been seen by a doctor.
I ran to the back and saw the nurse had scissors in her hands. They immediately cut his onesie shirt to get his clothes off quicker. At this point, Gavin was swollen from his face down to his balled feet. I felt like we were in the movie. Everyone around me was moving so fast and I was just standing there.
The doctor then greeted herself but I was crying so much I couldn't say anything back. She explained that Gavin was going through an anaphylactic shock and that an Anesthesiologist would be in shortly to sedate him. She said, "You did the right thing bringing him in immediately. Had you waited just 2 more minutes, I don't think he would have made it." To think he literally only had 5 minutes of life left was heart breaking. I then started crying so loud my husband asked me to take a breather outside because I wasn't making the already stressful environment any better.
Anaphylactic Shock:
An extreme, often life threatening allergic reaction to an antigen to which the body has become hypersensitive.
Here we we're in the middle of no where with nobody we knew to talk to. I called the only person I could count on spiritually, my aunt. She's one of the few that knew every detail in our situation already so I called her. Have you ever heard a child cry so hard they start breathing really fast and can't seem to catch their breath? Well, thats how I was crying. I couldn't stop and I tried so hard to control it. My husband was the stronger one by now.
The Anesthesiologist came in very calm and asked us to leave the room while he sedates (anesthesia) Gavin.
Now, both my husband and I were together, alone. We walked outside of the hospital and just held each other while we cried. For the first time ever, we had no comforting words to give each other. We just held each other in silence and cried. Arthur (my husband), said a prayer for Gavin and it went something like this, "Father God, I know you sent us here for a reason. I know this was all meant for a reason. Please get Gavin the help he needs. Haven't we done everything you've asked of us?! You said God, that you would never leave thee nor forsake thee."
We were told we could go back into the room... and there Gavin laid on the hospital bed sedated.
We were eventually transported to Children's Hospital in Houston (1.5 hours away from our hotel).
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