In the blink of an eye

We had a scary experience with Wyatt recently that I hope will renew all you parents to some safety tips. We were swimming at our friend's pool with a few families and most of us were out of the pool and inside. Noelle and her friend were still in the pool at the shallow end playing on the steps. Ben was outside with another dad and was watching them. Wyatt had gotten out of the pool, taken his life jacket off and was playing with his friend in the yard around the pool. Because Noelle and her friend did not have life jackets on (which we allowed because they can touch for a few feet out at that end of the pool) Ben was being very conscious to look back frequently at them while he was talking to the other dad a few feet away.

Suddenly Ben got a bad feeling and quickly scanned the area for the kids. He didn't see Wyatt. He started walking toward the pool and saw Wyatt floating face down. Ben jumped in the pool and pulled him out and laid him down on the side. Wyatt was blue and not breathing. He gave him a few breaths and the other dad ran inside to call 911 and yelled for someone who knew CPR to run outside. Two of the other moms ran outside and our other friend dropped to her knees to pray (Thank you!!) I don't really know CPR so I didn't rush out but started to realize that my kids and the kids of the dad who ran inside were the only ones out there so there was a good chance something was wrong with one of mine. Since we have already lost our first child at birth to a birth defect, I was confident that God would not allow us to lose another child (whether or not that is reality, it is just something I have to tell myself) so when I saw Wyatt laying there I did not panic as I was sure he would be okay. Ben on the other hand was hysterical as he was sure that it was all over. As I knelt down by Wyatt one of the moms said "He has a heartbeat." which further encouraged me that he would be fine. They tilted his head back and gave him a few breaths and then his mouth started moving and he took a few breaths on his own. The color rushed back and he started crying. The fireman showed up just after that and checked his breathing and said he seemed to be doing well but we would have to take him to the ER to get him checked out. Our friend drove us to the ER and they took chest x-ray and blood tests and said we were very lucky and he would be 100% fine. WHEWWWW!

We were so blessed that God protected our sweet Wyatt. The last several days we have reveled in our family and appreciated the fact that we could have lost Wyatt and our family would have never been the same. We find greater joy in every interaction between Wyatt and his brother and sister and are so thankful we don't have to explain why their brother isn't here anymore. Noelle was very scared by the situation because she didn't realize there was a problem and thought Wyatt was playing. She also didn't like seeing the fireman around and everyone being upset. She felt much better after she came to see him at the hospital and knew he was okay. She doesn't like to hear us talk about Wyatt's "pool problem" although since we have had to tell the story over and over countless times. Wyatt just said he tried to go swimming and drank a lot of water. He doesn't seem very affected by the situation at all thankfully. We think of all the things that could have happened and are glad the situation worked out so well.

So needless to say, swimming lessons are first on our agenda this fall. Although our nurse told us that her son was taking swimming lessons and he fell off the table they have in the water to keep them up higher and his teacher didn't notice and she had to run over and get him out. So always go with your child to swim lessons and watch them at all times.

Also we never imagined that Wyatt would go back in the pool on his own without his lifejacket on. We always stress that you have to wear your jacket in the pool unless mom and dad are with you. Earlier we had been practicing with them without their jackets so maybe that is where he got the idea. You can never tell what kids are thinking. Noelle also didn't know that Wyatt was not breathing and that it was a problem. She thought he was playing in the water. So don't trust your young kids to watch the younger ones.

We were very lucky that Wyatt didn't need much resuscitating and that the fire station is about 1 mile away from the house we were at, but none of us really knew CPR even though our friend had taken it recently, she realized she couldn't really think of what the proper procedure was either. So I encourage all parents to take CPR classes whenever possible. We would never have gotten over it if we were unable to resuscitate him when we should have been able to.

So thanks to all who knew of the situation and were praying for our family. Thanks also to all our friends who were there with us and were so supportive and encouraging, especially to Ben who felt horrible it happened on his watch even though he did everything right.

We are so thankful Wyatt is still here with us and praise God for him.