Life of the Rainers

In an Instant...

Yesterday morning Jess and I were reminded of how things could change in an instant.

I had just finished feeding Canon and left him on the bed to go in the other room. Jess was still in the bedroom getting ready for work. I knew Jess was running late, but asked him anyway if I could leave Canon for just a minute. As I was in the next room I heard a thud. My heart sank in my chest and I knew Canon fell off the bed. Jess was putting on his tie and turned around to check on Canon and was just a few inches away from catching him. Jess picked Canon up and he started crying, but it only lasted about 30 seconds and Canon started to close his eyes and go to sleep. We kept talking to him and he kept giving us a blank stare and his head would go back and he would shut his eyes. I immediately told Jess we needed to go to the hospital and I threw some clothes on. I proceeded to call my mom (she is a nurse), but there was no answer, so I called the pediatrician. After explaining the situation to the nurse, the nurse told me to call 911. At this point I started to lose it a little. I called 911. I remember asking the operator in the midst of all of his questions if the EMS were on their way and if they weren't please tell them to hurry. He reassured me they were on there way.

I stayed on the phone with the operator. Jess was holding Canon while doing a great job of trying to keep him awake. At one point Jess held Canon out in front of him and Canon went limp. If anyone knows our child he is the most active, talkative, happy baby. This was not our child.

EMS arrived and I lost it. One of the men told me to take a deep breath and the other proceeded to tell me his grandson just fell off the bed the night before. He told me that it happens all the time and honestly him saying this made me calm down. We handed him over and at this point Canon started moving his limbs a little, but was still not responding appropriately. EMS decided he did need to go on to the hospital to get checked out. I rode in the ambulance with Canon and Jess followed. They strapped Canon in his car seat and secured it to the stretcher in the ambulance. On our way to the hospital Canon started reaching for the hospital bracelet they put on his car seat. The man in the back taking care of Canon and I just looked at each other and both agreed that was a good sign. At this point he was starting to come out of whatever was going on. I gave him his favorite stuffed animal and he reached out for it as well. The man checked his pupils and pulse again and said he thought he was going to be okay.

Whew what I scare! We got to the hospital and as soon as Jess lifted him out of the car seat he jumped on Jess and smiled. Our little boy was back!! The Dr. checked him out and said he looked good. He told us Canon just got his bell rung and it took him a while to come back. We fed Canon some juice to make sure he could hold it down and got checked out by the dr. again and then we were on our way home! We had instructions to monitor him closely for the next day (I think Jess and I are going to monitor him for the next week, ha). We were reassured many times by the EMS and hospital staff that children under the age of one fall off the bed all the time and we aren't bad parents (Jess and I for sure have some guilt).

I have never been so scared and felt so helpless in my life. While we were in the hospital we started getting all of these calls and texts telling us they were lifting Canon up in prayer. We were so confused how people knew what happened. We had only told our parents (a few neighbors came out of their houses to see what was going on, but didn't have any details). Well come to find out my father in law tweeted (and called a few close friends) to please pray for Canon and boy let me tell you word spread fast. Jess and I were so touched how everyone was praying for us and responded to the situation! Even today people keep telling us how they found out about Canon and how their offices at work were praying and how children of our friends stopped to pray for Canon when they saw the ambulance in front of our place.

Jess and I firmly believe God heard the prayers of children along with the prayers of righteous men and women who love and seek the Lord. We (and both of our families) were reminded of what truly is important instead of getting caught up in the minor details of life. We were also taught a hard lesson!

Canon is doing well! He has a few bruises on his face, but is acting like his happy self again. He has been a little more tired, but he went through a lot yesterday. We check on him more frequently during naps and after he falls asleep for the night.

Thank you for all your prayers and support!

Love,

Rachel