Nine 1 One

I have this recurring dream where I have to dial that emergency number.  In my dream, I usually misdial or can't remember my address or get someone on the other end of the line who is not helpful or have responders who come way too late.

I got to find out what really happens when you dial those numbers today.  I did remember my address and phone number.  The lady on the other end of the line was helpful, and the fire engine was here pretty quickly.  Maybe that will put my recurring dream to rest.  Unfortunately, now I may have something new to dream about.

Today started so brightly.  I had a written schedule.  I decided that I would get us on a set schedule so that, no matter who is in our home helping us for the day, my little ones (and big ones) know what to expect of their days.  It would bring a little structure to a situation that changes regularly.

Today was also the day we had a new mother's helper.  He was a guy we found on one of those babysitting websites.  We met him at McD's over the weekend for a full interview.  What I have learned, though, is that doing well on an interview shows nothing about how well someone will be able to handle our house full of little ones.  The real interview is coming over for a few hours to help me with the kids.  I can tell a lot pretty quickly, and so can the care givers.

Today was the day I was going to have paid help for a full day for the first time ever.  We have our six kids (14, 9, 3, 2, 2, 1) and also another newly 1-year-old for the next 10 days.  It seemed like a good time to see what a full day of help would be like.

And I had a schedule.

Circle Time at 8:30.

Mother's helper guy arrives at 9 and plays with musical instruments with the little ones while I do memory work with the older ones.

By 11 our schedule would bring us to some swimming time.  I knew the little ones would be so excited to get to swim in the middle of the day when dad was at work.  Having a mother's helper would allow that.  By dinner time I would be able to make a more imaginative dinner since I would be so refreshed from having someone around to help all day long.  Who knows how much laundry I could have gotten done.  The sky was the limit!

Back to the schedule:

We did Circle Time at 8:30.  Songs, books, finger plays.  My helper arrived at 9.  He was in the play room with the little ones and their instruments.  I was in the adjoining living room with the older two, working on some poetry reciting.  Basia made a strange face in the direction of the mother's helper.  I found out later that she thought he was having a bad reaction to the smell of dirty diapers in the nearby diaper trash can.  If only it were that simple.

It was about 9:10.

I looked over and noticed that he did not look good and was kneeling and drooling.  He started to fall forward from the kneeling position.  I thought at first that he was fainting, but the way he held his hands stiff and the way his face looked was not the same as passing out.  I thought it may be a seizure, but I have no way of knowing for sure.  I tried to help him fall more softly, removed everything out of his way, and rolled him to his back.  There was blood coming from his mouth and nose as well as saliva.  Blood splattered on the toy case by his head when I rolled him on his back.  That's an image that is hard to shake!

I had Brishen and Basia gather the 5 little ones and take them to a back bedroom.  They were so calm and so good and calmed any fears that the little ones had.  Zade now remembers it as "that boy got broke."  Miss Independent wonders if he choked and asks often where he is.  Basia is not naturally calm in high-stress situations, so she was really amazing to be able to take the little ones under her wing and think of their needs.  She is now having a really hard time processing what happened and why, but, in the moment, she was all business.

I stayed on the line with the operator until the emergency crew arrived.  The baby sitter was not responsive at first but eventually could open his eyes and answer a few questions for them.  He could not think of the month or the day and did not know where he was.  After about 20 more minutes the medics and ambulance arrived.  They went through all the same steps as the fire fighters had just gone through.  They were all dressed the same in navy blue (4 firefighters and 4 medics) so it was a little confusing answering all the same questions again to so many different people.  I had no idea if he had any medical conditions, if there was anyone we could contact, if he took any medications or was allergic to any medications.  I had only met him once before and he had only arrived a few minutes before.  I knew nothing.

They finally were able to get him to sit up although he still couldn't answer most simple questions.  They got him on the stretcher and took him to the ambulance.  Once he was loaded, I let all the kids come out of the back bedroom to see the fire truck and ambulance out the door.  We talked about the babysitter being sick and going in the ambulance to the hospital.  The kids were excited to wave to fire fighters and to see the truck and ambulance so close.

By then it was 10am.

Our schedule?  Yeah right!  Try watching a guy laying unresponsive on your playroom floor for any length of time and then enforce a schedule of any sort.  Day one of our new schedule was officially over.  We watched too much TV, tried to give lots of hugs and reassurances, and answered questions when they came up.

I think they will have questions for a while, yet.  Basia is noticeably worried off and on.  I have a hard time shaking the image of him laying there from my head.  Brishen keeps it in.  It will be Zade's go-to story.  Miss Independent will ask many more questions, I'm sure.  I don't know what the youngest three saw or understood.  For now they all sleep.

That part of the schedule remains, thank goodness.  We know that, as scary and stressful as this was for us, it was so much worse for the patient.  We pray that he is OK!  I have no doubt that his days' plans did not include what happened.  We pray that he is back to good right away.