On our second day in Cali we attended the Orange County Swap Meet... another Burns' family tradition. We bought some great shirts for Joe and a swim suit for me, which turned out to be a flop when I finally tried it on at the hotel. (Joe... are you paying attention... you were right. I should have waited. Chalk that one up to stupid tax!)
All went well that day. It was nice and relaxing until late that night. Charlie woke up around 12:30 am crying because he had a fever and had thrown up all over himself. I felt so bad for Jimmy and Marla. What do you do when all your little one can do is cry? He can't tell you where it hurts or what is going on. I think they had him calmed down and resting by 1:30 am, but he was up again just a while later. It has been so long I can't remember the exact times. Just the emotions.
A couple hours later Jimmy came and woke Joe up (who, amazingly, was asleep the whole time!). His news? Charlie had stopped breathing. We ran into the bathroom to find Marla crying while holding a lifeless and blue little body in her arms. What do we do?! Joe took Charlie from her and just rubbed his body, encouraging him to breathe. I was sent to help Jimmy call 911.
Dear family and friends... I have learned NOT to call me when it is an emergency. I am better suited to stress situations that we have time to think through. In this case, I just kept staring at the phone wondering if I needed to dial 9 before I dialed 911. Thankfully Jimmy has his head on straight. I only provided that address to our hotel as he talked with the operator. I am sorry, Jimmy. I kick myself that I didn't do better... that I didn't keep my head. Next time I'll know... just dial 911!
Before the paramedics arrived, Charlie started breathing again. (Sigh of relief.) After the medics did arrive, they checked him out anyway. Turns out he had gone into a fever induced seizure. There was nothing we could have done differently. He just had to come out of it on his own.
Marriott was wonderful during this time. They sent a worker out to the street to meet the ambulance and direct them to our room. Their rep stayed to make sure we were okay and left his number if we needed anything else.
After everyone left and the adrenaline had worn off, Joe began to cry... as did we all. All we could do was hang on to each other and thank God that our little Charlie was okay. Jimmy and Marla were amazing... keeping their cool and handling the situation so well! And in a day or so, he was back to normal.
I am so glad we have family that we can count on for support and assistance. It is such a blessing to have others to help share our joys and our burdens. I feel that Joe and I are especially blessed to have both our families so close.
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