February 2017

Super Bowl Sunday I spent the morning making snacks for our football party.  In the meantime, Tag was sitting on the counter playing with the water in the sink.  I finished making some stove top caramel sauce for caramel popcorn and then headed into the shower.  Brand was in the living room working on some church stuff.

I was just washing my hair when I heard Tag screaming and crying.  Tag screams and cries a lot so I didn't really think much of it because I knew Brand was out there.  It continued for a minute and then the bathroom door opened and Brand opened the shower curtain to show me Tag's foot.  It looked like the skin on his ankle bone had melted.  Then I noticed the rest of his leg.  The skin was melted and shiny. What happened- Tag had finished playing in the sink and was walking across the counter to the stool to get down.  He stepped on the still hot stove top with his left foot, realized it was hot and tried to get off and ended up landing on the burner with his right leg and hand.

We packed him up and headed to the Evanston hospital.

Tag only wanted Brandan.  We couldn't strap him in a carseat and he wouldn't let me hold him (we found out after we were driving) so Brand drove to the hospital holding a tormented little Tag.

In Evanston hospital.

The burn.

The blister.  This continued to grow throughout the day.

Tag on some serious pain medication in Evanston. The doctors in Evanston wanted us to go to the Burn Center and the University of Utah hospital.  They wanted to send us by ambulance, but we talked them out of it.  While they called to get permission for us to drive him to the hospital, Tag sat on Dad's lap and cuddled a teddy bear the nurse gave him.

Debris removal at the Burn Center.  This was awful.  Tag screamed like he was being tortured.  He still only wanted Brand, which had made me feel terrible, up until this point.  I was glad it was Dad holding him and not me.  I just stood in corner and bawled.

After getting his wounds cleaned and wrapped, Tag finally wanted me.  I was super happy to hold him the rest of the night and watch what was left of the Super Bowl- his request!

Uncle Nate came to visit! He helped give a blessing and brought M&Ms.  Tag slept with the candy in his bed.

Tag playing with toys the next day, February 6th (his 2nd birthday!) while we waited to be released.

Medication induced nap.  It was a good thing the meds made him sleepy because when he woke up Monday morning and football wasn't still on tv, he wasn't happy.

An unexpected side-effect of this experience was the suspicion Brandan and I came under as parents.  We had to meet with DFS before we were released from the hospital and every doctor that asked to hear the story of how Tag became burned looked over his wounds to make sure it was consistent with what we were explaining.  I so glad they take precautions and protect children, but it was unnerving to feel that your abilities as a parent were under attack. Especially when Tag was refusing to come to me! They even worried about his small size, like maybe we weren't feeding him as well as physically abusing him. They told me I would need to meet with a dietitian to discuss it, but luckily when she came into meet me she was pretty discerning.  She took one look at my height and decided he was normal for our family, no other questions asked.

The rest of the kids also had a pretty traumatic weekend as well.  Our incredible friends and neighbors made sure they were looked after on Sunday, but they were pretty upset about Tag's injuries.  The got off the bus at our house the next day and set up the house for Tag's birthday (balloons and a birthday banner) before we got home.

Tag didn't walk consistently on his burns for almost two weeks, but the wiggle cars helped him get around. 

Happy 2nd Birthday Tag! Next year, let's not spend it in the hospital!

Our other February event- Dash's traveling basketball team won the Rock Springs tournament!