Week of September 26th Part 1

Wow, what a week. This week has surely been one to remember. We got a new apartment, made a trip to the ER, had too many late nights, and more. Here’s a run down on what’s up with the Overbys.

Trip to the ER.

It was Tuesday night after German class and we were having dinner with our friends the Meichsners. As we were finishing up dinner and getting ready to leave we heard a loud “THUD” from the other room followed by a scream from Stanley. We immediately ran to the kids' room and found Stanley on the floor at the base of the bunk bed. He was screaming, and there was a spot of blood on the floor next to him. Heather picked him up and tried to console him and figure out what happened. Stanley started gagging, which is not unusual for him when he is crying really hard, but when he started throwing up blood we knew this was not his normal vomit. This was throwing up his life type vomit. Eric raced to get something to catch it in, Susanne got some paper towels, and I took the other three kids into the kitchen to stay out of the way.

What happened after that was a whirlwind. Eric and Susanne came in and out of the kitchen a couple of times. One time when Eric came in there was a buzz, and Eric immediately left not closing the door to the kitchen. Next thing I know, a bunch of paramedics come into the house towards where Stanley was. I was praying with the kids, not knowing what is going on. Last thing I saw was Stanley throwing up blood. During all this I was praying with the other kids and trying to keep them happy and distracted. They all wanted to go see what was going on, but I knew that I needed to keep them out of the way. Soon Eric came back, and we were able to pray together, and then I was summoned to the back room. When I got there it did not seem to be any immediate panic. Heather told me that Stanley was doing fine, but they wanted to take him to the ER to get an ultrasound and checked out. I thought that sounded like a good idea. Fortunately, I had my health card with me, so the paramedics were able to take that. Heather took Stanley out to the ambulance, and off she went with our son to the hospital.

Susanne took me home with Holly, and then took Stanley’s blankets and a change of clothes for him, and met Heather at the hospital. As you can imagine, I was a little out of it, but was able to get Holly to bed, and then I called Heather. She was waiting at the hospital, but Stanley was bouncing around like his normal three year old self. Heather and Susanne stayed at the hospital until about 11 pm. Stanley was checked out, and the doctor said he wanted to keep Stanley there for 48 hours to observe him and make sure there wasn’t anything more serious going on that hadn’t shown up yet. Sometimes with head injuries, the damage doesn’t become visible immediately. We decided against staying at the hospital, but instead get Stanley into his own bed and in a comfortable place.

In the process of all this, I also made the decision to stay home from work on Wednesday. I wanted to be home in case he had to stay in the hospital, or to be home incase something did happen during the next 24 hours. I am so glad I made that decision. I did have some extra work to do to prepare my lesson plans, but it was the right choice. Susanne brought Heather and Stanley home, we put Stanley to bed, and then we finally had a moment together. We didn’t get to bed until 12:30 or 1 am. Fortunately, the kids slept in until 8 the next morning, and I didn’t have to get off to work.

Over the next 48 hours, Stanley showed no signs of series damage. During lunch on Wednesday, he did suddenly say, “My head hurts.” Heather, Susanne, and myself all paused and looked at each other. “What do you mean Stanley?” “Well…” then he began to do his typical three year old rabbit trail which included “No, actually my head doesn’t hurt.” He definitely scared us at that moment. He had a follow up appointment on Thursday, and the pediatrician said we shouldn’t be worried, but he is fine.

Thank you to everyone who was praying. We definitely knew they helped and it was so encouraging to know you all care. This will probably not be Stanley’s last trip to the ER so we'll probably be calling on our prayer warriors again. We will continue to have grace with him, and teach him to not jump off high things. At some point Tuesday night, Stanley told Heather that he was ready to jump off a building. “No Stanley, no jumping off buildings.” He must be three.

Well, right now it is 11:20 pm, and I am falling asleep as I type. So I am going to bed. So I’ll have to tell you another time about our new apartment, Kindergarten, running, late nights, German class and other things going on in our life. If I wait to post this until I have everything written, then this will all be old news and not very interesting. So here is what I have, enjoy, and thank you for your support as we begin this new life in Germany.

Until Next Time,

Scott & Heather Overby and Family.