Bria's Accident

Yesterday we saw miracles and received so many blessings. Bria had an accident and fractured her skull, but is okay because of many prayers and blessings.

We were in the Walmart parking lot as we were going into the store and I had put Bria in the the cart so that she wouldn't run off and get hit by a car, and then I put Erik in the front in his carseat. I couldn't see Bria and didn't know she was standing straight up until I backed the cart out and watched her fall head first onto the gravel. I felt helpless as I watched her from the other side of the cart just wishing I could stop it. It was the worst feeling. I ran to her, picked her up and almost couldn't control my emotions when I saw her face, but I felt the strength to help her. At that moment, I didn't think of anything but to get her cleaned up right away. Her face was just black from the concrete and she had two goose eggs swelling up right before my eyes. I grabbed her and carried her while pushing Erik in the cart. We ran into the store and I yelled for help. People were rushing to get her ice while I ran her into the bathroom. I cleaned up all the dirt and rocks and was just bawling and tearing up inside. As soon as I got her cleaned up, I took her to the Insta-care.

I know I was blessed with strength, because I felt so weak, but with the help of the Lord, I was able to carry Erik in his carseat and Bria in the other arm. I have a hard enough time carrying just Erik and so to carry all that should have been almost impossible for me! But there was a blessing in itself. We checked in and went back to a little room and waited for the doctor. Bria just layed on my shoulder sobbing. As the doctor was trying to look at her, she was thrashing from side to side just screaming. We had to pin her down so he could check all her bruises to make sure there wasn't anything seriously wrong. The doctor told us she was probably okay, but if she started acting confused,vommiting, or acting differently to take her to the ER.

We loaded back up in the car and went home. As I was pulling into our complex, Bria vommited 3 times in a row. A huge gush of panic swept through my whole body. I looked back at her and her eyes were glazed and she looked so confused. I was already home and knew I couldn't take Erik with me, so I pulled right up to my incredible friend's house. As soon as Jana opened the door, she knew something was wrong and ran out with me to get Erik out of the car. I got back in and drove to the ER. I felt like everything was moving in slow motion. I was so grateful that the hospital was only a few blocks away.

I picked her limp body up out of her carseat and ran in. The lady at the desk was helping someone else, but when she saw my panicked face, she immediately asked me her name and had me sign a paper. Right away, a nurse opened the door and directed me into a room. I laid Bria on the bed and held her little hand. She was acting so much different than the previous doctor visit. She just stared and would not respond to anything. The nurse went away to talk to the doctor and soon they came back and told me she had better have a CAT scan. At this point, I was really sick because of all the possibilities. I could hardly see anything and my body felt dead. I thought we were not going to have a good ending and all I could do was pray. I don't think I ever stopped praying from that moment.

Derek then came in and I already felt better to have him there. He immediately shut the door and gave her a blessing. The spirit was definitely there and just comforted us so much. I am just so grateful for that power and that Derek is so worthy to hold it. We then went back to do the CAT scan and Bria was absolutely terrified! We tried to tell her she was going into the "Little Einsteins" rocket ship, but it didn't work. She just clinged to Derek and cried, "No! I don't want to!" It was so hard to watch her have to go through all that pain and fear. I just wanted to trade places with her so bad! They finally decided to just do some X-rays to see if they could find anything that way. That didn't scare her so bad, so we thought we would try the scan again. She still resisted. The nurse must have been told to say, "Do you have a favorite song?" and she said, "ABC's." So off we all went singing the "ABC's". We sang it five times as she went into the big machine. Her big eyes followed all the lights and moving parts. She was pretty intrigued. We were so proud of her and so were the nurses. She got princess stickers for every test she did! And it was a good thing, because we waited for a long time and those stickers kept her occupied!

When we went back to the room, my mom and Dani were waiting there. Dani was actually on the phone with me when Bria started throwing up, so they immediately left Layton to come be with her. Bria was so happy to see them, so we all talked and waited for the results. After a long wait, the doctor came in and said, "The X-rays look okay, but the CAT scan showed a fracture on her skull." My stomach dropped and I just broke out into tears. Fear took over me, but I just kept saying a prayer in my heart. He then told us that he would have to contact Primary Children's Hospital to make sure they didn't need to operate. He left and we waited another hour. I cannot describe the feelings I had. It was almost unbearable.

Bria was so brave and so strong. She came up to me and asked me if I was alright and gave me a hug. She is so sweet. Finally, the doctor came in and told us that they were not going to need to operate, that it was a clean fracture and that it should heal on its own, but he explained to us that the next 24 hours we needed to be extremely careful. We were not to let her out of our sight and she was to stay down and just relax. That was not something I thought was impossible for Bria! The scary part was that night we were to check on her every 2 hours and make sure she could respond to us, because she did have a concussion and we wanted to make sure she didn't slip into a coma.

We got her home, gave her a bath and put her in front of the tv the rest of the night. She didn't mind that! She loves watching shows. She wasn't allowed to eat anything either, except for clear liquids, so she had popsicles and juice. She was so cute, because this was her heaven! When we showed her her face, she laughed and said, "That is silly!" What a good sport!

Later that evening, Jana came over with dinner as if she hadn't done enough for us! She is just SO awesome. I am so grateful to have such good friends. My mom called my family to have them pray for Bria in the night, because we were worried. I am so thankful for everyones' prayers because last night was a difficult night, but because of prayer, Bria was okay. Everytime the alarm went off, every 2 hours, we went to check on Bria to make sure she was still responding. Every time, I just bawled myself back to sleep because I couldn't help replaying the incident over and over in my head. I was also crying because I was so overwhelmed because I knew we were extremely blessed. I know that Bria was protected, because it could have been a lot worse. I am just so grateful she is okay.

I know that Heavenly Father answered our prayers and that He protected Bria yesterday. I am so grateful for prayer and especially for the Priesthood. We love Bria so much and are so grateful to have her in our lives. I have a different outlook on life right now, for sure. It is so easy to take life for granted and not appreciate every single moment you have with those you love. I love my family so much and I am so blessed with every second I have with them.