Writing things out is very cathartic for me. It often times make me feel better to get things out “on paper.” Today was an insane day for us, and I hope to never relive the experience we had tonight.

Thursday night into Friday morning, Taylor wasn’t feeling great again, and had a hard time going to sleep. She ended up falling asleep at 3:45 am. The boys took turns crying on and off after that, so I didn’t get to bed until after 6. I was exhausted today, to say the least. We stayed home again today since everyone was feeling crappy. The kids had a Frozen movie date, and danced together, which was so adorable. Taylor actually told me that she wanted to marry both of her brothers and dance with them when they were married.

Everyone took short naps and seemed to be feeling okay afterward. I gave all three kids a bath late this afternoon. As I was drying the boys off, Joseph peed on the carpet, about half an inch from his brother’s clean head. I wish that was the worst part. I cleaned that up, dressed the boys, and was helping Taylor braid her hair when we realized a really nasty smell coming through her room. It smelled like rotten eggs almost. She immediately turned her nose up and said “Ewww! Who pooped in my room?” I went to check out the rest of the house, and noticed the same thing in the bathroom. This is a smell that we had once a few weeks ago when we had the heating system on, but we didn’t think too much of it, since it went away quickly. I texted Todd and told him that the kids and I smelled it again and that it might be coming through the air conditioning. As soon as he walked in the door, he was hit with the odor. I think the kids and I were unfortunately getting used to it, so we didn’t notice it in the rest of the house. We turned off the air, opened the windows, and went about our day. As Todd and I got to talking, he mentioned being worried that it was a form of gas coming through the vents. The wheels in both of our heads began turning and we thought the massive bloody noses, headaches, and sicknesses the kids have had could be related. He and I have also been feeling under the weather, so the idea of it all being related was daunting. I called the pediatrician and explained everything the kids have been going through and she said definitely get out of the house and call 911. She wanted us to go to the ER for testing depending on their findings. We quickly collected the kids and dog and told them we were going to hang out outside while the fire fighters came to check out our house. This whole situation happened quickly, by the way. It’s not like we were sitting around the house sniffing fumes and playing dominos. I called 911 as we were ushering everyone to the front lawn, and the first responders arrived so quickly. The kids were a little scared, but since we kind of prepared them, they waved to the firefighters and went to play. Long story short, everything is okay. It was not carbon monoxide (that is an odorless gas and we thankfully have detectors for that). They determined by meters and the smell that it was methane gas backing up into our heating and cooling systems. It’s being fixed, hopefully, tomorrow. The system is off for tonight, and we are safe. The paramedics and fire fighters explained to us that this wouldn’t necessary cause bloody noses and all of the symptoms we had, but it’s certainly not good and not something we want to be continuously breathing in. They said that this gas could for sure make us feel somewhat ill (headaches, nausea, etc.) but fresh air was the best course of action for us. We avoided the ER, thankfully.

A year or so ago, I had to call 911 for Joseph when he choked. The response time from our local volunteers and city firefighters was amazing last time and was amazing now. They were so quick, thorough, and kind. They cared about our concerns and worried about our children. Of course it helped that our best buddies / neighbors / fire house members, Tommy and Ann, showed up to help out too. Ann helped wrangle the kids and was a calming force for me, and was just there for me like she always is. Tommy may have given me heart failure from yelling down to me from the roof of my own house, but all is good. They are such good friends to us and we are forever thankful. I am also grateful that my parents were right around the corner when we needed them. I called them about 20 minutes into the action and asked if they could lend an extra few sets of hands with the kids since we didn’t know what we were up against the time.

After a long night, I have three happily sleeping children, an exhausted husband, and a pup who is snuggled up against me as I write this. We are healthy and we are lucky because this could have been much worse. I hope this helps remind others to always trust your instincts. Sometimes my “mom gut” is so strong that I think I’m overreacting. Perhaps I am sometimes. Speaking with the pediatrician validated my concerns as a mom and helped reinforce the notion that I always have to do what is in their best interest.