Renown hospital’s cutest patient ever

It all started with a phone call from daycare last Monday afternoon that Brayden had a fever. Little did we realize that we’d be rushing to the hospital 48 hours later…

Brian and I took Brayden to his pediatrician Monday afternoon once we got the call from daycare about his 102-degree fever. We thought he had caught something and would work it out over the next couple days. Well, instead of getting better, things got worse. Way worse.

We ended up at the doctors on Tuesday as Brayden’s fever kept rising and he got sicker, and then again Wednesday when he became dehydrated and started throwing up blood. The pediatrician’s office made the arrangements as we quickly drove to Renown hospital with a very sick baby.

Once we arrived, the pediatrics unit went into full throttle. There were IVs, blood draws, ultrasounds, X-rays, visits from doctors, surgeons and nurses and more tests than I could list here. It was 11p before Brayden was allowed to sleep. And all we had to show for the day was more questions than answers.

Each day included more testing, poking, prodding and meeting with doctors. Late on day three, Brayden’s temperature started to stabilize and his sweet smiles slowly returned. We were allowed to venture to the playroom, go for wagon rides around the pediatrics wing and enjoy visits from the Easter Bunny.

In all, Brayden was at Renown for five days. And although the tests indicated something was going on, no test could identify exactly what. We left on Easter Day with a healthier baby but no concrete answers. Sometimes these things remain a mystery.

We are so thankful for everyone who visited, texted, called and prayed for us. We are grateful beyond words. The photo album below is in chronological order so you can see the progression of our days, including the happy homecoming on Easter where Brayden was showered with love and presents.

		Brayden's Hospital Stay VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Good to the last drop

The last fruit we introduced to Brayden ended up being the grand finale. This baby is so crazy about mangos that when a few drips of fruit fell at daycare, the child literally dropped his face to the tray and started SLURPING them up. Hysterical!

Back off my mangos!

Living the high(chair) life

Now that Brayden’s a super sitter, we decided to take him out for his first restaurant highchair experience. P.F. Chang’s hosted the momentous occasion. Being the completely wonderful little man he is, Brayden played nicely with a toy and smiled sweetly at all the people that cooed at him. It actually took us 10 minutes to leave because so many people stopped us on the way out to compliment us on our totally adorable, well-mannered baby boy.


First time in a restaurant highchair



Being chill and kickin' it with one leg up.






The Jewell family celebrates Brayden highchair milestone!

Seven days of socks

For those of you who’ve followed the blog a while, you’ll remember that during our CT trip in November my Aunt Liz and Uncle Roger stole a pair of Brayden’s socks so they could keep a little piece of him. My aunt swore she could still smell his addicting, adorable baby scent for weeks after, and they regularly fought over the socks like it was baby crack.
I know my aunt and uncle have been missing the little man quite a bit lately, so I had Brayden wear a pair of socks for a week and then mailed them as a surprise with a personal note from Brayden about getting them out to Reno for a visit. Needless to say, the surprise gift was a hit and now they’re looking into flying out in August. And all it took was a pair of blue baby socks!

Day 1 - 03/21/11

Day 7 - 03/27/11