My Ottobot drowned at 3 and a half years old. He was almost four feet tall and him and his sister had been playing in the tub for years together. It was one of their favorite play activities. He had a fever that afternoon and I had administered medication, the correct dosage and put them down for a nap. When they woke up Elle had vomited on herself (only the 3rd time in her life) and I put them in the bathtub to play with some eucalyptus bubble bath to help their congestion. Our 6 month old baby was teething and mommy went to get her some Tylenol for the pain and Otto was lying on his side in the bath when I returned. I put the baby on the carpet and grabbed Otto out of the tub and initiated “old school” cpr that I had learned in my military training for a couple of minutes. That’s enough of the details of this trauma. I can’t relive it right now, it’s already a pretty bad day today so fast forward two hours. We are at the hospital and believing that God would save him as they had a heart beat and blood pressure. He had had a febrile seizure and basically “fallen asleep” in the tub with his sister playing next to him. He spent the next four hours being resuscitated over and over again. I was on my face in the dark in a hospital bathroom with the door locked pleading for his life with everything I had. I promised God that I would sing my testimony from the highest mountain if he saved our baby boy. Tears are streaming down my face as I write this today..almost two months to the day that we lost our Otto. In the days that followed I knew in my heart that God hadn’t broken a promise to me and though I didn’t get our sweet son back, I needed to keep my promise to God. I need to make a testimony to the wonder and awesomeness of my God. He had blessed me with my son, my daughters, my husband…this list doesn’t end. I know we will continue to be blessed and I pray in the deepest regions of my heart, where I will always keep my Otto, that I will be able to bless others with the tragedy and trauma that I am enduring.
