My brother in law just called and when he started off with "first dont freak out, everything is okay" my very first thought was my clumsy 3 year old son busted his head again or something..he then continued with how my son slipped away a moment unnoticed and my sister found him in the pool and they had to perform CPR. He was getting some cheetos and my sister who is sooo unbelievably vigilant noticed quickly that he took too long and I can not even begun to express how thankful that makes me. Her neurotic ways that I was picking on her for just this morning saved my sons life. The EMTs got the rest of the fluid out of his lungs when they arrived and he is being monitored now. I am 3 hours south of him right now and his father is 3 hours north..I just want to be home to hold my baby already! I can not stop crying thinking of him unconscious and not breathing. Please please please send your thoughts and prayers that everything remains okay!

Update 6/18:

I got home late that night right after he was released from the hospital and his dad right before he got released. I just held and kissed him as he laid his head on my chest til I put him down for bed!

He is doing okay and getting back to his normal self. I am ready for the rash blood spots around his eyes and face to go away..every time I see them they are a reminder he was not breathing..I don't think I have ever cried this much! But, he impressed the doctors and did so well!

I got more details as I got home. The woman who performed CPR on my son, her 10 year old foster daughter is who spotted him and pick him up in the pool. They were all in there, all in the shallow end. He slipped by on the steps quietly and unnoticed by 3 adults and the 10 year old. He was blue and limp..my heart aches thinking of him that way. The ambulance was there in 3 minutes and by then, he had already begun to throw up all the water and crying. My boy was and is definitely a fighter!

Our two oldest girls are already in swimming lessons but, he is being signed up for the July round (if he is ready to be around water) as well as my 5 year old niece who was unfortunately witness to it all too.

Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers!

UPDATE- post from my sister:

Before I start this, I just want to say that everyone is okay now..I don’t want to scare anyone..

Yesterday my sister and I exchanged our boys. She took Payton to 6 flags with her family, while I took Nolin with me and Presley to have a little fun day with them. Before she left with Payton, I stressed to her about not letting him run off and to stay by him at all time. She laughed because she said she already knew I was going to say that.

We went to Urban Air, one of Nolins absolute favorite places to go, & after that we went to a good friends house to swim. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am overprotective. I’m your typical helicopter mom. I’m a safety freak. We were all swimming. 6 kids. All who are made to wear life jackets while in the pool. Nolin wanted out, & while most of the evening I wouldn’t let him take the life jacket off, even while outside of the pool. He begged me to, he wanted to play on the big blow up water slide, he wanted to relax and eat Cheetos. So reluctantly I agreed. I lectured him to not come anywhere near the pool with out it on. We were talking to him, he was giving Cheetos to the smaller kids, everything was good.

A couple of minutes later I start counting heads like I always do. Making sure everyone is accounted for. There was no Nolin. I start to get out of the pool (I was in the shallow end the entire time, as was my friend.) when my friends oldest daughter grabs him from the bottom of the pool..

I can still hear myself screaming. I can hear myself screaming his name. I can hear myself screaming “oh my god” over and over. I can still feel myself shaking uncontrollably. I can hear myself screaming to my friend that I do not know how to do CPR. I can still hear my friend screaming for the ambulance to hurry. I can still hear myself calling my husband and just screaming for him to get there & saying that something happened to Nolin but not being able to fully say it. He was lifeless. He was blue. He was unresponsive. I can still see his limp body as I grabbed him and laid him down on the ground. I just knew he was dead....I just knew I was going to have to call my sister and tell her that I killed her baby boy....that I was not the overly cautious mom that I claim to be. That I failed him, my sister, his dad, my niece. Everyone.

I will forever be grateful that Angela was there. I will forever be grateful that she knows how to do CPR. I will forever be grateful to her husband for remaining calm and calling 911. I will forever be grateful for their 10 year old daughter, Morgan, for finding him as quickly as she did and pulling him up. I will forever be grateful for every single first responder, who did not once judge me, who reassured me that we did everything right. That we saved him, & that it was an accident. Who came and checked on us again after they brought another patient into the hospital. Who not only made sure Nolin was okay, but that I was as well. I will forever be grateful for the doctors, nurses, and medical staff at CCMH. Who also reassured me that it could have happened to anyone and that what we did saved him. They were extra cautious with him and so patient with me when I constantly pulled them back into the room if I thought anything at all was not right. I will forever be grateful for the each and every person who played a part in saving Nolins life.

Please do not ever think that this can’t happen to you. Tragedy does not discriminate. It does not care that you are the overly protective, safety freak, helicopter mom. All it takes is a minute. Looking away for one minute. I was the mom who KNEW it would never happen to her, because I am THAT cautious. Turns out I was wrong. I still don’t know how he got past me. He was in the shallow end. IIIIIII was in the shallow end. HOW? I later asked him and in the most care free way he told me “I walked on the steps and then jumped off of them Wauntie.” It is not like you see in the movies. It is not all of the commotion and splashing around. It is quiet. It is quick. I WILL become CPR certified, & I encourage any mom to do the same.

Things could have been so much worse. I know that I can not go down the road of “what if’s” (which I have done all night.) I know that it can happen to anyone (PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don’t ever think that it can’t.) but the guilt and heartbreak have completely consumed me. I have never felt a pain like this before. I didn’t know it was possible to hurt the way that I have, even though everything turned out to be okay.

I will forever be grateful to Kel and Andrew for not blaming me. For not being mad at me, for telling me that if it was not for me being the way that I am, for being so over protective, that it could have been the unthinkable. They have thanked me over and over, saying that I saved his life, when I feel that I did the opposite. I don’t know how they don’t hate me. My heart has never felt so broken.

To my sweet boy. My Noly Poly. My mini me. I am so, so sorry. I am so sorry that I wasn’t immediately there. I am so sorry that the one person who was supposed to protect you, didn’t. I am so sorry that I put you through this. I don’t know what I would have done in a world with out you. I promise to never let anything like this happen to you again. I love you so much, my baby. You are such a big piece of my heart, you have been since the day you were born, & you always will be.

Please pray for our family. For peace, comfort, and healing. Thank you again, to every single person who helped. Thank you god for letting our sweet boy stay with us. I will never be able to express just how thankful I am. I will never be able to put it into words❤️