This past Thursday is definitely a day that I will not forget. As many of you know, J had a seizure. I haven't really put down a detailed account of what happened so thought that I might as well blog about it.
I guess that I should start with earlier in the week-SB was sick on Sunday (spiked a fever of 103) so I kept her out of preschool on Monday. I figured that J would eventually come down with whatever SB had, so it was no huge surprise Wednesday evening that he didn't feel well. His afternoon teacher reported that he'd just not been himself that afternoon and I when I picked him up he'd just finished a nap and was very flushed. He ate and drank fine at supper but was a bit clingy afterwards. He was a little warm but nothing crazy. I let him fall asleep in my arms, then moved him to his crib.
Thursday morning I woke up and got ready for work as usual. I then went into the nursery to get the babes ready for preschool. J was still sound asleep, even after I turned on the light...that NEVER happens. I decided to let him sleep some more and get SB ready first. Per her usual routine, she started having a major temper tantrum. Again, he basically slept through it which never happens. After getting SB dressed, I went to his crib to changed him. (I'd already decided that he would stay home with me but I needed to change him so that we could take SB to preschool.) I got his diaper changed and noticed that he was shivering. I decided to get a warmer shirt to put on him and noticed that he was warm-again, not crazy hot or anything. I got one sleeve of the warmer shirt on him and he started convulsing. He went rigid and his arms jerked up, bending at the elbows. The first few seconds I was in shock, started yelling his name at him, trying to get him to really look at me. I smacked his back and then his chest. His lips turned blue. I though he was dying. I though "how will I tell his birth mom (SIL) and how will I tell P?" Somewhere in there I called 911.
The seizure seemed like it lasted forever but in reality I'm sure it lasted less than a minute. During the seizure I instinctively turned him on his side (thank you yearly trainings at past child welfare jobs). After the seizure was over he basically passed out. He was breathing quick shallow breaths. The 911 operator was amazing at keeping me calm. When the fire truck arrived, there were all 6 fire fighters in our not so big house. They were AWESOME. The female fire fighter is the one that held J and gave him oxygen. They calmed me as well and she assured me that the was he was acting was normal after a seizure. They checked his vitals, blood sugar levels and after the ambulance arrived and took over, they installed new smoke detectors in our home.
SB and I followed the ambulance to the hospital. She was definitely shaken up after everything but she did AMAZING while all of those "strangers" were taking care of her baby brother. She watched them intently but never got in their way or anything. She cried when I put her in the car without him being in there with her.
We got to the hospital and found his room. The nurses and staff at Memorial were AMAZING. Our poor boy was hooked up to tubes and all sorts of equipment. He cried when we walked in and reached out for me. My heart broke a little, seeing him all confused and upset. I was able to pick him and hold him and he nuzzled into my neck. He was so tired. A little bit later the nurses took blood from him (he HATED that) and a respiratory guy came suctioned out his sinuses. That did not look like fun at all. It involved a saline solution and a tube. At first the dr said that he would not do a CT scan, later he changed his mind. Our boy slept through the scan :)
After hours at the hospital, J was diagnosed with the flu and a possible sinus infection (the CT scan showed some sinus irritation). Dr said that he thinks that J had a febrile seizure due to the flu; however, he did not rule out it being caused by possible prenatal drug exposure. The paramedics also mentioned the same thing to me. The dr told me to keep a close eye on him and if it happens again, to call 911 again, get J to Memorial and he would do a spinal tap and refer us to a pediatric neurologist in Denver.
While at the hospital, I emailed P from my phone to let him know what was going on. Even though he's never met our babes, he is already being Daddy <3 He told me that if it happens again, he will request emergency leave and he told his command what was going on. He also requested that I give him frequent updates throughout the day. Love that man.
I've barely taken my eyes of J since we came home. He has slept with me every night because I am so scared that he will seizure again. I'm constantly feeling his head and body to see if he's getting warm. When he's sleeping, I check to see that he's breathing. I'm going to try to put him back in his crib tonight.; hopefully I'll be able to sleep. I haven't really slept soundly since it happened.
He is feeling almost 100% himself again. Currently he and SB are playing in their nursery (door open, gate up so that I can see and hear them) while I enjoy my third cup of coffee. Birds are singing, sun is shining and I have the doors and windows open. Here's to a great Sunday of enjoying my babes and life in general.
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