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Thursday, March 27, 2008

Thankful Thursday at the end of a scary day (Updated)

Whew. What a day it has been. I sit here at the end of the day reflecting on today's chain of events and how thankful I am that God brought us through it....

Around 10:30 this morning I set up "blanket time" for Eli and noticed that he must not be feeling well, because he was too quiet and mellow. He was mostly just sitting on the play blanket with his blankie and not playing with any of the toys, except for sort of playing with his stacking rings a little bit, for the entire 40 minutes. Yet every time I looked at him he'd still smile back, so I wasn't super concerned but knew he wasn't well. When "blanket time" was over I turned on some kid cartoons so he could just relax and not do much. Then I tried lunch but he didn't want it, so I didn't push it. Kevin was home from work by then. And then we put him down early for his nap since he was obviously quite tired and not feeling well. He didn't really feel warm to the touch so I didn't take his temperature. About an hour later (1:30) we were just waking Hannah up from a nap to feed her when Kevin noticed on the video baby monitor that Eli was twitching. I immediately took a look and knew something wasn't right so I shouted to Kevin "Go! Just go!" and he dashed up the stairs to finding Eli in his crib having a seizure! He was drooling, "foaming at the mouth", and clenching his teeth, convulsing (typical, I guess), and I ran to the phone to call 911. Eli had stopped seizing but was still out of it and unresponsive--spaced out eyes and still trembling. Paramedics arrived and I rode with him while Kevin followed with Hannah (still not fed) in the van. Eli was blazing hot with a temp of 104, so the cause of the seizure was that his temperature spiked too high too fast and shocked his body. Once at the hospital he got checked over and the best guess at this point is that the fever is from an ear infection. He didn't show any signs of his ears bothering him but when the doctor took a look, one ear was blazing red and the other was normal. They took a blood culture and we'll know tomorrow if there was something there. We got home just after 7:00 tonight. Eli's appearing fine and was in a good mood and talking. When we left the hospital his temp was down to 100.1. We'll have to wake him in the night to check his temperature, but he's already on Motrin and antibiotics so we don't expect it to spike again, but we definitely want to keep an eye on it anyway. It was a VERY scary day! I am soooo thankful Kevin was home because when I saw Eli having a seizure I just FREAKED OUT and was almost hyperventilating and crying. i didn't know what to do and I was panicking. It's so awful seeing your child not right like that, and it makes me tear up just thinking about it again. I am thankful for our video monitor so we could even know that was going on with Eli! I am so thankful that I was home too because I had just been running errands at Walmart while Eli was napping. I am thankful that Hannah was a patient baby, as she had to wait a good 45 minutes before I could actually sit down and feed her. I am thankful for the kind nurses and doctor. I am thankful that the medicines worked right away to get Eli's fever down. I am thankful for the periods of sleep Eli was able to get here and there in between pokes and prods. I am thankful that it's just because of a fever that he even had the seizure and that we have those answers instead of having to worry about a greater problem. I am thankful that we are home now and we can rest after such a crazy day. Tomorrow we'll take Eli to our regular doctor for a checkup, and hopefully we'll have some more answers and a good report.

Tonight I go to bed praying that Eli has a good night of rest, that his fever stays down and continues to drop, that he goes back to sleep easily after we wake him to check his temp, and that this is all over soon!

UDATE: Eli had a good night last night. We woke him up at 11:00pm, before we even went to bed, to check his temp and give him motrin. He went back to sleep just fine, slept peacefully all night, and woke up at his normal time as his normal chipper self. His temp was only 97 this morning so that was good. His check-up with the doctor today was very brief and positive: still as far as we can tell it's an ear infection. But still the blood culture isn't done, and I imagine they'll call if they do find something there. Otherwise, I assume we'll be just fine if we keep with the medicine. Praise God! From here on out, since there's a good chance it could happen again, any time Eli has any fever at all, we have to really watch it, and as soon as it gets above 100, then we start loading him up with meds to get it back down. Still sounds scary and I'm sure every time he gets sick I'm going to worry. But at least we know that's just how a child's body can respond to fever, and if there is a next time, we'll feel a little more prepared.

13 comments:

Denise said...

When God looks at you, He smiles really big.

Jules said...

Oh Sarah, I am praying for you and your precious family!!! I know how scared you were, Claire did that at 6 months old when her fever suddenly spiked to 106!!!! I think my heart stopped for a moment and I panicked, too! So, don't feel bad about panicking! We are praying that everything continues to be fine. Let me know if you need ANYTHING!!!

((((HUGS))))) & Prayers,

Julie

Amy said...

How scary!!! Let me know if you need anything! My heart goes out to you, that's a scary thing to witness.

paul said...

The National Institute of Health has an article on this kind of febrile seizure that is helpful in explaining what happens in a seizure like Eli had and what you can do to help him if it happens again. (Of children who have one febrile seizure, 30% end up having another one within a year....) As they say in the article, "The first febrile seizure is one of life's most frightening moments for parents." I'm sure it probably was! Praise God that Eli and Mommy and Daddy and Hannah are OK now, though!

Anonymous said...

Oh Sarah! I am sothankful that Eli is ok. I will be praying for a quick recovery for him. If I canhelp in anyway, just let Amy know. Love in Him, Lynne "B"

Melanie said...

I am so thankful that Eli is doing okay! I'll be praying that he continues to recover easily.

BellaMama said...

Praying for you!!
Blessings of His Wonderful Peace!!
Mrs.C.

Sharon said...

Oh my goodness! I got such goosebumps reading this and teary-eyed. I'm sure that WAS scary! Poor Eli.
I am so glad to hear it's nothing major. I hope today was better for you all.
I wish I was near you so I could help out in any way. IF there IS anything I can do from Ohio, please let me know!

You all are in my prayers, Sarah.

megan said...

wow, Sarah--i'm so glad that you and Kevin were around and noticed and got him to see a doctor! i'm glad to hear that it wasn't anything too serious--hopefully the antibiotics will do the trick. sending lots of prayers your way, as always. love you!!

Unknown said...

Wow! Just reading about your day gave me shivers; I kept on the end of my chair reading. What a great God we have as so many aspects of your day did work out well. :) A very similar thing happened to our nephew at about the same age as Eli. He was fighting a bad fever, and it was as if the fever was too much for his little body to handle. After 1 seizure, they took him ambulance. Then, he had 2 more at the hospital. Nick's sister said it's the scariest thing to watch because as a Mom, you're completely out of control. By the way, I love your blog! I would like to start one up, but I just haven't yet. Have a good day!

The Fischer Family said...

Oh how scary! I can't imagine watching that as a mother! I am so glad to hear that Eli is okay. I will pray for him that he continues to improve and for you that will know what an awesome job you guys did getting him the help he needed!

Misty said...

This happened to me once when i had strep throat, my fever spiked real high too, and i had a seizure, or so i was told. I was in my 20's at the time, so i guess it can happen at any age. I'm glad that Eli is doing okay now. Blessings on all of you.

Aunt Angie said...

Oh my stars!!! Sarah--what an experience! I am glad sweet boy is doing better! Bless your heart---I know you were scared...but God was with you.