It all started back on Tuesday June 24th. Tuesday AM the kids and I went to a local strawberry patch and picked strawberries. Later in the day, my parents came over for the night to go with the kids and I out to the fair grounds to see the Great Iowa Tractor Ride tractors. There were I believe 500 or so tractors of all ages out there. Was very cool, and of course Mason loved every minute of it. Wanted to get on every tractor, but I didn't want to get us kicked out of there, so only let him get up on a couple really quick and then get down. I could just see him putting it into gear and it rolling away (btw, he knows that pushing certain levers will move something, so of course that is the first thing he did when he got on the tractor) This is one row of about 6.
Looking back at my pictures now, I can see where I should have seen some warning signs, but I didn't. Mason and Granny went to see a few of the lawnmowers while Pa, Mallory and I walked back to the vehicle. Figured we would just take our time and they would catch up with us. It was quite warm out, but not unbearable. We get to that exit gate and something just didn't look right with Mallory.
Around 7:30pm, she got a glazed over look in her eyes, and started twitching. She was still buckled in her car seat as she had been napping and was quite comfortable. So I undid the buckles and got her out. Now what do I do? Her eyes were still glazed and by this time, I've figured out she was having a seizure of some sort. I'm walking toward my van not knowing what to do, basically in a daze. There happened to be a bunch of young guys getting on their motorcycles, and one of them approached me and asked what he could do. I immediately handed her off, while another one called 911. This nice young man held her on her side, while she was gasping for air. She started turning blue and then eventually threw up (which is why I'm sure she was gasping, as that was blocking her airway). I had to walk away and sat away from everything, as I just didn't have the composure to watch what was going on. (Tony was at work, but I called him and he was there in less then 5 minutes) My dad stayed with her and the young man, while Mom was with Mason (who was really shook up over the whole ordeal. He kept asking 'whats wrong mommy? whats wrong with Mallory' course he was crying too, as he didn't know what was going on). The ambulance got there and assessed the situation. Tony and I were in the back of the ambulance with her, when her O2 levels started dropping and they asked us to please step out. I knew this was best, as I'm not good in these situations and felt very faint, but at the same time, I had no idea what was going on in there with her. And the next thing we know they are pulling away and going to the hospital. Tony and I drove up to the local ER, and beat them there. Her O2 levels were 80-85% when they first checked. While in the ER they were trying to get an IV in her chubby little arm, but they couldn't find a vein. (must run in the family, as it took them 20+ minutes to get an IV in my hand before I had Mallory, so I could feel her pain). They took an XRay to make sure there was nothing in her lungs blocking her airway. After about 20 minutes of trying to no avail, they had decided that all the crying and screaming while trying to get the IV in, cleared her lungs up enough that they didn't need to get in IV in. This in turn brought her O2 levels up to where they should be. When they first took her temperature, it was 104. This is where looking back at photos I should have known something was wrong, but her hands and feet didn't get warm, just her face (note to self.. infants having fevers are totally different then when we have them, so the warning signs are different). They determined that she had a Febrile Seizure . Since we have been having so many issues lately with her head measuring off the charts (we've had a CT scan and an MRI in the last three months, which all came back clear with nothing abnormal) that was the first thing that came to mind was they had missed something on the tests. Thankfully it had nothing to do with her head size, at least we are still assuming it didn't. We were discharged around 11pm. Granny and Pa had taken Mason back to the house. We are so thankful they were around to take care of Mason. He was really concerned about Mallory and kept asking about her. It took a few days even after the event before he was OK with it all. He would wake up crying in the night asking about Mallory and if she was OK. (Heck, it took me a few nights to actually get some sleep and not actually check on her every couple minutes to make sure she was still breathing) It was a VERY VERY scary night, one I truly hope no one else ever has to go through. Febrile seizures aren't uncommon, but not totally common either. If your child has one, there is a 30% chance that they will have another one. We had a follow up the next AM with our Dr office, which is in a different town than the whole ordeal happened. Mallory looked fine, but Mason ended up having an ear infection in his Left ear. He had only recently said anything about it hurting, but nothing that really slowed him down. So we go from having two healthy kids who are NEVER sick, to having two kids that are. This is the first time Mason has ever been on any antibiotics, and he is 4. So I feel very lucky to have such a healthy kid.
That brings you up to date to June 25th. That was only the beginning of a crazy three weeks (not all bad, we did have some great things happen too). More later.....
2 comments:
Oh Lisa, I'm so sorry. You poor thing. As I was reading your entry, so many emotions came back to me. Our older son Jude had a febrile seizure when he was 13 months old. As far as the febrile seizures go, his was textbook - not that we knew it at the time, but it was more comforting once we were informed about them. He ended up having a second one 4 months after the first, but I recognized the same signs, saw it coming on and prepared myself for it. Sure enough, I was watching over him when the second one hit, and it wasn't as scary since I'd seen it before. I laid him on the floor on his side until the seizure ended, waited for him to come to, and that was it. We went into the doctor's office the next morning just to have him checked out, and he was completely fine. Since then (he's not quite 3 1/2 now) he's had fevers - some pretty high, but no more seizures. I think we're in the clear now. Luckily, our younger son never had one even though he would have had an increased risk as a sibling. In the end, it's quite a relief, isn't it? Knowing that something so scary-looking doesn't harm them long term.
You told me this story but it still brings tears to my eyes reading it. I hope it never happens again or at least you know what to look for next time. I have told you this before, you are one strong mama. I admire you.
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