Jonah has had a fever for 2 days and I am having extreme anxiety. I was wondering why I've been so quick to give Tylenol and Motrin as SOON as his temp gets above 101... then I realized it's the first time my kids have had a temperature since our little adventure with Jack last month. I didn't post it then, but here is a journal entry I wrote last month when Jack had a febrile seizure... something I hope every parent NEVER has to see their child go through!
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We took a little trip to the ER the other day with Jack...
Tuesday Jan 11th, 2010
9am: Jack woke up with a fever
10am: Gave him Tylenol. He ate a HUGE breakfast with no complaints.
10:30: got a phone call from my boss reminding me my nanny job started that day. I had planned on leaving Jack with my mother-in-law and Hailey (my sister in law living with us this semester) because he was sick and I was going to have an afternoon with just my little Lily at the museum.
11am-1pm: he slept really well and woke up wanting to play
2pm: John went up to campus to write a paper- Jack starts acting sick, clingy, wants to "hold you mommy".
3:15: getting ready to leave. Turned on Tarzan, I kissed him goodbye. told him if he needed anything he could call for Hailey. He felt very hot so I gave him Motrin and put on my coat, shoes, and grabbed my purse...
3:20pm: My wallet wasn't in there and i wasn't' going to leave without it.
3:25pm: I knew I was going to be late, Hailey (John's sister) felt my stress and came in to help me look for it. Jack said, "What's wrong mommy? Why can't you find your wallet?" Seconds later, Hailey suddenly froze and said, "Melanie, what is Jack doing?"
I looked over and his body was facing the TV but his head was turned so his chin was touching his left shoulder. His eyes were twitching back and forth and his shoulders and arms started jerking. His mouth was open making horrible gasping sounds and immediately knew it was a seizure. I called up to my mother in law (she was asleep upstairs in my bed) as I ripped off his blankets and started unzipping his sweatshirt. I told Hailey to call 911 and I scooped him up and ran over to my neighbor (Melissa's) house.She's a pediatric nurse and worked in the hospital for 4 years and is now getting her Nursing Masters degree at Duke.
A few bangs on her door I noticed her house was unlocked so I ran into her house, with my shaking child in my arms and frantically called out her name several times. Devastated, I realized she wasn't' home so I turned around and came back to my house. Meanwhile, my mother in law had followed me outside. I just kept running back home. His shaking stopped, but his eyes had now rolled to the back of his head and I laid him on the ground inside my house. While waiting for the ambulance to get there we got a wet rag and wiped his face in hopes to get his temp down and some response out of him. I called my nanny people and left a voice mail told them I wasn't' going to make it today!
Jack's eyes were open for a while, but then shut slowly. He never stopped breathing but was definitely in a world far far away from mine. I heard the ambulance and fire truck pass our complex and was very aggravated as they arrived 10min and 45 seconds minutes after the initial call and they weren't even "running" into my house like they do in the movies! (The urgency of a mother with a child in need... nothing is ever fast enough). They asked me several questions and suddenly seemed much more relaxed than I thought they should! But I must admit, it did give me comfort... if they aren't freaking out, neither should I! So, I hopped into the ambulance and said, "Let's go! My husband is meeting us there." It was such a blessing that John's sister and mom were there when it happened because I was able to just leave Jonah upstairs asleep while I went alone with Jack. Tender mercy.
They let me sit in the back of the ambulance and hold Jack's hand while he was strapped to the stretcher. His eyes were WIDE open and he turned quickly with each voice and sound that he heard. Still no eye contact, still no response, still nothing that gave me comfort. I just wanted him to acknowledge that I was his mommy...
John met us as soon as we entered the ER and went into the room with Jack while I went and "registered" the patient. The doctor told us it was most likely a FEBRILE SEIZURE and they are surprisingly common in kids between the ages of 1 and 5 yrs old (and twice as common in boys than in girls). A febrile seizure is "the effect of a sudden rise in temperature rather than a fever that has been present for a prolonged length of time". Basically what happens is that the fever rises too quickly for the body to handle. So, the brain just shuts down thus resulting in a seizure. Jack was going to be fine. He fell asleep in my arms in the hospital bed after 8ml of Tylenol. The doctor encouraged him to sleep considering Jack's little body had released more energy in those 2 minutes than 4 adults will put out in an entire day. He opened his eyes after 30 minutes said, "Mommy, I'm sick" and fell asleep before I could even respond. My heart was finally relieved!
He slept for about 20 more minutes and he quickly sat up, looked around the room, looked at John, looked at me and said, "Let's go home! I want to play with my cars." We laughed and kissed him all over. At one point Jack said, "Ouch ouch that hurts" We quickly respond, "What's wrong Jack? What hurts". Jack's little smirk on his face looks up at us and said, "Daddy's squeezin too tight!"
Of course the check out process took forever. One problem that didn't help was that when I was checking Jack into the hospital, I realized that our insurance for last semester ended December 31st, and we hadn't paid for this semester's yet simply because school doesn't start till the 13th and we usually just pay for insurance when we pay the tuition. So, we're bracing ourselves for the bill! Basically 8ml of Tylenol will cost between 2-3 thousand dollars!! Oh well! Jack's fine, we know what to do next time and in the long run what's a few grand?!?...
Dr. told us the body can seize up to 15 minutes before brain damage occurs. For the future, the only thing you can do is lay them on the ground in a large open place (make sure their body won't run into anything that can harm them) and let the body take its course. There's no need to call 911, there's no need to go to the ER, there's no need for an ambulance ride. They of course want you to come in if it happens again so they can monitor him and record it on his health record, but other than that... NOTHING you can do. It's the most unsettling feeling to be so helpless. I don't wish that image on any of your minds! I hope you never have to see your child or anyone you love have a seizure... its nasty and ugly!
We were home by 7pm and set our alarms all night long for continual dosages of alternating Tylenol and Motrin. When Jonah woke up to nurse I couldn't stand to put him back in his crib. I just held and snuggled him all night long. (I kept wishing Jack would come into our bed so I could snuggle him too!)
The next day he didn't have any hint of a fever and played as if nothing had happened. I'm so glad he can't remember anything. There have been many times in my life when I have been extremely grateful that I am child #9 in our family, but this one takes the cake (for now). I'm so glad I didn't have to be the first one to go through this because the fact that JaNae went through this same thing when Glade was a baby gave me great comfort as I knew Jack was going to be completely fine. Or when Shera has gone through (and survived) multiple times with Davey... I am just so thankful I have so many siblings, (older and younger) than me that I can learn life experiences and lessons from! So thank you all!!
I'm thankful more today than I ever have been to be blessed with such beautiful, healthy kids. I've been snuggling them for 2 whole days and Jack started rolling his eyes every time I say, "Mommy needs another kiss and hug because I LOVE you so much"!! Enjoy every second...
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We took a little trip to the ER the other day with Jack...
Tuesday Jan 11th, 2010
9am: Jack woke up with a fever
10am: Gave him Tylenol. He ate a HUGE breakfast with no complaints.
10:30: got a phone call from my boss reminding me my nanny job started that day. I had planned on leaving Jack with my mother-in-law and Hailey (my sister in law living with us this semester) because he was sick and I was going to have an afternoon with just my little Lily at the museum.
11am-1pm: he slept really well and woke up wanting to play
2pm: John went up to campus to write a paper- Jack starts acting sick, clingy, wants to "hold you mommy".
3:15: getting ready to leave. Turned on Tarzan, I kissed him goodbye. told him if he needed anything he could call for Hailey. He felt very hot so I gave him Motrin and put on my coat, shoes, and grabbed my purse...
3:20pm: My wallet wasn't in there and i wasn't' going to leave without it.
3:25pm: I knew I was going to be late, Hailey (John's sister) felt my stress and came in to help me look for it. Jack said, "What's wrong mommy? Why can't you find your wallet?" Seconds later, Hailey suddenly froze and said, "Melanie, what is Jack doing?"
I looked over and his body was facing the TV but his head was turned so his chin was touching his left shoulder. His eyes were twitching back and forth and his shoulders and arms started jerking. His mouth was open making horrible gasping sounds and immediately knew it was a seizure. I called up to my mother in law (she was asleep upstairs in my bed) as I ripped off his blankets and started unzipping his sweatshirt. I told Hailey to call 911 and I scooped him up and ran over to my neighbor (Melissa's) house.She's a pediatric nurse and worked in the hospital for 4 years and is now getting her Nursing Masters degree at Duke.
A few bangs on her door I noticed her house was unlocked so I ran into her house, with my shaking child in my arms and frantically called out her name several times. Devastated, I realized she wasn't' home so I turned around and came back to my house. Meanwhile, my mother in law had followed me outside. I just kept running back home. His shaking stopped, but his eyes had now rolled to the back of his head and I laid him on the ground inside my house. While waiting for the ambulance to get there we got a wet rag and wiped his face in hopes to get his temp down and some response out of him. I called my nanny people and left a voice mail told them I wasn't' going to make it today!
Jack's eyes were open for a while, but then shut slowly. He never stopped breathing but was definitely in a world far far away from mine. I heard the ambulance and fire truck pass our complex and was very aggravated as they arrived 10min and 45 seconds minutes after the initial call and they weren't even "running" into my house like they do in the movies! (The urgency of a mother with a child in need... nothing is ever fast enough). They asked me several questions and suddenly seemed much more relaxed than I thought they should! But I must admit, it did give me comfort... if they aren't freaking out, neither should I! So, I hopped into the ambulance and said, "Let's go! My husband is meeting us there." It was such a blessing that John's sister and mom were there when it happened because I was able to just leave Jonah upstairs asleep while I went alone with Jack. Tender mercy.
They let me sit in the back of the ambulance and hold Jack's hand while he was strapped to the stretcher. His eyes were WIDE open and he turned quickly with each voice and sound that he heard. Still no eye contact, still no response, still nothing that gave me comfort. I just wanted him to acknowledge that I was his mommy...
John met us as soon as we entered the ER and went into the room with Jack while I went and "registered" the patient. The doctor told us it was most likely a FEBRILE SEIZURE and they are surprisingly common in kids between the ages of 1 and 5 yrs old (and twice as common in boys than in girls). A febrile seizure is "the effect of a sudden rise in temperature rather than a fever that has been present for a prolonged length of time". Basically what happens is that the fever rises too quickly for the body to handle. So, the brain just shuts down thus resulting in a seizure. Jack was going to be fine. He fell asleep in my arms in the hospital bed after 8ml of Tylenol. The doctor encouraged him to sleep considering Jack's little body had released more energy in those 2 minutes than 4 adults will put out in an entire day. He opened his eyes after 30 minutes said, "Mommy, I'm sick" and fell asleep before I could even respond. My heart was finally relieved!
He slept for about 20 more minutes and he quickly sat up, looked around the room, looked at John, looked at me and said, "Let's go home! I want to play with my cars." We laughed and kissed him all over. At one point Jack said, "Ouch ouch that hurts" We quickly respond, "What's wrong Jack? What hurts". Jack's little smirk on his face looks up at us and said, "Daddy's squeezin too tight!"
Of course the check out process took forever. One problem that didn't help was that when I was checking Jack into the hospital, I realized that our insurance for last semester ended December 31st, and we hadn't paid for this semester's yet simply because school doesn't start till the 13th and we usually just pay for insurance when we pay the tuition. So, we're bracing ourselves for the bill! Basically 8ml of Tylenol will cost between 2-3 thousand dollars!! Oh well! Jack's fine, we know what to do next time and in the long run what's a few grand?!?...
Dr. told us the body can seize up to 15 minutes before brain damage occurs. For the future, the only thing you can do is lay them on the ground in a large open place (make sure their body won't run into anything that can harm them) and let the body take its course. There's no need to call 911, there's no need to go to the ER, there's no need for an ambulance ride. They of course want you to come in if it happens again so they can monitor him and record it on his health record, but other than that... NOTHING you can do. It's the most unsettling feeling to be so helpless. I don't wish that image on any of your minds! I hope you never have to see your child or anyone you love have a seizure... its nasty and ugly!
We were home by 7pm and set our alarms all night long for continual dosages of alternating Tylenol and Motrin. When Jonah woke up to nurse I couldn't stand to put him back in his crib. I just held and snuggled him all night long. (I kept wishing Jack would come into our bed so I could snuggle him too!)
The next day he didn't have any hint of a fever and played as if nothing had happened. I'm so glad he can't remember anything. There have been many times in my life when I have been extremely grateful that I am child #9 in our family, but this one takes the cake (for now). I'm so glad I didn't have to be the first one to go through this because the fact that JaNae went through this same thing when Glade was a baby gave me great comfort as I knew Jack was going to be completely fine. Or when Shera has gone through (and survived) multiple times with Davey... I am just so thankful I have so many siblings, (older and younger) than me that I can learn life experiences and lessons from! So thank you all!!
I'm thankful more today than I ever have been to be blessed with such beautiful, healthy kids. I've been snuggling them for 2 whole days and Jack started rolling his eyes every time I say, "Mommy needs another kiss and hug because I LOVE you so much"!! Enjoy every second...
Snuggling with Daddy watching Tarzan! I took this picture at 9:30 PM that night. Jack took a nap at the hospital until 6pm so he wasn't ready for bed at normal time. But clearly, his daddy was exhausted. It took a lot out of us, emotionally, mentally, physically. Jack came home from the hostpital and didn't have any trace of sickness of fever the entire rest of the day/night/next day.
9 comments:
Wow melanie I am so sorry you had to see that. I have seen a seisure and it is a terrifying unnatural thing to watch! I am glad to hear everything is okay and he healed so fast!
I sobbed through your entire account, Melanie: I am so glad that Jack is alright, and sincerely hope that Jonah pulls through his fever quickly and completely.
Oh man, I had to hold back the tears through the whole thing!!! I can't even imagine how terrified you must have felt. You are such an awesome mom, Mel. Thanks for the info. I'll be sure to keep all of that in mind, just in case.
Melanie that is a horrible ordeal and I'm so sorry you all had to go through that! I have to say your post made me cry....as one Mother to another hearing about a child going through something like that just breaks my heart. I'm so glad that Jack will be fine and that everything turned out Ok. But again I'm so sorry you had to witness Jack in that state and I hope it NEVER happens to him again.
Oh my goodness. That must have been a real scare. I certainly glad he is alright and back to his happy go lucky Jack self.
My dad's name is Glade. Not common. Is it your brother? Is he weird like my dad?
Wow I had no idea you went through that, how awful. I can't imagine anything scarier than watching your child go through that. Way to be tough!
How terrifying. It still amazes me all the emotions you go through as a parent, and Soren is not quite 4! Glad all is well.
That must have just been terrifying! I am so sorry that you had to experience it, but thankful that you shared what to do in case it happens.
Glad he bounced back so fast! What a cute dude!
Oh my goodness! That must have been very terrifying! I'm glad that he is okay! Kids bounce back so quick!!
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