My Scary Saturday

On Saturday at 2 am, Baby Mayhem had his second febrile seizure. This time, we knew what was happening- but it didn't make it any easier to deal with. I heard him moaning in his crib. It wasn't the usual cry, and when I walked in his room I immediately knew something was wrong. He didn't sit up to greet me, and pick up his blankie like he normally does. Instead, he was bright red, shaking, and stiff. It was heart wrenching. I picked him up carefully, and tried to hold him. That's when I realized he was drooling and flaming hot. I ran into our bedroom, handed him to Daddy and ran downstairs for the Baby Tylenol and thermometer.

I was afraid to give him Tylenol until he stopped seizing, because I didn't want him to choke on it. The doctor told us to put him in the middle of the bed, turn him on his side, and 'let it happen'. If it lasted more than 15 minutes, we could be concerned and call someone. Easy to say, easy to hear, hard to do. It was absolutely awful. When he came around, he only wanted me. He was scorching hot, so I wanted to keep him away from my body heat. But he wouldn't have it. We ended up with a cool damp towel draped over him (he didn't like it, but couldn't really fight it) and I just held him. Once he responded to my voice, I felt better. But I could tell that he was miserable. The poor child. What scares me is that his first one was only two months ago! I hope he doesn't have these frequently, I can't handle it! Saturday night wasn't much better, I was afraid to really fall asleep. But he seems to be back to normal now... although he's still snuggly...

My Scariest "Mom Moment"

This weekend, on a casual Sunday afternoon trip to Costco... it happened. I was reminded that I don't have it all figured out.  Mayhem's forehead felt hot when I picked him up. I could tell he didn't feel well, and I mentioned to my husband that we should bring him right home. As we were driving home, his eyes rolled back into his head, his pacifier slipped out of his mouth, he began to drool, and his head was 'tick' 'tick' ticking to one side. I jumped into the back seat of the car, unbuckled him from his car seat and started screaming.  All I got in return was a blank stare. I cannot get the image of his face out of my head.

His body was limp, and he wasn't responding to me. My husband headed for the hospital, luckily we were very close. After driving through a few red lights and up a few sidewalks, we were there. I ran into the hospital lobby, screaming, "Where's the Emergency Room?!" I must have looked crazy, not that I cared. A nurse took us back, and took his temperature 104. "It's a febrile seizure," she said nonchalantly. "Is he OK?!" "The doctor will be right in."

[caption id="attachment_382" align="aligncenter" width="224" caption="my poor baby mayhem"][/caption]

Meanwhile, I have no idea that a 'fever seizure' means he'll be fine. All I know is that I'm freaking out- can someone tell me what's going on?! Someone comes in to take down all our information, since we didn't come in through the usual route. At this point, for whatever reason... it all started hitting me.  And, Little J wanted to hop up on the bed and told me, "I'm sick too, Mommy. Is he going to be OK?"

After x-rays, a flu test, a respiratory virus test, and some baby Motrin- we were sent home. The doctor's parting words, "He'll be just fine." Well, I won't be. I am scarred for life. I'm so happy that this horrifying event is somehow not that big of a deal (medically, anyways). But I am still trying to calm down, 2 days later.

Apparently, a febrile seizure is something that happens to about 5% of children between the ages of 6 months and 4 years. He will grow out of it. He likely is more prone to them, because his father used to have them. There is no long term damage, and as long as he 'comes back' quickly- no cause for alarm. I had never seen a seizure, and I had no idea what was happening. Now that I know, I can't say that it will be any easier the second time...

Here is a happy picture from yesterday, of Mayhem enjoying his Rody horse. Just to counter the depressing hospital picture. I needed to look at this a lot over the past couple days...

[caption id="attachment_383" align="aligncenter" width="224" caption="I'm fine, Mommy!"][/caption]

Have you had a scary 'mommy moment'?  Please share, so I know I'm not the only one!