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On July 6th 2011 the scariest event of my entire life happened... my 10 month old son had what I now know is a Febrile seizure and stopped breathing. It was extremely unexpected and terrifying. On Tuesday after work we were all home as we normally are and everything seemed fine. Kalani was hot but we all were... it was a beautiful day and Kenny and I don't have air conditioning so we honestly didn't think any of it except that he was hot. He was playing and was happy. There were no other signs of illness. We put him to bed as usual and he woke up what seemed every hour on the hour. He was crying and just wasn't very happy. At 11:30pm I got up with him to rock him and attempt to put him back to sleep, he was so hot. His skin was hot to the touch so I decided it was time for a cool bath and some Tylenol. When we put him in the bath he cried so hard that he vomited. I thought at this point it might be time to go to the hospital, I called my mom and she reassured me that babies gets fevers and don't feel good. There was no need for the emergency room, just watch him close and try to get his fever down. We continued to struggle to get the fever down as well as getting Kalani to stay asleep. It was the strangest thing, after the bath I noticed that he would startle himself and cry. His body would jerk as if something had caught him off guard and scared him. He did this probably four times. At 5:00am he woke up and I wanted to give him a bottle and attempt to put him to sleep so I could get ready for work and while I was rocking him he did the same thing where his body jerked as if he were scared but there were no tears this time, his body went stiff and his eyes rolled in the back of his head. His breathing became extremely shallow. I ran into the kitchen holding my son's dead weight in my arms, crying calling his name trying to get him to respond, my husband ran into the kitchen and took my son from my arms. I ran as fast I could to my bedroom to get my phone. I called 911, Kenny had Kalani on the couch and was trying to get him to respond... nothing, there was no breath and his lips were turning blue. I instructed Kenny to breath into Kalani's mouth for him as I was on the phone with 911 operator, Kalani finally drew in a breath. His eyes were hazy, and he couldn't fixate on anything. We began to check his mouth and throat for anything blocking his airway and waited for the paramedics. Staying calm at this moment was the hardest thing I have ever done. I was terrified. What was happening to my baby? The paramedics arrived 5 minutes after I called 911, 6 gentlemen piled into our living room and began looking at our son. When they arrived Kalani had been breathing steadily so there was no need of any treatment for that, they explained to us that it sounded like Kalani had had a seizure due to a high fever. They took his temperature and it read 104.1. They instructed us that we needed to go to the hospital to find out where the fever was coming from and just to make sure that he was ok. Kalani and I rode in the ambulance and Kenny followed. We arrived at the ER and the doctors took a few tests and came to the conclusion that Kalani had in fact had a Febrile Seizure that he had a slight case of pneumonia and an ear infection. They gave him some antibiotics and made sure they got his fever down and sent us on our way. We were home by 8:30am and Kalani was doing well. Very exhausted and not feeling well but breathing and functioning.
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| Sleeping with Daddy |
He slept for hours, recuperating from his extremely rough morning! The feelings in my stomach were hard to describe, although it was all over and my son was home with me safe in his father's arms, I had this fear in the pit of my stomach. Will this happen again? What would have happened had I not been holding him? Will this cause damage in the future? There were so many questions and all the information we received from the ER was still questionable... yes he had a seizure, will he have another? We don't know... maybe? The only thing they could tell us was that he had a Febrile seizure and they are common for infants ages 6 months - 5 years. It was scary but he was ok. Yesterday Kenny and I took Kalani to our pediatrician for the follow up from the ER. Turns out that he does not have pneumonia or an ear infection, he has the flu. One thing is certain, he did have a Febrile Seizure. They are TERRIFYING but the doctor has reassured us that although they are horrible to witness they rarely have any consequences. He spent 45 minutes talking to us and explaining different scenarios. He also spent time with us explaining what would need to happen if this happens again. I feel much better and way more prepared for this to happen again although I pray it doesn't. The love you have for your child is indescribable and the feeling that you might lose that child is terrifying. Today Kalani is much better! Almost back to his normal self! Still weak and a little frustrated that he's not as mobile as he would like, but all in all is on the road to recovery!!
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| Later that day - 7/6/11 |
"
A parent's love for their child is like nothing else in the world. It knows no law, no pity, it dares all things and crushes down remorselessly all that stands in its path." - Agatha Christie
