My last two posts I have shared pictures from the past week with family from Indiana. We really did have a great week but what you don't see in the pictures is what turned out to be the scariest night in my life thus far. I've hesitated to share it here on the blog but then I realized I needed to share it here partly because it's therapeutic to write about it and mainly because one day Kate will want to read about it herself. So here goes....
Wednesday was a really busy day. The morning started out with Maddy's class field trip to the pumpkin patch in the rain, afternoon with David in Atlanta for his appellate court swearing in ceremony, and dinner with family in Atlanta at Atlantic Station. All day Kate seemed okay, kinda grumpy but I just attributed it to not getting a good nap. At dinner I thought she felt "warm" but we all concluded she wasn't feverish, she ate a great dinner, and then eventually fell asleep in her stroller. We finished up a very nice dinner and all walked back to our cars to head back to Macon.
We left Atlantic Station and made our way onto I-75, David was driving. We weren't on the interstate for more than a minute when something (God, mother's intuition, or probably both) made me turn around to look at Kate. What I saw was something no parent is ever prepared for. My sweet baby was having a seizure. I mean a full blown arms and legs thrashing, head jerking, eyes rolling back into head seizure. I instantly threw my seat belt off and jumped into the back to see if she was breathing while screaming at David "she's having a seizure, find a hospital."
In the other car following us back to Macon were Mimi, Aunt Barbara, Megan, and Kayla. In a panic I call Mimi and tell them what's going on and to follow us to Emory Midtown Hospital because when you're in downtown Atlanta it's either there or Grady and I knew that if we got to Emory they could transfer us to Egleston Children's Hospital if needed (not to mention Grady is a rough rough place to be). Then I think I hung up on Mimi to concentrate on Kate and help David drive. By the time my cell phone rang again the seizure was over and Kate was trying to fall asleep, it didn't last any longer than a minute but it felt like an eternity. On the phone was Aunt Barbara, an RN with over 30 years experience in nursing and pediatrics. I was trying to keep Kate awake, I didn't want my baby to fall asleep, I thought she would never wake up again if I let her sleep but Aunt Barbara convinced me it's okay to let her sleep, just make sure she's breathing.
Truly by the grace of God David made his way thru the streets of midtown Atlanta in rush hour traffic to the front doors of Emory's ER. I grab Kate and run into the ER, meanwhile Maddy is in a complete state of panic too she has no idea what's going on but she knows somethings wrong with her baby sister. Once inside the ER the nurses drop everything and take Kate immediately back and within 2 minutes of walking into the ER we have a room, two nurses, and a doctor evaluating Kate. Kate is awake and crying as soon as they start poking and prodding her. It was the best sound I have ever heard, even better than the sound of her first cry when she was born.
Within a few minutes David and Maddy are in the exam room with me and crying Kate. The doctor assures us that she's going to be okay. Kate's temperature was 103.7 and her seizure was a febrile seizure caused by a rapid spike in body temperature. They want to do some blood work and a urine dip to check for infection, especially since she had just gotten over a sinus infection and had finished taking an antibiotic a week earlier. By that time the whole gang, Mimi and Aunt Barbara are in the exam room. Things are beginning to calm down, Kate is in my arms drinking a bottle, Maddy is getting juice and crackers with the ER doctor, and David is filling out hospital paperwork.
We eventually convince Maddy to go home with Aunt Barbara and Megan since we don't know how long we will be there waiting for lab work. While David is helping get Maddy loaded into the car Mimi and I are holding Kate down while they get a urine sample and attempt to draw blood. They get a urine sample and attempt to draw blood but are unsuccessful. At that point Kate's fever is gone, she's playing and smiling so we all decide (doctor included) it would be better to leave the ER and visit her pediatrician in the morning for a follow up. 30 minutes later we are packed up and back on the interstate heading south.
After a sleepless night for most in the house Kate wakes up happy, standing up in her crib saying "mama". The pediatrician saw us first thing Thursday morning and confirmed the ER's diagnosis. It was a benign febrile seizure caused by what turned out to be a bladder infection. Hopefully Kate will never have another seizure like this but we have to be careful when she gets a fever and treat it somewhat aggressively. By the time she is 6 she will grow out of this. Coincidentally Aunt Kimmy and cousin Megan both had febrile seizures when they were about Kate's age and neither one of them had another one and they both turned out normal. :-)
So Kate is on another antibiotic for the next 10 days, her fever finally broke Saturday morning and other than having some trouble sleeping at night she's her normal happy go lucky self. Praise the Lord!
