Today started as normal as any Saturday. Becky woke up early and the girls woke up soon afterwards, then came in and drug me out of bed. We had cereal, got dressed and headed out to run some errands – to some rummage sales and the meat store. Amelia was a little crabby on the drive back, and it was passed her normal nap time, so we dropped her and Becky at home and Katie and I went on to the library and the grocery store.
Amelia woke up from her nap about 1:00 and started gouging away at her macaroni and cheese. I brought her some chicken, but she didn’t want any of that. I brought her some milk and she didn’t want that either – that was odd. I went upstairs and Becky cleaned her up and when I came back down she was standing up against a dining room chair and just screaming. I tried to give her milk, but she didn’t want any. I noticed she had a dirty diaper so I took her upstairs to change her. As soon as I got done changing her I picked her up, and her eyes went to the back of her head and she started convulsing. I tried to lay her down in her crib, but she was still having this seizure. I yelled for Becky to come up and she called 911 right away. I held her for the next 5-7 minutes as we waited for the ambulance to arrive. During this time she was trying to get phlegm out of her throat and was seizuring every second or so.
I was really in a state of shock and didn’t know what to do, so I held her over my legs on the floor so she’d get anything out that might be stuck in her throat. It was the most helpless feeling in my life. The policeman arrived about 3 minutes after the 911 call and checked on her, but there was really nothing he could do. The ambulance arrived about 3 minutes later and they rushed upstairs. Just as they got there, her seizures were stopping. She was breathing, but she wasn’t responsive at all and her eyes were going into the back of her head. The EMTs grabbed her and took her to the ambulance while Becky grabbed Katie and her shoes and we got out the door quickly.
In the ambulance they set her down and gave her some oxygen as they checked her heartrate. She was breathing and her heart rate wasn’t out of the ordinary, so those were good signs. We rode in the ambulance for about 15 minutes before we met an ambulance coming from Fargo with paramedics. Just before they got in Amelia started to show signs of responsivess – she started crying and her legs weren’t quite so tense. The paramedics jumped in and hooked her up to an IV and monitored her blood pressure and vitals. They said everything looked good and they were glad to see Amelia crying because it was a sign she was fighting the seizure. The IV they gave her was to prevent another seizure in case she were to fall back into that mode.
We got to the hospital and I laid her down in an emergency room bed right away. The nurse hooked her up to monitors as she kept crying. The doctor came in a few minutes later – his initial reaction was that it was either a febrile seizure – a seizure related to a quickly rising fever – or it was related to something more serious like epilepsy or meningitis. They did several tests on her to draw blood and her IV came loose and she started bleeding all over. They took her in for CAT scan as I called Uggie to come and get Katie. The CAT scan revealed a sinus infection and an ear infection, so the doctor was worried about the possibility of meningitis. He decided to take spinal fluid to test for it. They had to knock Amelia out with a sedative to extract the fluid from her back. We left the room and met my parents in the waiting room. We were able to come back in after about 15 minutes and everything went okay with the test. Amelia lay there motionless (except for breathing) for the next hour. Throughout all the blood test she was crying because she was so tired. As soon as she’d be about to fall asleep another nurse would come in with a test that needed to be done.
After 45 minutes the doctor gave us the good news that Amelia’s seizure was a febrile seizure and that she doesn’t have any form of meningitis. We gave her another 15 minutes to rest and the nurse asked us to wake her up to make sure her vitals stayed fine. We did that and she woke up and was cleared to go. She slept in the car on the way home, and woke up when I tried to lay her down tonight. She ate a little bit, but she played just like normal – just with a little less energy and less volume in her voice. I just put her to bed about 9:15 and I’m going to stay up as late as possible to check on her as Becky wakes up early to do the same. Amelia has to take anti-bacteria drugs (amoxicillan) for the next two weeks to get rid of her infections.
Thanks to Uggie & Suzi for picking up and watching Katie while we were in the hosptial.
Thanks to Mom & Dad for coming up, running to get our car and for watching Katie tonight
Thanks to Becky’s family for their concern and to Somer and Tina for being willing to drop everything and come up here
Thanks to everyone who prayed for Amelia
We’re lucky to have so many people that care for us and Amelia.
I didn’t know anything about febrile seizures before today, but they sound more common than I expect. Uggie had them when he was a kid and Becky helped her young cousin Travis through one as a kid. WebMD says febrile seizures happen in 2-5% of children. They also say they are fairly harmless and just have to be endured. From what I saw this afternoon, I just can’t see how this could be routine or non-alarming. Becky and I are going to be shaken by this for some time – knowing Amelia and her strength, she’ll be back to normal by tomorrow. I’m just so glad our baby is okay.
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