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| This call felt like it lasted an hour but in reality it was only 8 minutes. I got off the phone when the Firemen arrived. |
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| At MUSC ER...sweet Nico fought sleep for a good while, and I kind of kept him up from fear. Then he finally crashed. |
Our day was going as usual. We came home that afternoon from the gym and when I took Nico out of the car his back felt warm. I couldn’t tell if he was hot from riding in the car or if he had a fever. His head wasn’t hot so I removed his shirt and checked his temperature under his armpit. For those wondering I never do this. I always still check rectal temperature because it is the most accurate but since I didn’t really think he was running a fever I just did a quick check under the arm. It was under 95 degrees so he went about playing with Jacoby, running back and forth, and wrestling on the air mattress. I saw Nico stopped playing to take a break and drink some water. I went to check on dinner in the oven and hear Jacoby say “Mom, Nico is throwing up his water.” My heart breaks just typing these words and reliving that moment over and over again. He had fallen down just right on the air mattress, on his stomach with his face turned on his side, so all the water he just drank came right back out. He could have fallen on the hard wood floors or back into the wall, but he didn’t. I picked him up since I was unsure what was going on. I kept saying his name and trying to wake him. These next 15 minutes felt like an eternity. I ran with my boy on my chest in my arms to call 911. Mateo is repeating himself “Nico wake up, Nico please wake up.” I am talking to the 911 dispatcher while my sweet Nico seizes in my arms for the next few minutes. His seizure itself lasted about 5 minutes. The dispatcher could tell I was historical and tried calming me down but nothing was working. My baby was unconscious. She said she needed me to tell her every time he took a breath to make sure he was breathing okay. I did this for a minute. Which she may have done that to help calm me down and it did for that one minute. I went back into panic mode just wanting him to wake up. I told Mateo to take Jacoby into the bedroom because I wasn’t sure what else to do and didn’t want them to keep watching. The Fire Fighters and EMS were in route. The dispatcher stayed on the phone with me until the Firemen arrived. I had the door wide open waiting for them with my boy in my arms still unconscious. Y’all should know a few details where I could see God working so I am going to back up just a bit. We are staying with a couple from church. Originally when I was given their address and put it in my phone the house numbers were incorrect. But I didn’t know, I had it saved in my phone and my GPS still brought me close enough to my destination that I never noticed. I ordered a few things off Amazon days before the seizure, and the packages came back undeliverable. I didn’t understand why and repeated the address to Ben, whose house we are staying at and he said it was because I had the wrong house number. So I had to go into my Amazon account to change the address. Then I had to call the postal service to change the address. The postal service said that they could redeliver my packages the next day or I could go pick them up from the post office that day. So I headed to the post office and before they gave me the package I had to verify the correct address, now for a third time. This brings me back to the story. When I called 911 two days after this whole wrong address package undelivered issue and the 911 dispatcher asked for my address I rattled off the correct address like I had been living here my whole life. I immediately thanked God for having those address issues because this could have been so much worse if the Firemen and EMS had the wrong address. So after holding Nico and talking to the dispatcher for 8 minutes the Firemen showed up. The first man asked if he could take him from my arms, of course I said no but I knew he had to in order to assess him and help him. Keep in mind I am still hysterical because he is still unconscious. They are assessing my sweet boy and I immediately go to the room to pray with Mateo and Jacoby. This was terrifying for all of us. I step out of the room and call Ben because I know his office is closer than Marcia’s. I told him that Nico had a seizure and he isn’t waking up. He said he would come right home. I didn’t know this until after the fact but he proceeded to call his wife Marcia. She left work immediately but couldn’t get to us fast enough. She called Thea our friend from church who lives two minutes away. Thea dropped everything and came to the house. She went in with Mateo and Jacoby and I stayed with Nico. Nico was waking up about the time EMS and Thea arrived. This was about 4 minutes after the Firemen arrived. The Firemen made sure Nico was breathing okay, and asked me to get a blanket since he was shivering. I put his weighted blanket on him and just then he started to come back to. He looked up at me and I could see he was trying to talk but nothing was coming out of his mouth. I am still sobbing and although happy he was awake I was so scared because he couldn’t talk. They assured me that this is normal behavior and that he was doing really well for his age. Nico laid there for about 5 more minutes while EMS took some blood and checked his vitals. When Nico reaches for me they told me I could hold him. I am still terrified and have no idea what is really happening but I was so happy to see him awake and reaching for me. When they took his temp it was 101.5. For some children this isn’t high at all. But for other children where they go from no fever to this within minutes it’s not good. Apparently a virus caused the fever and the fever caused the seizure. For those wondering because I was too, even if I would have given him some Motrin or Tylenol 30 minutes prior when I thought he felt hit this would not have changed the outcome. The seizure would have still happened. His fever lasted for 4 days with no other symptoms. The fever was shared with Jacoby on Saturday and his fever lasted until Monday. Again, no other symptoms with him, just a fever. Jacoby’s fever was between 102 and 103 but it was a gradual increase unlike Nico’s which was immediate.
My intentions of writing this blog is not to scare other parents of young children, but to help educate people about Febrile Seizures. I pray that this will help others be more prepared than I was. Please share with friends and family that have small children.
My intentions of writing this blog is not to scare other parents of young children, but to help educate people about Febrile Seizures. I pray that this will help others be more prepared than I was. Please share with friends and family that have small children.
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| More sleeping at MUSC |
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| Sleeping some more at home on Mommy |
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| Taking another nap on Mommy |
David did have seizures as a child which means his gene was passed down to the boys and they have a higher chance of the seizures with fevers than children who don’t have that gene.
We had a follow up appointment with our pediatrician this week. He agreed with everything the doctor told me from MUSC ER. He said there isn’t much we can do to prevent them, all we can do is educate ourselves and be prepared if another happens. We were prescribed some Diazepam rectal syringes. If a seizure lasts longer than 5 minutes than this can be used to stop the seizure. I feel better having this but pray to God I never have to use it.
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| This was on Friday morning, he woke up with energy but quickly became exhausted again. At least him and Jacoby were having fun. |
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| Jacoby is having fun with stickers and his brother Nico. |
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| This is the medicine I will now keep on hand...just in case. |
Our lives have been rattled. The doctors say not to change how you live or how you do things, just prepare and educate yourself. This is hard. I am terrified to let Nico out of my sight. The first night I watched him sleep and kept checking to make sure he was breathing until my body finally crashed. Nico may not know what happened, he remembers everything before and after the seizure. He knows that something wasn’t right and so he has been extra clingy and won’t sleep alone since it happened. Today it has been a week and it was the first time we went back to the gym. It was extremely hard to leave him. I trust the workers at the gym 100% with my children, it was hard because I wouldn’t be watching him. I was extremely anxious, even though he wasn’t. He was happy to be on our normal routine and even napped better today that he has since the seizure.
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| This is the lovely couple that has not only opened up their home to my family for the month before we leave, but also opened up their hearts to love us like their own family. God knew what He was doing when he brought us all together. |
To my friends that have experienced this with their children I am sorry. I am sorry you had to see your child like this. I am sorry that I wasn’t there for you. I am sorry that this probably rattled you as much as it did me and you will never sleep the same again. These are images that will be replayed over and over again in our heads until hopefully we can replace them with happier moments. Yes we will find a new normal just like any other bad situation, but it isn’t easy. I wish my friends had talked about it. I have maybe 500 FB friends and I have never read one post about a child having a Febrile Seizure. 3 to 4 out of every 100 children will have a Febrile Seizure. These numbers are scary especially for those that will be caught off guard just as I was. Please spread the word and help other parents to be prepared. Please say a prayer for my family. With all of this happening just two weeks before we fly across the world to move to Italy, it has added a lot of stress. I am so thankful for the people that stepped up to help my family in this horrible situation. I am thankful for those that work the jobs I would never want to work like 911 Dispatcher, Firemen, and EMS. They save lives everyday and in the process remain so calm. I know they are trained for this, but it’s just not something everyone could do. I thank the Lord that he prepared me as best as He could and that His hand was upon my sweet Nico. I will not ask why this happened because I don’t need or want an answer. I am just so thankful for each day I get with him.
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| After our stressful week everyone got new PJ's and a new book for being so brave. |
The information below about Febrile Seizures was taken from the WebMD website, please see link below.
If your child ever had a febrile (fever) seizure, it’s something you probably won’t forget. But while these fits and spasms look scary, usually there are no long-term effects.
Doctors aren’t certain about how it’s triggered. A temperature above 100.4 F may do it, or the seizure may be a result of how quickly your child’s fever spikes. You’re likely to notice the seizure, then feel that she’s burning up. It may be the first indication you have of her being sick.
Who gets a Febrile Seizure?
Kids between 3 months and 6 years of age can get one. But they’re most common in toddlers-between 12 and 18 months. Children usually outgrow them by the time they’re 6 years old.
Your child is more likely to get one if other people in your family have had one. A second seizure also is more likely once your child has had the first one.
What does it look like?
That depends on the type of febrile seizure.
Simple seizures: These are the most common and usually are over in a minute or two. But they can last as long as 15 minutes.
Symptoms include:
- Convulsions – shaking and twitching all over the body
- Eye-rolling
- Unresponsiveness
- Moaning
- Losing bowel or bladder control
- Bleeding tongue or mouth from biting down
Your child may feel sleepy, irritable, cranky or confused for a few hours once it’s over.
Complex seizures: These are less common and can last longer than 15 minutes. Your child may have more than one in a day. Only one part of your child’s body may twitch or shake. Afterwards, her arm or leg may feel weak.
A complex febrile seizure is a greater concern. It may require additional diagnosis or hospital admission.
What causes them?
Any time your child has a temperature and is under the age of 6, a febrile seizure is possible. These are the most common reasons for a fever:
Infections: If your child picked up a bacterial or viral infection she may get a temperature. Roseola, also known as sixth disease, is often a culprit because it causes a fever to spike quickly.
Vaccinations: Fevers may follow some immunizations -- especially the one for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR). Your child may get a temperature 8 to 14 days after the shot.
How can I help my child?
Stay calm and act fast to prevent an injury:
- Move your child to a safe place (like the floor) so she can’t fall.
- Roll her onto her side so she doesn’t choke on saliva or vomit.
- Don’t put anything in your child’s mouth.
- Don’t hold her down or try to control the convulsions.
Call your doctor after it’s over. Your child may need to be seen to find out what’s causing the fever.
Some children, especially babies under 12 months old, may need medical tests. Your doctor may want to make sure the fever is not caused by meningitis -- a serious infection in the brain’s lining.
Should I get emergency help?
Call 911 if:
- The seizure lasts longer than 5 minutes.
- Your child is having trouble breathing or is turning blue.
- Just one part of the body is jerking or twitching.
- Your child is acting odd an hour or more afterwards.
- She looks dehydrated.
- Another seizure happens within 24 hours.
Will it happen again?
About 35% of kids who’ve had a febrile seizure will get another within a year or two. Children who are younger than 15 months when they have the first one are more likely to have a repeat.
It won’t necessarily happen every time your child has a fever or at the same temperature as the first.
Can my child be treated?
Your doctor may prescribe antiseizure medicine to give your child at home. That’s more likely after a complex seizure. One dose of diazepam gel put into your child’s bottom usually stops the convulsions.
Do Febrile Seizures cause other problems?
They don’t cause brain damage or affect your child’s ability to learn. It’s not the same thing as epilepsy. That’s when a child has two or more seizures without a fever. Having febrile seizures only slightly raises your child’s chances of eventually getting epilepsy.
Your child should have normal development and learning after a febrile seizure. A simple febrile seizure should not cause any long-term consequences.
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