911, What's your Emergency?

Another trip to the ER was not quite what we were expecting last week. Especially since Daddy was out of town last week. Remember last time he was out of town, Sally fell and hit her head?

Long story short, Sally had what’s called a Febrile Seizure. Apparently very common in children under 5, 1 in 25 have one. Of that 1 in 25, 50% are likely to have more than one. There is no harm done, or side effects, it doesn’t mean she has Epilepsy. It is just a seizure caused by a fever. I can’t believe I just typed that sentence, “just a seizure.”

Here comes the long version:

We check on Sally every night before we head up to bed. I had done so Wednesday night. She seemed totally fine. I re-adjusted her blankets and made sure her nuk was in arm’s reach. I brushed away the hair from her face and felt the back of her neck to see if she seemed too warm or cold. She was just fine. I went upstairs to call Reid to say Good Night. He was enjoying a nice meal in Orange County, California on the beach. I know, right? Little did he know I was about to call him again in about 15 minutes to tell him “everything is fine, but we’re in an ambulance.” How can everything be fine if the word ambulance is in that same sentence?

About 10 minutes after I hung up the phone with Reid, Sally made a quick short cry over the monitor. My stomach dropped as I thought, “Great, the flu, AGAIN!” She didn’t cry anymore and usually we’d just let things be, she often talks in her sleep or has a bad dream. However, being alone, I wanted to check just to make sure everything was fine, mother’s intuition, right?

I found her lying in the same position as when I checked on her earlier only she was moaning and moving her legs and felt like she was on fire. I picked her up and she was totally limp. Lights were on, but nobody was home. Lethargic. She was breathing, but not a normal steadiness to it, almost like she was trying to go to the bathroom. I kept shouting her name thinking she was maybe having a bad dream she couldn’t wake up from. Nothing. I went upstairs and dialed 911.

5 minutes later (probably less), which felt like an eternity, two fireman were at my door. They were the first responders. This next piece of information is not important to the story, but I think it adds a little character. You guys, these firemen were drop.dead.gorgeous. Like straight out of the movies, or would be in a firefighter’s calendar or something. Remember, I was ready to turn the lights out and go to bed before all this happened, so, let me tell you, I was looking pretty hot myself :)

They came just in time because Sally was starting to shut her eyes and her breathing started to get more labored. I anxiously waited for every breath, in anticipation that I’d have to give her CPR. They put a thing on one of her fingers to check her heart rate, blood pressure and amount of oxygen she was getting. All things looked good, a little high heart rate, but that was to be expected. They said just to let her sleep, and by what I was describing they thought a Febrile Seizure.

At that point two EMT’s had arrived and I described everything again. I was asked what Hospital we take Sally to and said Children’s of Minneapolis. He said “Ok, why don’t we bring her out to the ambulance and check her out.” Sure, no problem, I thought. They asked if I wanted my shoes and had keys to lock the house. “Wait, are we going to the hospital in the ambulance?” “Yes, I think that would be a good idea.” Me, totally thinking in the moment, in survival mode say, “Ok, just a second, can someone hold Sally, I need to go put a bra on.” Yep, I said those words out loud. Yep, those drop dead gorgeous firemen were still standing in my living room.

We weren’t going to the hospital with the lights flashing or anything, but we did take a trip to the hospital. Sally was starting to come to a little more and obviously confused so, was crying off and on. The only thing that would really calm her down was if I’d sing “Row Your Boat.” Within that drive I was able to call Reid and fill him in on the details, poor guy! I was also able to get a hold of my brother to meet us at the hospital.

Sally needed to get blood drawn, catheter for a urine sample and a nasal swipe, to check for possible infections or bacteria that would have caused her fever. After waiting a little over two hours all of the tests came back negative. They couldn’t give us an answer as to why the fever spiked other than possibly something viral. Since the tests were negative, Sally was finally given something to drink. She took two sips of her juice and she was back to chatty Sally. Acting as if nothing had happened and she was in the best of moods. The nurses didn’t want to let us go home because she was their entertainment.

We ended up getting home around 3am, thanks to Uncle Joe Joe. He was wonderful! We’re lucky to have him so close, and so willing to do anything for us!

Reid got home Thursday evening and as soon as I saw him the tears started flowing. It was the first time I had cried. I finally felt like I could let down my survival barrier and share the burden with him. Poor daddy, he’s never going to want to get on an airplane again. Sally sure shows him!

Proof that she's still as cute as can be!