Thursday, November 4, 2010

Our First Visit to the ER

A week after his baby sister was born, Axel came into our room in the morning with rosy cheeks. he felt hot to me, and I thought, "Great, how are we going to keep the baby from getting sick". Axel did not show any symptoms, except that he had been extra needy and fussy all week. I figured that was because of the new baby. After about 10 minutes of being in our bed, he wanted to just lay on his tummy and go back to sleep. that is when I knew he must really be sick. Axel never wants to cuddle, in fact, he has never been sick enough to even want to take it easy for the day. Ram got up with him to put him on the potty, and that is when it got scary.

As Axel sat there, he seemed like he was going to fall asleep right on the toilet. His head was falling to the side and his eyes were closing. I told ram to take him to the changing table and I would get the thermometer. As Ram was taking his temperature, Axel's eyes began to roll back and his head fell to the side. He had extra drool just pouring out if his mouth. His hands were tight and shaking. We determined quickly that he must be having a seizure. I ran and got dressed, out the door to the neighbor to ask her to stay with the baby while we took Axel to the hospital. Back at the house, ram was dressed and has our limp boy on our bed. he was pale and his breathing was so shallow. I thought I was losing my baby. It was such a terrible feeling.

On the way to the hospital, Axel was still unresponsive, but began to look out the window and hold his head up on his own. This made me think that he may be coming out of whatever had happened. By the time we got to the hospital, he was doing much better. He was dazed, but was responding to our voices and was alert to his surroundings.

By the time the doctor came in to see him, he just seemed like a sleepy little boy. Here is how he looked after about an hour.

The doctor determined that Axel had a Febrile Seizure due to a high fever. The fever was brought on by an ear infection and possibly a common sore throat virus. With giant shot of antibiotics and a band aid, Axel was sent home with Daddy and Grandpa John to be monitored for a couple days to be sure the fever did not spike again. By that afternoon, after a good dose of Motrin, Axel seemed almost completely better.
We are so thankful to have had such a good outcome that day. To watch our little boy appear to be slipping away was almost unbearable and very scary. We are so thankful to God for His mercy and grace, and for his creation of such miraculous bodies. It turns out that this kind of seizure is a safety mechanism against more sever damage from a fever. If you don't know about Febrile Seizures, do some reading, so you can be prepared in case it happens to your child.
Thank you all, as well, for praying for us during that day. It was such a comfort to know we were not alone.

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