A Scary Trip to the ER

In case you haven't heard the news, Addison had a febrile seizure on Sunday afternoon. 
Febrile seizures are caused by fevers, and it isn't how high the fever is, it's how fast it spikes. 


Addie had a low grade fever on Saturday and we attributed it to teething (damn molars!) but then on Sunday morning, she was hotter and we took her temp and it was 102. We gave her Tylenol, and after morning nap, she seemed to be doing better and didn't feel warm, so we continued on with our plan for the day to go to Bass Pro Shop to look at the fish and get some gear for Chris's birthday. 


While the girls and I were waiting for Chris to check out, Addie started getting fussy so I took her out of her stroller, and she felt hot, but we'd given her another dose of Tylenol before heading out, so I didn't think much of it. As Chris was coming back, Addie's arms started shaking and I looked at her face and it was frozen. I yelled to Chris to call 911 and started yelling for help, yelling "she's having a seizure!" 


Thank GOD there was a nurse and a doctor close by. They came running over and when Addie started arching her back, the nurse took her from me and held her for the remainder of the seizure (it lasted 3 minutes) and then they both stayed with us while we waited for the paramedics to show up. 


We were taken by ambulance to Children's Hospital, (poor Addie threw up several times on the way), where Addison was given ibuprofen and observed until her fever broke a couple of hours later. 


We learned that 4% of kids will get febrile seizures, and they're just more sensitive to fast spikes in fevers. If they've had one, they're more likely to get another one, so we need to watch her closely for fever and treat it with medicine right away. If Tylenol or Advil doesn't bring her temp down within 1/2 hour, we need to give her whichever one we haven't yet and give her both until the fever breaks. We need to get her cool as soon as possible, so striping her down, cool bath, etc. and we need to consider 100 a fever for her instead of the usual 100.4.


A febrile seizure isn't going to cause any long term damage, and Addie won't suffer any brain damage or anything after the seizure. It's scary to witness, but there aren't long term effects, it's just the brain's way of re-setting itself after a quick rise in temperature.


Addie's temp has spiked the last two nights, which has led to several tepid baths, but no seizures. A good tip: if you ever do use a bath to bring down a fever, make sure it isn't too cold. If the child is shivering, it will actually raise their temp. We're learning as we go, here... I've been sleeping in the guest room with her in the packnplay cause it's just too scary to leave her all alone. A woman in my twin's group has offered to give us her old video monitor, so that might be helpful (or it might just make me more neurotic, we'll see!)


Prayers are appreciated. My dad gave me a good visual for times like these: God is the mountain, and you just have to stick the jam in the crack and hold on tight. So my faith is like the jam device, stuck into the crack in the side of the cliff. Gravity (Addie's seizure) is pulling down on me, but I'm just holding on tight, knowing that God is steady and constant, ever-present, looming larger and stronger than the seizure. THERE before, during and after, and, as always, full of Love and Grace. And I also like to picture wings, wide and strong, coming out of the mountain to hold me, and Addie and Chris and Emily, holding us while we hold on.