Dallin's Seizure- Otherwise Known as "The Scariest Day of My Life"

On Tuesday, Dallin had a slight fever and was acting a little sick. I dutifully kept him away from other kids and we went out to lunch with Jake. Then the kids (and I) took naps in the afternoon. Dallin woke up from his nap to go to the bathroom, then practically begged to go back to sleep, which is unusual, but I didn't complain. Two hours later, I had to wake him up. He was flushed and his skin was burning to the touch. I took his temp, which was 102.5, and called the dr. It was too late for him to be seen that night, so I made an appointment for the next morning. The nurse recommended alternating tylenol and motrin to keep his fever down, and said I could take him to instacare if it got much higher. She wasn't concerned, so I wasn't. I got Dallin a drink, turned on a show for him to watch, and took Abbie upstairs to feed her.

Just a few minutes later, I was headed downstairs to get some soup out of the storage room to start cooking dinner. I found Dallin slumped over on the couch, rigid and shaking, and his lips were turning blue! I'd like to say I was cool-headed and calmly handled the situation. But I wasn't. I totally FREAKed out! I grabbed Dallin off the couch and laid him on the floor, and called 911 sobbing so hard the man kept asking me to repeat myself! Dallin stopped shaking within a few minutes and his color returned to normal. But I didn't. I was still very upset and crying. We went upstairs to get Abbie out of her high chair and wait for the emt's. Dallin wasn't seizing any more, but now he was very limp, not responding to me, and kept moaning. Luckily, the paramedics were very fast. Within a few minutes my living room was filled with about 6-7 emt's and firemen. They confirmed that Dallin had had a seizure and needed to go to the hospital to be checked out. They then asked if I wanted to drive him or have him taken in an ambulance. As if I could think clearly enough to make that decision! The fireman finally said that I was clearly distraught and they would feel better if I would let them take us to the hospital. After assuring me that Jordan Valley would take my insurance if we arrived in an ambulance (don't ask me why I was thinking about money and insurance during this crisis) I agreed to go.

But what was I going to do with Abbie? Jake still wasn't home from work yet, and didn't even know that Dallin had had a seizure. I tried calling 3 neighbors and none of them answered! As if I wasn't stressed enough! Luckily, neighbors were starting to call and come over to see why there were 3 fire trucks and an ambulance in front of our house. The first people who called agreed to take Abbie, and I sent her off without a kiss or even a coat!

I texted Jake to meet us at the hospital, and he arrived there before Dallin and I did. Dallin was finally sitting up on his own and answering our questions, and I was finally starting to calm down. Jake gave Dallin a blessing right away. After seeing the doctor and having x-rays and tests to rule out pnuemonia, diabetes, hyperglycemia and low sodium, we learned Dallin had what's called a febrile seizure. It's caused by a spike in fever, and is fairly common in toddlers. To our relief, they don't cause permanent damage and don't recur very often. Two and a half hours later, we were on our way home with our three year old back to his chatty self.

We kept our appointment with the pediatrician the next day. Turns out Dallin has an ear infection, which is what caused the fever. He's on antibotics, and except for some lingering irritability, getting better!

I am so grateful that Dallins seizure wasn't more serious. It certainly made me appreciate how good both my kids' health usually is. Many, many THANKS to everyone for calling over the last few days, offering to help, buying us lunch the next day, and in general being concerned about us! We felt so loved! And thanks to everyone telling me I'm still a good mom!