First ER Visit

Well, this post is a bit more serious than my usual updates.  Yesterday we had our first visit to the ER, well, now it is called the Emergency Center (EC)...it doesn't matter.

The day started off with Dexter and I meeting a mom to ride together to the Children's Museum.  Our MOPS group was having a summer outing and the fellow mom friend lived in the neighborhood so we figured we'd ride together.  Off we went and had a fabulous time.  Dexter ran from thing to thing in the toddler area and acted like he felt great.  When we went to put his shoes on and leave I noticed he felt warm and seemed to sit a little more calmly than usual.  The fellow moms and I thought, well, maybe he is just tired since he played so hard without a nap and is probably warm from climbing everything.  We headed out and decided to go to lunch afterward.  I put Dexter in the last row of the suburban and we were off to Barnaby's.  As we were driving, we decided to go eat at a place off of I-10 thinking it would be easier to get seats and all the high chairs we needed.  All of this had to be God looking out for us as you will quickly see.

As I got Dexter out of the back I said, "wow, it sure is warm back here - I guess the air didn't reach back here as fast as I thought."  Dexter felt warm and now I was pretty much convinced he had a fever.  But here I am with two other moms and tons of kids and no car of my own.  Dexter seemed like he felt great just 30 min before, so I figured we would eat quickly (Dexter was making the "more" sign, so I knew he was hungry) and then get him home for Tylenol and a nap.

As we got in and were waiting for the table I asked the moms to feel his head and tell me what they thought.  That is when it happened.

Dexter had a seizure.

At the hospital we found out it was just a febrile seizure (a fever-induced seizure.  You can read more about it with this link)...but, that doesn't make it better in the moment.  It was one of the most terrifying moments of my life.  I am so thankful for the friends I was with.  One friend held Dexter through the majority of the seizure and made sure he had wet cloths wrapped around him to cool him off.  She had just spoken to a neighbor who had helped a friend through the same thing.  She said later she wanted to cry and freak out, but just knew that she had learned what she had a few days before for this reason.  A man, also waiting for a table, had a son who had done the same thing, so he helped as well.  The EMTs showed up just as the seizure ended, they were there so fast.  They immediately said they thought it was a fever-induced seizure but that I should go to the hospital to be checked out.  They said an ambulance was on the way, but it would be a few minutes.  Since there was nothing the ambulance could do but give him ibuprofen, I asked my other friend to please just drive me to the hospital, literally a few streets away.  (Remember how we decided to change restaurants at the last minute?  Praise God we were so close to the hospital, Sander's work, and our house).

Off we raced to the hospital where my friend joined me while I waited to be seen and for Sander to show up.  She shared a blanket and some toys for when Dexter was more alert and waiting who-knows how long.  I was so glad to have her there as I cried and waited...and we really needed that blanket in the freezing hospital!

Dexter was so out of it and not his normal self for about 2-3 hours afterwards.  It was so scary.  The scariest part of it all was something from my past.  My senior year in college I was mentored by a woman who had a son who was epileptic.  He was totally normal until 18 months when he had his first seizure, but his never stopped.  I had witnessed him as a 9 year-old having a seizure, and knew what type of long-term damage it could cause.  Sander and I got engaged while I was being mentored, and I remember us talking about what it would be like to have a son like that.  We knew it could be so hard.

As I waited in the EC, all the memories from my hospitalization and bed-rest flooded back.  I thought back to the passage from Psalms we clung to.  In Psalm 139 it says that God knows everything about us, even before we know it ourselves.  No matter where we go, or what we do - He is with us and protecting us.  When God created Dexter, the Lord knew every single day that he would live. 

If I believed it before Dexter was born, I had to believe it now.

So, we got back and were taken car of fairly quickly and had a fabulous male nurse.  He had little kids of his own and was so helpful with everything we needed to make the process go a little more smoothly -he even found us a pacifier and a tv for cartoons.  By the time the doctor saw him Dexter started to cry during the exam and was more responsive.  The dr. said that is just what he wanted to see.  We did a few tests which were all negative and off we went.

Well, we didn't get to go straight home.

Remember I drove with my friend to the museum?  Well, turns out while we were gone and my car was parked outside her house, her neighbor backed out and hit our Honda.  It was so badly damaged the door won't stay closed.  And the neighbor didn't have insurance, so went inside and bought some online and wants us to wait a few days to claim it.  Ummm...insurance fraud? 

Ohhh, and as we drove to pick up the car, or I guess, asses the damage, a police helicopter started circling directly overhead.  I thought that would really complete our day - a shoot out as we pick up our damaged car with our son still in his hospital bands.

But, there is so much to be thankful from this day - friends with me when it happened who knew what to do and stayed so calm that it made me believe it would be ok, closeness to the hospital, a great report from the dr., and dear friends who brought food for dinner or offered.

Today Dexter is running around and dancing, playing, and talking like normal.  YEA!  I spoke to our pediatrician and they asked a lot of questions and felt confident he was fine as well.  We will see them Tuesday for his 15 month check up, but no need to come in before.  I am so thankful that this is what we are dealing with today, and not more tests or more unknowns.

Thank you all for praying - and please keep praying as we have the quote and details on how insurance will or won't cover the damage on the Honda still to come.