Today I want to record the events of a couple weeks ago when we realized, possibly for the first time, how absolutely precious and cherished our little Lily is to us.
It was Super Bowl Sunday and Lily had been sick the entire previous week with a cold and a low-grade fever on and off, possibly we thought attributable to teething. We were all getting ready to go to our friends home for a BBQ, which we were hoping would distract Lily from her poorly state. It had been a fairly normal Sunday. We had taken a long and lovely family walk to Babloa Park, one of my favorite places. Lily was unusually quiet and subdued on the walk, but I chalked it up to her not feeling well.
In getting ready to leave for the BBQ Lily was getting really cranky and also felt warm, so I thought a lukewarm bath might help. Chris stayed in the bathroom with Lily while I got ready. Several times during the bath he mentioned, "Lily is just sitting here in the bath and not playing, this doesn't seem normal.", but again, I thought she just wasn't feeling well.
When I went to get Lily out of the bath Chris remarked that she had been breathing heavily. As I got her out of the tub she cried, which is not uncommon, as she generally doesn't want to get out of the bath! I took her to her room to get her dressed, but when I went to lay her down to put on her diaper, she cried and clung to me so I just sat down on the floor with her.
It was then that I too noticed very unusual heavy breathing. Hearing it myself made all the difference and I immediately told Chris, "I think we need to take her to the hospital.". As I picked her up and began walking to the garage I noticed her body went limp and when I looked at her she didn't appear to be breathing and was unresponsive! In a panic, I shouted to Chris, "Call 911, she's not breathing and she's not responding!".
We both ran outside to make the call and wait for emergency services. At first I hovered beside Chris who was now on the phone with the 911 operator. "What do I do? What do I do?" I begged as he answered the questions directed to him. I felt so helpless and then I remembered our neighbor, Liz, was an OBGYN.
Still cradling Lily's limp unresponsive body in my arms I ran across the street and up the stairs to Liz's front door. My mind was racing knowing that if Lily wasn't breathing we only had a matter of minutes! After knocking on the door and ringing the doorbell a few times I began hitting Lily on the back thinking maybe she was choking on something.
I then laid her down on the porch and began pumping her chest a bit, wondering if maybe she'd swallowed water and needed to cough it up. Laying her down and looking at her I noticed that her whole body appeared to be slightly blue. Her eyes were open and to me, she looked like she was suffocating. I called out, "God, please help me!".
With no response at Liz's front door, I picked her up and ran back down the stairs to Chris who by now was off the phone and coming to meet me. Just before I handed her to him I noticed that her body began to jerk slightly. Handing her off I proceeded to another neighbor's house hoping that someone, anyone, might know what to do when we did not! By the time this neighbor came to his door Chris called out that Lily was breathing again.
The whole affair lasted between 2 - 3 minutes, but felt like an eternity. When your child is not breathing, every second seems to drag as you race against time to ensure that these brief moments are not their last.
When EMS arrived they assured us that what Lily had experienced was a febrile seizure, a result of her fever spiking too quickly for her body to handle, fairly common and unlikely to cause permanent damage. She began coming around slowly, still groggy from the shock her body had experienced. In the ambulance ride to the hospital she began to respond and say a few words, which was wonderfully reassuring. After a couple hours in the hospital we were released with instructions for a follow-up appointment with the pediatrician.
Since then my husband and I have decided to become more prepared for emergency situations. We signed up for an infant CPR class where we learned how to respond to choking or unresponsive babies and children. It was also a good way to brush up on our general / adult CPR skills. Even though these techniques are not specifically for febrile seizures, it still helps to feel somewhat prepared for emergency situations in general.
All in all, while it was an absolutely terrifying experience, it really did teach us that life is precious. It can be gone in an instant, and we must try hard to appreciate each and every moment that God gives us on this earth. Here's hoping you all have a gratitude-filled week, friends!
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