Febrile Seizures

I raised 5 boys and had no idea what a febrile seizure looked like.  I knew what it was - rare.  So I didn't worry about it.  Then along came my second batch of kids, and I learned.

Not long after Angel tried to fly out the window, cracked her skull to pieces, stayed in the hospital, got put back together, came home, and recovered...  Whew.  That was an ordeal.  an now I can sum it all up in a single awkward sentence?  You can read all about our miracle here.  Anyway, after all that, I was driving the boys home from school when one of them told me that Angel was shaking in her car seat.  We were almost home, so I pulled in the driveway before turning to look at her.  She was having a seizure.  Scared all the bejeebies out of me.

I hauled her in the house and laid her out on the couch.  She was still jerking and I just tried to keep her from falling or hitting anything.  When it was over, we did some quick research.  Grateful that we have so many answers at our fingertips!  A febrile seizure is a whole-body shaking episode that occurs when a fever rises quickly.  It has much less to do with the actual temperature of the fever as it does with how fast it comes on.  And yeah, it's a full-out seizure: eyes rolling back, jaw clenched, spasms jerking, limbs twitching, lips turning blue.  It can be really scary.  Happily, I've never been a panic-in-an-emergency kind of gal, but that doesn't mean that I wouldn't like to scream every now and then.  I just don't, is all.

Due to Angel's recent head trauma, I wanted to take her in to the doctor.  I called our regular doc, and they directed us to the urgent care clinic.  It was a bit of a drive, and a long, long wait once we got there.  An exercise in frustration, really, since after a long, long, really long wait in the examining room where we had to wait extra to get second and third opinions from doctors who must have been called in from the golf course to check our little girl - they sent us to the emergency room after all.

More waiting, and more waiting, of course.  That's what an emergency room is all about.  By the time we were actually seen, Angel was fine, the fever had subsided, and she was climbing the walls like a monkey in captivity.  We learned that febrile seizures were not a bad thing - they just happen to some kids.  And if they have one, their chances of having another were greater, but kids usually outgrow them by about age 5.

Since then, Angel and Georgie have both had a couple more seizures.  On vacation, no less.  But Freddie was spared, until this week.  Welcome to the club, little Fred.

I've spent the past few days just holding my little guy.  He's been feverish and coughing, just not feeling well and wanting his mama.  I've been sitting so much that Angel even called me on it yesterday.  "Mom!  You are just sitting, sitting, sitting!  It is not healthy for you.  You should get up and do something!"

I'd love to, dear.  I have medicines I need to refill at the pharmacy, and I need to go grocery shopping to refill our Mother Hubbard cupboards.  The chickens are running out of food, too.  And I have lots of things I'd like to get done.

But until my baby gets feeling better, I'm just going to sit and rock him.  That's what mamas do.