A Different Kind of Trip

I will warn you, this post does not have any pictures. Trust me, you do not want to see pictures of what I'm about to describe. I'll also warn you that this is long and pretty darn dramatic!

We have spent the better part of this week preparing for a trip to Kansas City. JZ's cousin is getting married on Sat. and the whole family was headed out to the festivities. The plan was for us to fly in Th. night, attend the wedding on Sat., and return home on Sun.

Wed. morning Caden woke up with a slight fever. My first thought was, "Of course!" He has woken up sick on Christmas, Valentine's Day, and his birthday. He ran a fever the morning we were leaving for South Dakota. Why would I think that a trip to KC would be illness free??? Anyway, his fever wasn't high - right around 100 for most of the day - and I figured it was teeth, or a little bug, nothing we couldn't handle by this point, so we continued planning and packing. He ate well all day, took lots of fluids, played, and smiled. He was a little more tired and fussy than normal, but I wasn't too concerned. He went to bed very easily at 7:15 pm - he had been up for 3 1/2 hours and was exhausted. Around 9:15 pm he woke up crying (not normal for him) and I went upstairs to check on him. Before I even picked him up I could feel the heat radiating from him. I took his temperature with our temporal artery thermometer (it's great, you just slide it across the forehead!). It read 104. Yikes! I called my friend, Amanda, to find out what to do. I had given him Motrin at 4:00 pm, so he couldn't have anymore quite yet. She told me to alternate with Tylenol and try a bath to bring the fever down. We did both of those things, but the fever wouldn't come down. The strangest part is that he wasn't fussing at all. He was shivering in the bathtub (when you're body temp is that high, a lovely 98-100 degree tub is FREEZING) but not crying at all. When he got out and I changed him (which he hates), he just laid there. He was conscious, he just didn't have the strength to cry. When we couldn't get the fever down I called the after hours care at the pediatrician's office. They said an on-call nurse would call back within 30 min. In the meantime, JZ had put a very sleepy Caden back in his crib. At 10:10 I decided to check on him again - it had been almost an hour since the Tylenol, and I knew the nurse would want to know if that had helped. So, I went back upstairs and took sleeping Caden's temp. It said 106. I took it again. 106. Once more. 106. I went running downstairs to tell JZ. At that moment all @$%!&^% broke loose. The nurse called back. While I was talking to her, we heard Caden on the monitor. He wasn't really crying, he was moaning. Since I was on the phone, JZ went to check on him. He immediately started yelling and I went running up the stairs with the phone still in my hand. I was half way up when JZ came out of Caden's room. It is a picture I wish I could get out of my mind. JZ was holding C in front of him and Caden was arched backwards with his arms spread out, eyes rolling back in his head, drooling. He was breathing (although it was labored because of all the drool), but he wasn't conscious at that point. We couldn't get him to open his eyes, make any noise besides a moan, take a bottle, sippy cup, or pacifier. I told the nurse on the phone what was happening and she told us to take him to a Children's Hospital satellite building on the campus of our closest hospital. I'm pretty sure we flew there - JZ drove like a crazy man! I sat in the back with a totally out of it Caden. I sang songs, I rubbed his head, I prayed over and over, "God, please keep my baby safe. Please don't take him from me."

When we got to the hospital we went in and (luckily) did not have to wait very long. By this point Caden was ticked. He was so exhausted and just wanted to go to sleep. In his crib. In the dark. Without being poked and prodded, thank you very much. The quietest I could get him was just moaning, not screaming. When the nurse took him temperature it was now 101. They told me that the temporal artery thermometers are great when the temp in the the "normal" range, but they tend to give abnormally high readings when the temps get high. So, his fever was probably not 106, it was closer to 103. Also, the seizure that he had (more on that later) is often a way that the body reduces fevers on its own. The doctor checked him over and found him to be healthy as far as ears, throat, belly, go. She felt as if he had probably suffered from a febrile (or fever) seizure. Febrile seizures most often occur in kiddos 6 months-4 years old, most often between 12 and 18 months, and happen when a fever spikes suddenly. It's not necessarily how high the fever gets, it's how fast it gets there. A kiddo could quickly go from 100 to 102 and have a febrile seizure. The good news is that these types of seizures, while so very scary, are rather harmless and very common. JZ had them when he was little (thankfully, only 2!) and there is some evidence to suggest that they are genetic. There is, however, no evidence that having a febrile seizure causes brain damage or that he will have some sort of seizure disorder in the future. There's no way of knowing whether or not he will ever have another one. Since we know that he is prone to them, for the next year especially, we have to make sure we keep his fevers under control. When he starts having a fever, we have to start alternating Motrin and Tylenol every 3-4 hours to keep it from spiking.

The stress of this poor little kiddo's body is unbelievable. After the doctor did her exam, she didn't feel comfortable releasing us because Caden was so miserable (still moaning at this point). She had us wait about 45 min while Caden took a nap and the Motrin they'd given him kicked in. Around 12:15 am we were released to go home. We made it out to the car before Caden threw up all over himself, the car seat, and eventually the parking lot. We stripped him down and he made it home before throwing up again (this time in the sink). Poor baby slept very soundly from 1 am - 8:30 am. I, however, checked on him every 45 min. At 8:30 I heard him babbling to himself on the monitor and he greeted me with a big, two-teethed grin. That is resiliency! We had a follow-up visit with his pediatrician today and he is in the middle of the world's longest nap as I type this.

Unfortunately, we have decided not to attend the wedding in Kansas City. We just didn't feel good about putting him on a plane today, and the change fees to go tomorrow were outrageous. We contemplated just sending JZ, but he decided he didn't want to leave his family. Right now, I'm just grateful. I'm grateful for Caden's health, for the wonderful people at Children's Hospital, and most importantly, for the sweet cooing I just started hearing on the monitor. Hug your babies extra tight today, I sure am!