Febrile Seizures.

We are now know what febrile seizures are, unfortunately. Basically it's a reaction young children have to sudden spikes in their temperature- more here. Here's the play by play.

Friday night I went to bed early, and was woken around 10 by Phin making a noise- I thought he was either dreaming or about to wake up. Went over to his crib and his little body was jerking convulsively in place- I went to pick him up and his eyes were rolled back and he was foaming at the mouth. Yelled for Andrew, running downstairs, and we held him still and sideways to keep him from choking. When it was over, we noticed he was burning up- had a temperature of 104. He had no indication of less than perfect health two hours before. We gave him some motrin and called 911. Phin spent a few minutes frighteningly limp, then moved on to pitiful wailing. When the squad got to the house (I had to run out to the street barefoot because they passed us), they asked what his temperature was, said, "Oh, that was probably a febrile seizure. He should go to the hospital" and just stood there. Five guys, an ambulance and firetruck. Jeez. I figured the ambulance was quicker so Phin and I went on a ride, him in a diaper and me in smelly old pj's. For the record, when you have an infant in an ambulance, they just strap YOU on the gurney and have you hold onto the baby for dear life. Once there, everyone was nice but disappointingly uninterested in the terrifying event we had just experienced. "1 in 25 babies has one of these seizures." "They aren't hurt by it" "Usually they only have this once". They gave him a dose of tylenol and we waited around to make sure his temp went down. Even when he was feeling better, it was extremely late and he was tired- not fun. Andrew had to get Micah up to come get us around 1:30. Not fun.

So we spent today alternating acetaminophen and ibuprofen as told, loooong naps, and quiet indoor play for both boys. Toward the end of the afternoon nap, Micah woke up first and I brought him down. Then I heard Phin and went up to get him- he was having ANOTHER seizure and was burning up. This time it was 104.6. Andrew was at the grocery and had to race home so I could go back to the ER with him. Checked in this time with a reception area nurse who was very suspicious that we were not giving big enough doses, impatient as I texted Andrew about it, and when she turned out to be right was downright punitive in her response [to us not reading papers thoroughly that we had been given at 1:30am less than half a day ago]. Thanks, nurse. That's just what I needed at that moment.

So a much bigger dose of motrin and more observation; Phin tried his first popsicle and was getting into everything by the end of it. The doctor said it was fairly unusual to have two seizures so close together but with his relatively normal behavior while awake, didn't think any tests were necessary. We have a follow up with our pediatrician on Monday. Meanwhile, Andrew and I are fairly complete wrecks. Should turn out fine, but it is truly frightening how quickly his temp has been spiking.