The Chance Family: Squeezing our Charlotte Extra Tight Today

Yesterday was the scariest moment of my life so far. Nothing can prepare you for seeing your child turn purple or gasp for air and be totally helpless. Our sweet Charlotte had a febrile seizure after she woke up from her afternoon nap. As I write this, she is peacefully sleeping and she is back to her normal smiley self!

After her nap, she had quite the blowout, so Kyle gave her a quick dip in the bath to rinse her off and clean her up. I brought her back in her room to get her dressed. We were washing her diaper changer cover, so I laid her on the floor. She began to twitch, shake and her eyes were rolling back. Kyle was right next to me and picked her up immediately. I started screaming and called 911. Kyle actually had a febrile seizure when he was 1 year old. Kyle's parents are here visiting and so Kyle's dad grabbed Charlotte and opened the freezer door so she could cool off. Kyle talked to the 911 operator because I couldn't even speak, I was terrified. I ran to a friend's house who is a pediatrician but unfortunately she was not home. Since we live on Ford Island, it took quite a bit of time for the ambulance to arrive. The fire truck and EMTs were on site pretty quickly, but it felt like an hour waiting on the ambulance to arrive. They gave Charlotte some oxygen, but she was screaming because she was so scared. Finally the ambulance arrived and we were on our way to the ER. She calmed down in the ambulance, but still was twitching a little bit. Kyle rode in the front of the ambulance and so when they took us out of the back, Charlotte saw daddy and smiled. At that moment, I knew that our little angel was probably going to be ok (and that she loves her daddy so, so much).

We went to Kapiolani, the women and children's hospital, and they got Charlotte's weight and vitals. Her temperature was 101, weight 19 lbs. 2oz., pulse and blood pressure were normal. The ER doc explained that this is a very normal occurrence and it is one of the most common things children come to the ER for. In fact, 1 in 25 children will have a febrile seizure in their life.

Charlotte had a flu test and received a catheter to check her urine for a UTI. I must also say that she was our happy, smiley baby all day. We had gone out on the boat earlier that day and she showed no signs or symptoms of anything. She just cut her first tooth, so I attributed that to her feeling a little warm. She also wasn't as interested in her food, but once again, I attributed that to her tooth.

Back to her smiley self!

Stop poking me!! No more shots!

Once she got some meds, Charlotte began to perk up and was happy and laughing! Her urine came back with an elevated white blood cell count, so they gave her a shot of antibiotics and determined that she probably has a urinary tract infection. We will see our pediatrician tomorrow to get the full lab results and go from there.

Daddy made a schedule to keep Charlotte's meds on track!

Charlotte fell asleep before we were discharged since it was her bedtime and she looked so peaceful. I slept in her room last night and we set our alarms to wake her up to give her Motrin and Tylenol to keep her fever under control.

I realize that these febrile seizures are common, but I can't even begin to describe the feeling of watching Charlotte suffer like she did. We were told that if it happens again, we should turn her on her side and let the seizure take its course. So much easier said than done.

So, if you have a baby, hopefully this information will help you if your child ever experiences a febrile seizure.

Febrile seizures are convulsions brought on by a fever in infants or small children. During a febrile seizure, a child often loses consciousness and shakes, moving limbs on both sides of the body. Less commonly, the child becomes rigid or has twitches in only a portion of the body, such as an arm or a leg, or on the right or the left side only. Most febrile seizures last a minute or two, although some can be as brief as a few seconds while others last for more than 15 minutes.

The majority of children with febrile seizures have rectal temperatures greater than 102 degrees Fahrenheit. Most febrile seizures occur during the first day of a child's fever. Children prone to febrile seizures are not considered to have epilepsy, since epilepsy is characterized by recurrent seizures that are not triggered by fever. A few factors appear to boost a child's risk of having recurrent febrile seizures, including young age (less than 15 months) during the first seizure, frequent fevers, and having immediate family members with a history of febrile seizures. If the seizure occurs soon after a fever has begun or when the temperature is relatively low, the risk of recurrence is higher. A long initial febrile seizure does not substantially boost the risk of recurrent febrile seizures, either brief or long.

So hug your babies and family extra tight today! Praise God our little Charlotte is just fine!