Last weekend was the beginning of a new chapter in our lives as parents, a scary one in fact. It was the day I had been looking forward to since last year... My annual shopping trip with the girls to Woodfield mall and IKEA. I was so excited about the overnight trip... A night away to recharge my batteries. However my batteries ended up drained instead of recharged. We had just arrived in Schaumburg at the Cheesecake Factory when Chad called. He told me my sister-in-law, Jenna, had called him at work to let him know Jack had a high fever and was having what appeared to be shivers or tremors. He came home right away and was taking him to the doctor. When he got to the doctor's office his fever was 103.6 degrees and he was having small seizures. The doctor sent him immediately to the hospital ER. One he was admitted I rented a car and drove back, getting to the hospital at around 11pm. Jack looked terrible, very sickly and just not himself. That evening he had several seizures and his temperature would not go down to normal. It would spike 4-5 degrees in 5 minutes. I held him most of the night and finally at 5:30 he fell asleep in the crib. Holding him in the hospital listening to lullaby music was a precious moment even in the midst of all the chaos.
They did an EEG the next day that indicated he may have a seizure disorder. He was put on high doses of medicine that made him very sleepy and irritable. We were able to bring him home on Sunday. On his new medicine he was stumbling and unable to walk more than 2 steps without falling over. He was sleeping most of the day and night and had a small appetite. My little baby wasn't himself and it was breaking my heart.
I took hi to the doctor the next day for a follow up and he recommended getting a second opinion from the children's hospital in Peoria. We also had Lucy checked out because she was extra irritable as well and it turns out she had a double ear infection. So when it rains in our house it really pours!!!!
That evening Jack had bleeding gums so I rushed him back to the ER. It was more than likely a side effect of the medicine and they cut his dose in half. His platelets were low so they wanted to watch him and redraw his labs the next day, I camped out on his floor on an air mattress to make sure he was ok all night long. The next day his levels were back to normal but he was still acting zombie like. Today he was more back to himself and I thank God that He is blessing us with our little boy again. We also got a slot in Peoria tomorrow for our second opinion, praise The Lord!!!!!
Picture of a healthier and happier Jack tonight!
So often I would wonder why I was blessed with extra energetic children, but when they aren't like that anymore I really missed it and wanted them to become that again. I don't take my children for granted but situations like this really make you stop and reevaluate how blessed you truly are. Things can change so fast and normal may disappear for a while. Even though rain may come and the world becomes cloudy for a time I believe the sun will shine again! You have to get through the rain to get to the rainbow and I feel like there is a rainbow in store soon!
