Hannah in the Hospital

Wednesday was a typical busy day for me.  I've been in a big sewing kick, so any moment I get I try to sew.  We went to the library which threw off Hannah's naps today. In the afternoon, I watched Emily and Nathan. Hannah took a late afternoon nap which lasted a while.  We quickly ate dinner outside since the table was covered with the sewing machine. I had institute at 6:00pm. Hannah was still napping during dinner, so I woke her up before I left to fed her.  I handed her off to Nate and went to class.  When I got there, I turned the cell phone to vibrate and was excited for a break away from the kids. 

Then at 6:23pm, my phone vibrated, I got a text. I know it's rude to check my phone while in class but curiosity got to me and I checked it real quickly. It said:

Come home now!!! Hannah is seizing! An ambulance is coming!

I couldn't believe it. I quickly ran to the car and was shaking all the way home (it was only a 5 minute drive). Trying very carefully to be aware of the other cars and traffics rules, I raced home to pull in as the ambulance was pulling out.  I still drove up to my apartment to check on the status of things and to know a little more of what was happening. Jason met me at the car window, told me they just left.  The neighbors had the Hailey and Robert. So I turned around a booked it out of there, beating the firetruck out.  I remember seeing a lot of people stepping out of their apartments trying to know what was going on.  I remember seeing Public Safety talking to my neighbors. 

I got to the hospital and had to check in Hannah and give insurance information before I could go back.  I was freaking out on the inside but very patient and understanding on the outside knowing that they have to get this information and it's better to stop me then take Nate away from Hannah.  The nurse took me back and I see at least 6 people working around Hannah.  I ran into Nate's arms to be comforted.  I couldn't really go to Hannah because there were too many people. 

Now let's take a quick minute for me to explain the great things that happened.  First, I got Nate's text.  He figured out how to text me using the Internet (we only have one cell phone). The Internet worked for me to get his text. (it's been pretty unreliable). And generally when Nate texts me, the phone doesn't vibrate or beep but this time it did.  Also if he called or got someone else's phone to call, I wouldn't have answered during class.

Second, we live 5 minutes away from campus and away from the hospital.  The ambulance came within 5 minutes of it starting.  I was with her within 10 minutes of it starting. 

Third, I wasn't there when it started.  I can imagine that I would have freaked out and wouldn't be able to settle down to help her immediately. What happened was that Hannah was just playing with one of the outside cars.  Then Nate picked her up and had her on his lap.  He noticed she was a little unresponsive and looked down and saw she was seizing.  He picked her up and called 911, who told him to lay her down. While a neighbor watched her for a second, he quickly texted me. And within a minute or two, the ambulance was there.  He handle the situation very well.

So back to the ER room.  The EMT people there could not get an IV through her veins, so the had to put a needle into her leg bone to give her the anti-seizure medicine. This procedure is called intraosseous infusion (IO). Hannah screamed when that happened.  But that was one of the few times she even reacted.

The seizure went on for 30-40 minutes.  While waiting 5 minutes in between giving Hannah the anti-seizure medicine, the pediatrician came to us and let us get near her.  Her right side was violently shaking.  I wanted to hold on it her arm tight to force her to stop.  Seeing Hannah like that was so tough.  I wanted to be close to her but afraid to touch her. My healthiest and toughest baby became so fragile in an instant. 

She had to have an oxygen mask on because she was too exhausted to breathe.  There was a quiet moment after the seizures stopped, that Nate was able to give her a Priesthood blessing. That is another thing that I am truly grateful for and that we live in a big LDS community that the doctor understood what was happening and gave us space to do it.

Hannah was wheezing so they had to put a mist mask on to help (like they would for someone who had asthma).  They also had to put a tube up her nose and down her throat to suck out any mucus. They did that 3 times.  Due to the sedation factor of the medicines, they were prepping to put tubes down her throat to help her breathe which sounded like it would be a little invasive and wanted to avoid it.  The doctor waited a little and realized she was doing well enough to skip that. Soon, they did a CAT scan and had the results back in minutes.  There wasn't a tumor or any other obvious irregularities. Around 8:30pm, they moved us upstairs to the pediatric section.  I only remember that it happened at that time because we had two visitors that snuck in to get us some food and water.  Visiting hours ended at 8:30pm.  We are so fortunate to have so many people close by and willing to help. As they were offering things that could do to help they mentioned laundry. I realized I left clothes in the washer so they went and change the laundry for me. Darlene came from IF to spend the night with the kids.  Before Darlene got there, another neighbor had already put our kids to bed. 

As soon as Hannah was settled into her new room, they took her to do a spinal tab before the sedation wore off.  Before the official tests results came back the doctor told us it most likely is not meningitis because the spinal liquid was clear.  Eventually the tests came back normal.  They also took blood samples and urine sample.  My poor baby was poked more then any baby should be.  Nate went home around 10:30pm while I stayed the night. 

Hannah had a little nose oxygen mask, three little wires attached to her chest, an IV in her arm (they were able to take the IV out of her leg) and another wire attached to her foot.

I was finally able to hold her, which is really hard with all her wires.  She also wanted to nurse which I wasn't allowed to do.  I had to let her cry to sleep which didn't take long because she's been through a lot.  She didn't sleep well at all.  Eventually, at 2:00am the doctor said I could take off her oxygen mask and nurse her.  I tried to nurse her but all she did was bite me, over and over again.  This was when I finally broke down.

I was emotionally exhausted and just wanted to comfort my baby but couldn't because my body isn't used to making milk at night. I was in pain because she was biting me and mad at myself for being angry with her.  I just had to put her back in her crib and let her whimper to sleep.  At 4:00am, she awoke up and nursed for an hour and a half.

Thursday was pretty uneventful.  Hannah was grouchy when she was awake.  She still was very drugged and out of it but was nursing well.  Nate, Hailey, Robert, baby Dayne and Darlene came to visit in the morning. Robert kept coming up to me saying "Mommy keep Hannah sick?" and Hailey stayed far away from us and kept wanting to go to the bathroom.

Hannah had to wait until 12:30pm to get the EEG testing done. She needed to go without food for 2 hours before they sedated her again.  I really liked my nurse Cindy.  She was funny and seemed to care more about us.  She suggested that I went home to shower while she was with Hannah during the testing (I wasn't allowed). I had an hour and was anxious and shaky the whole time I was away.  I tried to be back by 2:00pm when she was supposed to be done.  I took a 10 minute nap, then Darlene came with me as back up.  Hannah was a good test taker.

I got hooked on House the TV series since a marathon was on. It was strangely comforting because they were people in worst conditions that made it out okay (yes I know Dr. House isn't a real person).  Hannah started moving her arms and legs more. (The Doctor told me that she might not use her right side for a while since it was shaking so violently and was the same side that the leg IV and arm IV was put on.) The Bishop's wife came and visited me also.  It was nice because she is like the mom of the ward. She has short hair like my mom and I know my mom really wanted to be there. So I felt comforted knowing people cared and were concerned about us.  I have also heard of a lot of stories of people having seizures and ended up just fine.

We stayed Thursday night to wait for the EEG results. She slept a lot better. Before the sedative wore off completely, she had to have the oxygen mask back on while she was sleeping which the doctor told me was normal.

She started to roll over and kept making the alarms go off. The nurses decided she needed a bigger crib!

Hannah likes sleeping on her stomach.  However, she had a hard time moving and controlling her head.

Friday morning, the doctor came back and told me all the tests came back normal and that she can go home. Though having no known cause is difficult, in this case it is better. There is no tumor, no irregularities, no reason why this should happen again.  However, Hannah will still be on anti-seizure medicine (Keppra) for a whole year.  Hannah was still a very fussy, tired baby. 

But she really found comfort with her daddy.  It was so nice to see the big change this made in Nate.  Darlene went home on Thursday night, so Nate was alone with the kids.  I think he needed this time to be a dad and be free to run things his way.  He seems a lot more comfortable with this role and I have more confidence in him.  I know that he did nothing to cause Hannah to have a seizure and that it would have happened whether I was there or not.  I'm so thankful for my calm husband who I can rely on in an situation.

On our way home, Hannah was holding a toy in the car.  It was nice to see her acting more normal.  I quickly gave her a bath and she was happy for the first time when she heard the water running.  She didn't like her bath because she couldn't sit up and had to lay down in the bath.  After a long afternoon nap she joined us at the table and ate real baby food.  I had to watch her head constantly sway.  It broke my heart seeing her try so hard to do what she was able to do before. She slept all Friday night.

Saturday, Hannah is even better. She can hold up her head and sit up by herself.  She is happier for long periods of time but is still a very sleepy baby.  In the hospital she hardly opened her eyes, now she is back to observing her surrounds.

She can't crawl yet. When she tries she keeps her right leg up and drags it a little while scooting on her other leg.  She is a fighter and is getting stronger each day.  She also was fighting a tempurature in the hospital and hasn't had one today.

I'm so proud of my little girl who is recovering well.  This is the scariest thing we have gone through as parents so far and are better parents because of it.  On Monday, she will have another check up.