Last Night

While eating dinner last night we could tell that Aubrey wasn't feeling well even though she wasn't showing any symptoms of being sick.  So we gave her a dose of Tylenol and put her to bed.  Around 10:30 she woke up.  I went into her room to help her go back to sleep, and I noticed that she was really restless and fidgety.  So I laid down with her and started singing some songs.  Then she started shaking uncontrollably.  Just for a few seconds...and then she stopped.  I waited and she did it again.  So I turned on the light and watched her do it again and again and again.  I yelled for Matt who was in the bathtub, and he came in.  We couldn't figure out what she was doing.  Was is seizures?  Convulsions?  We were scared.  Matt gave Aubrey a blessing, I grabbed her blanket and her medical file, then we left for the hospital.

As Matt was getting Aubrey strapped in her car seat he yelled for me to hurry and sit next to her.  When I got in the car she was shaking so bad...her whole body.  I started crying and praying, and Matt was driving like a maniac.  We were both so scared.

As soon as we got to the hospital she stopped shaking.  They took her in immediately and checked her out.  She had a slight fever...barely 100.  They put us in a room to wait for the doctor.  10-15 minutes later a nurse came in and checked her temp, and in that short amount of time her fever went all the way up to 103.  She was on fire.  They gave her a dose of Motrin, but her fever held steady at 103 for over an hour.  When the doctor FINALLY got to us and checked her out he felt that the seizures were a result of her very rapid and raging fever.  Apparently it isn't uncommon for children to convulse when they are hit with a sudden fever.  He was concerned about what is causing the fever...especially since she still had no other symptoms.  A strep test came back negative, and he said it could be a UTI or kidney infection, but because she is not potty trained the only way to test her urine would be to catheterize her.  At that point it was 2:30 am and Aubrey was so tired and miserable and we didn't want to put her through that so we decided to give it some time and see what happened the next day.

This morning her fever was still raging at 102 and she had more convulsions while waiting for her Tylenol to kick in.  She is not making any improvement, and is still not showing any other symptoms, so my guess is that we will be at instacare this evening so they can get a urine sample.  Poor Aubrey.

I wrote this mostly so that I could remember the details of everything that happened last night for future reference.  But in recollecting the events of last night I have also remembered those terrified feelings, and desperate prayers.  While I am thankful that it turned out not to be as serious as it could have, I sincerely hope that we never have to experience that kind of consuming fear again.  I have a new found respect and appreciation for those parents whose children are medically fragile, and all the heart racing and frantic feelings that must come along with caring for them.

More updates to come later.