So. . .

We have had a crazy couple of days. Two days ago I put Maren down for a nap and when she woke up she felt really hot to me. I took her temp and it was 105.4. I took off all of her clothes, gave her some Motrin and some water. All she wanted to do was snuggle so we sat chest to chest in the loft while Addi played. All of a sudden Maren started twitching in this really odd way. I held her up and immediately saw that she was having a seizure -- her eyes were open but not moving, she started to drool, her torso was really rigid and her limbs were twitching. I have seen kids have a seizure before, so I tried to tell myself to be calm and wait for it to end, but then she stopped breathing. I called 911 right away and as I gave the woman on the phone our address and phone # I started to lose it a little. I carried Mare around the house, putting her down on various surfaces to look at her while I said over and over,"Oh my God, she's not breathing!" Then I remembered that I do know what to do and sort of mentally bitch slapped myself into action. I laid her down on the couch and by now she was pale and her lips were blue. I rubbed her chest, and when nothing happened I listened for a heartbeat. It was strong and quick but fairly normal. Then I gave her rescue breaths/mouth to mouth. After about 3 or 4 breaths she started to breath on her own and she came out of the seizure. She was listless, but definitely not seizing anymore. Then the cops showed up -- happy to see that she was breathing again, soon the firefighter EMTs came and started to examine her, and finally the paramedics came and we got loaded on to the ambulance. The whole seizure only lasted about a minute, but felt like forever.

Brian met me at the hospital and they kept her there for observation for a couple of hours. After a few tests to rule out various bacterial causes of a high fever (UTI, ear infection, etc.) -- and some constant nursing to keep her calm (thank God you can't forget your boobs at home in all the commotion) -- the doctor determined that she had a febrile seizure (fever seizure) and the fever was caused by a virus. We were told to put her on a strict regimen of fever reducers to keep the fever as low as possible until it goes away completely. Maren ended up walking out of the ER waving goodbye enthusiastically to everyone she saw.

After last night we now know that Maren has croup. She had the croup cough all night and a few bouts of stridor (wheezing and difficulty catching her breath), and the pediatrician gave us some emergency meds in case her symptoms get worse tonight. Hopefully this will all be over soon and we can get back to normal. Maren, however, seems to feel like she can already run around like a little squealing crazy person.

Ps Addi was there and handled everything like a champ. We have talked at length about how she felt about what she saw and what it means to have a seizure and how it's a good thing we can call the "good guys" to come and help us in an emergency. She was by my side the whole time and when I asked her to get me Maren's blanket as we left she promptly did it and said,"but don't leave me, ok?" -- we all (me and the 6 emergency personnel in our house) reassured her we wouldn't go anywhere without her. Then she got to hang out at our good friend Laura's house while I took the trip with Mare in the ambulance.

We are so lucky to have such amazing and healthy little girls and I am so proud to be their Mommy. We are also so extremely lucky to have such thoughtful and helpful neighbors and good friends that are always there to help when we need them.

Here are some pics of life at home and getting back to normal: