Very Scary Day

I am going to make a pretty long story....long.

I leave for work at 6:15am. (Yuck huh!?) On my work days, Sam gets the girls up and ready around 7:00am and takes them to my sisters house on his way to work.

Yesterday morning at work, I got a phone call from Sam. He was calling to tell me that he was on his way to the ER with Jocelyn. As he was explaining to me how she had been that morning, he would stop the story to tell Jocelyn in the back seat to "wake up." All I had gotten from his panicked voice was that she was not doing well at all, that she was "limp" and that she wasn't able to walk, hold her head up, or even talk.

As tears immediately started rolling down my cheeks, I looked at my office manager and told her that I needed to go.

When I got to the hospital and saw my little girl with my own eyes, I knew something was wrong. She looked in my direction, but wasn't really looking AT me. She made no sounds and had zero facial reactions. Her hands were cold. Sam was holding her because she couldn't really hold herself up. It was VERY VERY disturbing because as a mom...you KNOW when something is not right and let me tell you...something was not right!

They took her back immediately without registration etc. which was nice, but also a little alarming. The nurse checked her out and later told us that he himself was concerned when we brought her in. As he checked her eyes, she would follow them for only a short time, but he couldn't keep her attention.

Sam told the nurse the story: He had tried getting her up that morning and she was very "heavy." Although she was clearly awake, she wasn't very responsive. He assumed she was still very tired. He got her ready and put her back in the crib while he got Jenna ready. When it was time to go, he went back in to get Jocelyn and as he carried her down the hallway, she was "limp" and he had to hold her head because she was unable to support it as is rocked back and forth. Obviously scared and worried, he decided that maybe she needed to eat something. After offering her some craisins, she ate them very fast and then seemed to perk up just a bit. So, he put her on the floor to have her walk and she fell to the floor and just stared at him. Now he knew it wasn't right and had to make the decision to call 911 or to take her himself. He decided to make the drive himself.

The nurse took all our information and told us that the doctor would be right in. Well, we all know that ER's don't work like that. Doctors take their sweet time getting there, even when it is a baby involved!

I offered Jocelyn a cup of water thinking she may be thirsty. Thirsty was an understatement! She downed it. So, I filled it up and offered her a 2nd glass. She downed it. So, I filled it up and offered her a 3rd glass. She downed it.

The doctor came in and did a quick exam and listened to the story. He checked her eyes and ears and told us the following:
He was not going to diagnose it as anything at this point. It is possible that she had had a seizure in the middle of the night and after waking up, she was completely exhausted. He said that most everyone has 1 seizure in their life and that they don't worry about it until they have more than 1. But again, he wasn't calling it a seizure. He said that he wanted to keep her there for another 45 minutes to observe her.

At this point I was able to put Jocelyn on the floor and have her stand all on her own and the doctor had her walk to me. She was OBVIOUSLY doing better by the time the doctor came in, but Sam and I and saw her at her low. Sam saw her at her very worst. We still knew that something had not been right.

The doctor left us and so I went and got a bowl of oatmeal out of the cafeteria to feed her. As I fed it to her, she didn't even seem to chew. It entered her mouth and she swallowed. She ate the entire bowl so quickly and then got mad and fussy when the bowl was empty. The fussiness actually made me excited being that it was the most I had "heard" from her all morning. Sam went back to the cafeteria and got her a muffin. She ate that just as quickly. It wasn't long after that, that I had my Jocelyn back.

Since she was clearly back to normal, they discharged us and told us to watch for any of those symptoms and told us to bring her back if we saw anything like that again. Her clinical diagnosis was "Episodic Weakness" and that told me, "we don't know what happened." So, I couldn't help but rack my brain, trying to figure out what had happened, and why it had happened.

I am no doctor, but I am almost convinced that she may have some form of hypoglycemia since it was the food and water that "brought her back." I am definitely concerned about Type 1 Diabetes since my dad has it. We have a follow up appointment with our general doctor next week and they are going to do a blood work up to see if they can see what caused it.

As for now, Jocelyn is back to normal and doing really well. I have to admit, I did bring the baby monitors out of storage so that I can listen to her sleep for awhile.

Thank you everyone for your prayers during this time. That was a very emotional day for both Sam and I, as well as our family. We will keep you posted on anything that comes up, but for now, just know that she is back to normal and doing great!

Zoe

Our youngest child, already helping herself to a seat.

This and That

A whole week has gone by without blogging and it makes me feel so guilty!

My niece (and God-daughter), Mikayla, turned 4 years old on Sunday, October 5th. She had a princess party that Genevieve was invited to. They got to dress up in princess dresses, dance around to princess music, play in a princess castle, and eat princess cake. When Amy asked Mikayla who she wanted to invite, Mikayla picked 5 of her little friends and then told Amy, "and I also want Uncle Sam to come too!" Unfortunately, Uncle Sam already had plans, and was unable to participate in the festivites!

On saturday, 6 days after Mikayla turned 4, she had a little accident. She was running with her mom at her sibling's soccer games, fell, and managed to break her elbow! Poor girl is now in a temporary cast and sling until the swelling goes down when they can do a better cast. She still manages to smile and warm everybodys heart though! We love you Kayla!

This last weekend I hosted a baby shower at my house for my co-worker, Katrina, who is having a little girl in December. This will be her 2nd child, but 1st girl, so she needed a good dose of pink and she got just that! We had lots of good food, drinks, and socialization!

The girls are finally both healthy again. On Saturday though, Jocelyn had a minor collision with our bar stool. Apparently, the bar stool got up and jumped in her way leaving a nice sized bruise and bump on her face, right below her eye. I hate when that happens! :-)

And finally, my good friend Mandi is going to start working with me in a couple of weeks! Our other hygienist is on maternity leave now and after she has her baby, she will only be back part time, so Mandi will be joining us! The 3 of us will all be part-time employees and full-time moms! Hopefully, if any of the kiddos or ourselves get sick, we can help eachother out and swap days if needed. Anyway, we are excited to have her with us!

Here is a picture of Jocelyn shortly after her encounter with the bar stool. This picture doesn't do the bruise justice.


Jocelyn "Mohawk" reading her book

First Night

Yesterday we converted Jenna's crib into a toddler "big girl bed." After having to take the cozy bumper pad off, it looked, cold and "jail-like," so I got a pillow and blanket for her. She came into our room at 2:30, but we put her back in her bed and told her that she needed to stay in her bed. At 7:00 this morning she stayed in bed and called for us! We are so proud of her. When I went into her room, she was very excited that she slept in her big girl bed!

Baby Genevieve

Big girl Genevieve!

Friday Night

Last night, after dinner, Sam and I took a drive in the rain with the girls. We both LOVE the rain, and it felt nice to get out. We drove around some areas that we were unfamiliar with and found some beautiful homes! Then, when we came home, Jenna wanted to play Scrabble. For a 2 year old, that means taking the pieces out of the box, placing them on the table, and then putting them back into the box. Fun huh? So, while we had the game out, Sam and I played ourselves! (Only we didn't keep score.) We used all but 6 pieces and combined words that describe the girls or things they like to do. Call us corny, but it beats watching TV and eating Bon-Bons! Some of the words may not seem to fit into our "children theme," but they do to us, so don't think we were cheating and just trying to use up letters. Anyone figure out how to use the remaining letters on the left side?

Ultrasound Results

Yay for us! The ultrasound came back perfectly normal! There is nothing to worry about with her abdomen or kidneys for now. We will continue to watch her stomach pains as well as her UTI symptoms to make sure they don't progress into anything else. We are also going to start really trying to potty train Jenna more aggressively now.
She has had a pretty good turn around today from being "life-less" this morning, to being energetic and eating well this afternoon and evening.
Side note: I tried to upload a couple of pictures of her feeling good and playing with daddy, but for some reason we are having some technical difficulties. Stay tuned.

Daily Doctor's Visits

Yesterday, we had to take Genevieve back to the doctor for her follow up on the UTI. We had talked about seeing a Urologist to see why she was getting UTI's at her age, but after discussing it some more with Dr. Julia (world's best doctor by far!) she wanted to wait on that for now. The treatment to diagnose any bladder problems is pretty invasive for a 2 year old and should only be done if absolutely needed. What concerns us more is that she has talked about her tummy hurting for the last month or month and a half. And recently, she acts more lethargic and "life-less." Dr. Julia recommended an ultrasound to check her abdomen and kidneys.
We went and had that done this morning and it literally broke my heart. I can tell, as her mother, that she just isn't feeling good. She laid as still as can be through the 15 minute ultrasound. They moved her onto both sides, and she basically flopped from side to side without mentioning a word. They kept asking if she was okay, because most 2 year olds aren't that cooperative. I told them that she just didn't feel good. When we were done, we got into the car and she was asleep before I left the parking lot!
We should hear back today on any findings, but we are hoping and praying for nothing!
Maybe it's just gas? :-)