T'was the night before Thankgiving and all through the house...poor little Laeni girl was as sick as a mouse. Not eating all day nor drinking enough, she she gave us a fright and we left in a huff.
Laeni hadn't been feeling well since Monday (throwing up, etc). Wednesday I got home from work and Bryan said she barely ate or drank all day. She and I went to the store to get some Pedialite so she wouldn't get dehydrated. We got home and she wouldn't drink it, although she finally took a bottle. Right after she was finished drinking, she got down and played - first time all week. About 30 minutes later, she was getting fussy, so Bryan picked her up to take her to bed. All of a sudden I hear, "Ann-Marie, what's wrong with Laeni?" I walk over and she's totally unresponsive. Bryan thought she was choking on something. He told me to call 911. I did and gave the operator my address and when she asked for my phone number I looked over at Laeni and she looked like she was dying - eyes rolles back in her head and limp. I completely lost it - I couldn't even tell the operator my phone number. I couldn't remember it. I just screamed, "get here quick, I think my baby is dying." Bryan then told me to give the phone to him. He was able to reason and think through the situation and listen to the 911 operator who thought it sounded like a seizure. Bry followed directions and then the paramedics came. They too thought she was having a seizure. A febrile seizure. Who would have known? She came to and was a bit out of it as the paramedics were looking her over. The one thing I noticed was that her hands and feet that had been bluish/purple when I got home from work hours before, had the color back in them right after the incident. Sooooo strange.
The paramedics thought she seemed stable enough to take her in our own car to the ER, so we drove her down and the ambulance followed, just in case something happened on the way. We got right into a room, but had to wait for the busy ER doctor. As we waited, Bry thought it was good time to make a pit stop. Right after he left the room, she seized again in my arms and I hollared out, "someone, please help me!" Several nurses and the doctor ran in and helped her. I lost it again. I looked down at my little baby and her whole body was in tetany, shaking. Again her eyes rolled back and she was gone. The image of her tiny feet curled in shaking still brings tears to my eyes. It was the scariest night of my life. I honestly thought I might lose her that night. Looking back now, that seems silly, but it was very real then.
The nurses tried for what seems like an hour (more like 20 minutes or more) to get an IV into her, but she was so dehydrated that her veins kept popping and they'd have to try another spot. The poor lil' thing had poke marks all over her. Every time the door would open, she would scream. She was hoarse by the time we drove her home. A lady from the lab came down and found a vein and they started fluids and an antibiotic. She had had a chest x-ray that showed pneumonia (hence the antibiotic) and they tried to get a urine sample, but even the catheter yeilded only 2 small drops. Laeni was definately sick. Thinking back now, I can see many reasons for the seizures. Immunizations the week before that menioned seizures as a possible side effect, being sick, the pneumonia, being dehydrated, etc, etc, etc.
We were told that we should go back into the ER the next morning (Thanksgiving) and get another round of IV antibiotics. We were on a tight schedule of medications to keep any kind of fever down (every 2-4 hours) for 3 days. When we got to the ER on Thanksgiving, we waited for 3 hours and a major poop/soup emergency before they told us her port was closed and instead of poking her again, we could go home and start the oral antibiotics.
So far, we have not had another incident. But since she has had these 2, she is at higher risk of having others. Her hands and feet had been blue/purple because her body was shunting the blood to her major organs - I think her body was trying to tell us something long before anything happened.
Here she is right before we left for the ER Thanksgiving morning. See the bandage? That's to keep her from pulling out the IV port.
She seems much happier these days!
(And so do her parents)
Now we can look forward to Christmas. For some reason, Tori likes to crawl under the branches like a dog!?
Tori and Dad decorating the trees downstairs.
Working on the annual gingerbread house. Tori was so excited to help.
Notice the concentration on both of their faces (mouths open as they gingerly place the fireplace "rocks":)
It's no fun if Laeni can't help!
The final product including the well, gazibo, teeter-totter and mail box.
The next morning Tori was so upset that she didn't get to help us finish the gingerbread house, that we had to make her own little house.
So much to be grateful for. It's the most wonderful time of the year!
With recent events, I feel even more gratitude for my family, for my little very active girls, for being able to be a mom (although I have much to improve on), and for a devoted cutie I call Bry. He's good to us, although I try his patience at times, he's still smiling (I think).
He puts up with a LOT of emotion in this house, but we're all grateful to have eachother - to be on the same team!
Happy Holidays everyone.
Tori has been wanting a "doll" cake since "hers" sold at the Blue & Gold dinner. Although Bryan didn't really say it, he's still trying to figure out why the dress is so big and round.
One of Tori's favorite presents was her dry erase board from Gracie. I didn't get a picture of that, but I thought the way she was holding Gracie's picture was cute. Lucy, Tori's friend was sitting down watching Tori open presents and Tori kept trying to tell her, "thank you Gracie!" I guess the dark curly hair confused her. 
Tori's friends sat like this the whole time Tori was opening presents - it was so cute. "Gracie" is the one with dark hair on the right :) Julie and Jill are her other friends - and of course Laeni, in the left corner, trying to be helpful. 
Having just finished decorating their crowns, they begin on their magic wands. Thanks to our lovely birthday assistant Shelby!! 
There were a few tears shed...
But overall, I think the princesses had a ball!
We then traveled to Washington to spend time with the Francis family. Here we are in Leavenworth. It was Laeni's 1st plane ride.
