Our 911 call and the Children's Hospital

As most of you already know, we spent Thursday and Friday of last week at the hospital with Naomi.  Hands down the scariest moment of my life was Thursday morning.  I was getting ready to feed Naomi around 7:15. She'd been up for about 15 minutes and was acting like her normal self.  I sat her in my lap and as I'm about to feed her, she makes this choking/gagging sound and goes limp.  I start saying her name and try to get her to perk back up. It was like she'd fallen asleep and couldn't stay awake. Her eyes would flutter a bit but she was totally out of it.  I tried to feed her, thinking that might perk her up, but she wouldn't eat.  She just lay there, listless in my arms.  At this point, panic sets in and I call Jamie, who was doing an early morning workout.  I was debating calling 911 first but knew I needed him home with me. He rushed home and on the way called 911.

Within minutes, paramedics arrive at the house.  I think there were 8 paramedics in our home within 2 minutes.  Bravo to the response.  I'll take more over less any day.  At this point, Naomi is now awake but won't lift her head up and is just laying on my shoulder.  They take her and put her on the couch and start measuring her vitals and asking what happened.  They thought it was a choking incident at first because we told 911 she'd choked and gone limp.  But she didn't choke on anything - as she wasn't eating and there was nothing in her mouth.  So they check her heart, blood pressure, temp, blood sugar and few other things.  She just lay there and looked at them.  She didn't really fight them on anything, which isn't normal when poking at an 8 month old.  They said she appeared stable and asked if we wanted to go to the ER in the ambulance.  Since she was stable and not in imminent danger of dying, we had an option.  I asked what they thought and Paramedic Jake said if it were his child, he'd get in the ambulance and go.  So, off she and I went.  Naomi did fine in the ambulance. She was in her car seat on a gurney and didn't seem phased by trekking along in a giant ambulance on a movable bed.  Paramedic Jake monitored her vitals and her heart rate was elevated for part of the way.  Paramedic Jake said that an elevated heart rate in infants is the first indicator that something is going on with the baby.

We spent the next 10 hours in the ER.  The ER doc said she wanted to do a chest x-ray and EKG.  When they did the EKG, Naomi just lay there.  She didn't get upset or really even respond to the woman sticking the probes on her.  The EKG tech didn't like her reaction at all and made several comments about how her behavior wasn't normal.  Naomi was like that most of the day on Thursday. She'd have little bursts of energy where she'd seem herself, then it was as if she was exhausted and would fall asleep or just lie there looking around.  The x-ray and EKG came back normal but because the tech was concerned about Naomi's behavior, the ER doc wanted to run more tests.

(Here is Naomi crashed out on dad in the ER.)

The most upset Naomi got the entire day was when they had to put an IV in her.  It took 4 tries on both arms.  She was NOT happy about that at all.  Eventually they got a vein, gave her some saline, and took a couple vials of blood. Everything came back normal, except she was anemic.  The ER doc then came to talk to us about admitting her. At first she said she was 50/50 on admitting us or letting us go home and follow-up with our pediatrician. As we spoke to her about it however, she decided the best action was to admit her. She said she didn't know what was wrong, but that a seizure was a possibility and whenever a child presents with a possible seizure, neuro recommends admission for observation.  So that's what we did.

It was a long night. She slept ok. We had an issue with her reflux b/c her med was 5 hours late but overall, she did well.  They check vitals every 4 hours, so no one got much sleep.  The nurses and doctors were great.  We met with two doctors that night and one the next day - and no one knew what had happened to Naomi. They all said it's best we don't know, because nothing we would figure out at this point would be good news.  The attending physician said that it's actually not uncommon to have young kids come in with one random event like this. They call it "ALT E" or Apparent Life Threatening Event.  They don't know why it happens and it usually won't happen again.  They said it might have been related to her reflux but it didn't really seem reflux related since she hadn't eaten in 12 hours when it happened.  They all agreed it was possible that it could have been a seizure although there was nothing definite indicating that's what it was. But given the possibility, they decided on Friday to do an EEG on her.

(Naomi getting her EEG)

The results of the EEG were normal.  Really good news.  They said you only pick up abnormalities if they have a seizure while having the test done. But sometimes there are other electrical impulses after a seizure that can be measured.  However her results were totally normal which we were happy about.

In the end, they don't know what happened.  The doctor on Friday prescribed an iron supplement for the anemia.  We visited with our pediatrician today as a follow-up and got instructions for what to look for when a seizure occurs in case this happens again.  Naomi, Jamie and I all got a stomach bug on Saturday night. I'm pretty sure we picked this up from the hospital.  Naomi wasn't too affected by it which is good.  She's still not 100% herself. Hard to say if it was last week's episode or the tummy bug or even the time change.  We are keeping an eye on her.  She is smiling again and overall seems happy.  Gotta say - nothing like seeing her smile again after the scare we had on Thursday morning!!

Thanks to everyone for your prayers, follow-up and help. It meant a lot to us!!

I totally skipped February

Well - I said at the beginning of this blog there was a good chance I would not keep up. And it's happened. I've been meaning to write - I really have. Time has just sped past me and I've not kept up. So...let's catch up.  

Naomi is now 8 months. She is trying so hard to crawl. She has perfected backwards locomotion which only manages to completely frustrate her since she moves further away from the items she wants as opposed to closer to them.  It's rather cute honestly.  She's also standing frequently - with support of course. And likes to "walk" while you hold her hands. I tell you, this girl wants to move.  She just hasn't figured out the coordination to get herself going.  But man  - doesn't she look cute trying?

Audrey is loving all things girly. My "only wants to wear shorts and pants" 3 year old has turned into my "only wants to wear skirts and dresses" 4 year old.  Can't tell you the excitement I have at the prospect of cute sundresses on her this summer!!  She also loves her dance class - and can now show you position 1 and 2 as well as an arabesque.  I can't wait for her dance recital in May.  

Audrey has also been dealing with wanting mommy a lot lately.  She's cried at school for me several times.  We've done special mommy/Audrey days and spent good time together lately. We've spoken to her teacher and it seems many other 4 year olds have been going through this.  Makes me feel better that it's somewhat developmental.  I've also given her one of my necklaces to wear to school to help her not miss me too much. That and a new Hello Kitty doll has been helping.  

The girls had Dr. Seuss dress-up this last week in honor of the good doctor's birthday.  I made (yes, actually attempted a craft - don't fall over in shock!) shirts for them to wear. They looked adorable.  

More to come soon - I promise.  I won't let March get by me the way February did.  Watch for fun landscaping, warm weather and the color green in the coming weeks!

7 months old and weekend of firsts

Where is time going?  How is Naomi already 7 months old??  The last 7 months have flown by.  Here is Naomi on her 7 month "bday" on Friday.  It was also her first time in a swing at the park.  She really liked it. (And yes, it was warm enough all weekend to play at the park without a coat.)

Naomi truly has such a sweet disposition. She is smiles and happiness, easy going and beautiful.  I know she is only 7 months, but you can already see what a joyful spirit she has.  I already feel that I've a lot to learn about being carefree and joyful from her.

Another first this last weekend was Audrey riding a horse for the first time. We went to birthday party at a ranch and the kids were able to ride miniature horses.  Audrey has an adventurous spirit - as long as she feels safe and secure. She seems to be getting more and more sure of herself, especially now that she's 4. She'll often say, "now that I'm 4..." before she tries something new.  And seems brave enough to try more and more these days.  She only hesitated a brief moment before getting on the horse.

She was definitely excited that she got to ride.  

It was a great weekend with the family. We sure are blessed with two amazing daughters.  

Week 3/52

In keeping with the goal of a picture each week...here are this week's pics.  Audrey even agreed to smile for the camera!

Poor little Naomi has had a rough week but she's still a trooper.  She had what we thought was a cold until she wasn't getting better. Turned out to be RSV and bronchiolitis.  Fortunately it wasn't so severe that we needed breathing treatments.  Today we took her back to have her ears checked and it's looking like she has the start of ear infection #2.  And on top of all that - her first tooth broke through in the last couple days as well.  I guess she likes to get everything out of the way at once.

And for a picture only a mother can appreciate - here is her tiny, itty bitty little tooth.  See it???  It's that tiny little white spot on her gum in front of my finger.  Ah the things that moms get excited about.

I've also decided to start capturing the funny things Audrey says. It won't be long before she loses her innocent childhood expressions, so I want to capture them as best I can.  You'll see I started a little gadget on the right.  I'll also be tracking Naomi's stats as well.  This will be my way of creating a "baby book" since I know I'll never actually fill a real one out.

Explaining death to a 4 year old - about as much fun as you'd expect

As some of you know, Audrey has been a bit inquisitive about death for the last three months.  It all started with a bible story about Moses. At the end it said something like, "and then he died."  At first Audrey was VERY upset about this. She started asking about death - when we would die and saying she didn't want to die and getting pretty upset about it.  It caught Jamie and me off-guard and was rather unnerving when she'd start to cry and say "I don't want to die."  We told her that most people don't die until they are really, really old - like 90. This seemed to appease her-  as she no longer thought her death was imminent.

Well, three months later, the discussions continue.  She doesn't get upset about it anymore but man, does she ask tough questions.  She's asked all of the following:

• If your bones stay in the ground, how do you walk in heaven?
• If you can't take your things with you, what happens to them?  (enter the discussion of wills - not a topic I thought I'd be discussing with a three year old.)  
• Which way is heaven?  Is it up or down?  Can people in heaven see me?

Last week we were talking about keeping her Legos and Pixos picked up so that when Naomi starts crawling, they won't be on the floor. I told her Naomi could choke and it's very dangerous since she could stop breathing and die.  And as soon as I said "die," I held my breath hoping she'd just ignore me.  Nope.  She's too smart for that. Without missing a beat she said, "But you said we don't die until we're really old.  Naomi isn't really old.  Were you teasing me?"  Sigh.

Last night she wanted to play "kill the bad guys."  I told her it wasn't nice to kill people, even if they are bad.  She looked at me and said, "Mom, it's ok.  It's only pretend. They aren't really dead."  Thanks, Audrey.  Hard to argue with that logic.  At least she's not freaking out about dying anymore.

A picture each week

A friend on my mommy board proposed doing a picture each week of you and the kids for the year 2011.  I thought this would be a fun idea.  We can watch the girls grow and it'll force me to at least pick up the camera each week.  Here is this weeks picture. 

I have a feeling they will all be something like this. :)  Audrey loves making funny faces for the camera.  Hey - 2 of us with eyes open and smiling is great. I'll definitely take what I can get.

The big 4

Audrey turned 4 on 1/4.  A very special birthday - to be "4" on the "4th" according to Aunt Nicole. And I'd have to agree.  We had a wonderful party with about 20 kiddos on Saturday.  I managed to get three blurry pics.  As you will soon learn, I'm terrible with the camera.  But - fortunately Uncle John was there and he's quite the amateur photographer. He even braved some tripod shots as kids ran from bouncy house to bouncy house.  So - hopefully he got a few great pics to share.

As is tradition, we eat donuts on the morning of her birthday each year.  What better way to start your birthday? Uncle John and Aunt Nicole joined us.  (That's a snowman donut in case you're wondering.)

I think all in all this was a birthday Audrey will most definitely remember for a while.

Welcome to our blog!!

I've been wanting to start a blog for a while and decided 2011 is the time to do it. I feel like the days pass us by so quickly and we forget so much of what makes our lives special everyday. So, here it goes!  I know myself well enough to know I am not good at these sort of things.  When I had to keep journals in school - I was the one filling a week's worth of information out five minutes before class.  Therefore - don't be disappointed if I don't update all the time. I really am going to try...but don't be surprised if updates come in waves.

And in case you're wondering, Chica and Munchkin are my nicknames for Audrey (Chica) and Naomi (Munchkin).

Happy reading!