Well...
Here I go, Ready to start my first ever blog. What should I write about? Me? Nah probably too boring... My kiddo's? I definitely have a ton to say about them! Hmm.. How about I just start with..
Hi!
My name is Mellissa, Im a mother of 4 wonderful children, 3 boys 1 girl. They are 12, almost 10, 5 and 2.
Let's Start with a little about ....
Ethan, he is my oldest, He is what many call my "identical twin" He looks like me, acts like me, has my attitude.. GOD HELP US NOW! He is a really good boy! He has his struggles, as does every child. Ethan helps me out so much with everyday tasks such as taking care of his crazy 2 year old brother. If it weren't for my "lil" Ethan, I'd probably be in a mental institution right now. Then again sometimes he makes me want to check myself in as well. Ethan is a very bright, smart, young man. Let me tell you a bit about him starting with...
When he was just 3 months old he had 3 Grand Mal seizures in one weekend. The first seizure was extremely frightening! It was 3 am, I was lying in bed watching TV, as I usually do. Over the baby monitor I heard this laughing noise.. I had then turned to my fiance (at the time) and said "awe he's laughing" after a few seconds passed I suddenly got this gut wrenching feeling and thought to myself... 3 month old babies don't normally laugh in their sleep, Do they!? I then asked my fiance to go check on him. That was the best decision I had ever made, My fiance (shall remain nameless due to privacy) went in to check on Ethan.. I heard him talking to Ethan "Ethan? hey buddy? ETHAN??" I suddenly could hear the concern and worry in his voice, He starts yelling to me, I'm not quite sure what he said to me at that exact moment.
All of a sudden I see him with my infant son in his arms who's flailing like a fish out of water, back arching, eyes open, It was my worst nightmare!!! I instantly knew what was happening. How I knew? I don't know, I had never seen a seizure before. I'd like to call it mothers intuition. I had started freaking out! Screaming, crying, panicking, I ran out of my apartment and started screaming at the top of my lungs, "SOMEONE HELP ME" no one came out to help, 8 Apartments and not a single person heard me screaming. Maybe I wasn't really screaming? Maybe I thought I was, I don't know. My fiance thought to himself if he had put Ethan into my arms it may calm me down a little.. It just made things worse, I collapsed against the wall and slid to the floor with my dying infant in my arms! He grabbed him from me and said "Go down stairs now!" I ran down the stairs, not even quite sure if I hit a single stair on the way down. I banged on my downstairs neighbors door so hard, I left a fist imprint in their steel door. Julie answered the door and before she could even ask what was wrong, I ran past her to her phone and yelled "Ethan's having a seizure, he is upstairs with "George" now go help him please" Julie ran upstairs while I called 911. The operator was so sweet. She talked me down and stayed on the phone with me calming me down until the ambulance arrived.
The entire time this was all unfolding seemed like hours to me, but honestly it was only minutes maybe 30 minutes at most. I didn't even realize I was in my T-shirt and underwear during this whole ordeal. The ambulance arrived and put Ethan and I on a stretcher. As we were getting ready to go to the hospital, Ethan started having another minor seizure, The paramedic was able to bring him out of it. "George" followed us in his car. Once we arrived at the hospital he had come in to meet us and thank the lord he had my pants! I guess it just goes to show you, When a crisis happens you don't care who sees you at your worst, As long as your child(ren) are ok nothing else matters!
Anyhow, We were brought into a room where Ethan was monitored for a while. After that long ordeal he was sleeping. I was so scared he was going to die! I was a nervous wreck. After about an hr or so of him sleeping, He woke up crying and hungry! I was so relieved i started crying all over again. The doctor on call that night definitely didn't know his ass from his elbow! He said he wasn't sure why Ethan had a seizure and sent us home. Talk about frustrating!
We took Ethan home, and attempted to sleep. Which, After all that "excitement" there was no way I was going to sleep. "George" and I decided that morning when Wal-Mart opened we would go get a phone for our new apartment so we could at least call 911 in case of an emergency. At this point that was the best idea that dude had ever had! So off to walmart we went, Ethan seemed to be acting normal, Nothing out of the sorts. He was his normal happy baby self all day long. We felt very relieved, like it was a fluke.
Later that night, I had put Ethan to bed and went to bed myself. Around 1 am I heard this odd noise again, "George" went to check on Ethan again and UGH wouldn't you know it, Another seizure!!!! This time it wasn't as bad, I knew what to expect, of course I was still scared out of my mind! Scared, Confused, Angry. I called 911 right away. The police got there first this time, The officer on call that night was so nice, I wish I could remember his name. He was a real sweet heart, Trying to keep me distracted so I wouldn't lose my mind. This time the ambulance came along to take us to the hospital, Guess what??? I had pants on!! Yes I remembered to get dressed this time haha! We got onto our trusty stretcher, and off to the hospital we go again. The doctor on call that night (Saturday night) was just as dumb, if not dumber than the first doctor. He asked us a ton of questions, Which we answered. One of the questions was "Have you started him on any baby food?" I said "Yes, the doctor recommended it because he was eating too much formula." The doctor then says "Well, that's the problem, He's allergic to whatever you fed him, Don't feed it to him again and you will be fine." Are you kidding me????? I have NEVER heard of someone having a seizure from an allergy. Then again im not a doctor, But I can tell you I would have definitely done a better job than that idiot did.
So off again we go, Back home, Ethan is doing great, That little turd! I think this was a test from him to me, He was saying "Are you ready for the crazy life im about bring onto you?" That's when I reply "I sure am, bring it on big guy!"
Again, Another uneventful day, Happy baby, Nothing out of the ordinary. Bed time!
Sunday morning 9:00 am, I'm getting ready to feed him his breakfast cereal. All of a sudden I see his eyes start to roll into the back of his head, His little hands start to shake. I think to myself "Oh no not again!!!" I instantly try to wake "George" he wasn't waking up! I yell his name, Still nothing! So I grabbed the blankets that he was so nicely wrapped in, and PULLED! He went flying. It woke him up though! I said "Ethan is having another seizure! Im not taking him to that damn hospital this time, Im calling his doctor!" I knew my downstairs neighbor had phone service so I ran downstairs and asked to use their phone. Dr Nassau of Brattleboro Pediatrics in Vermont was the doctor on call that day. I explained everything that had happened over the last two days and that morning. He said meet me at the hospital! So I went back upstairs told "George" what was going on and what we needed to do. So off to the hospital we go! Dr. Nassau somehow beat us to the hospital, He was in Putney Vermont, We were in Hinsdale New Hampshire. Those of you that know the area, Know he must have had an invisible plane to get there before us or something haha. Putney is about 30 minutes from the hospital, Hinsdale is only 10 minutes!
Anywho, We get to the hospital Dr. Nassau was waiting for us. He checked Ethan out and then decided to inject him with 10 cc's of Phenobarbital. It's an anti-convulsing medication. He then ordered a cat scan and an EEG. Finally we are getting somewhere!!!
Monday came, Ethan went for his testing as instructed. Dr Nassau had scheduled us for a follow up a few days later. Sure enough, Ethan was diagnosed with Grand Mal Petite Epilepsy (sleep induced seizures) He was put on heavy medication to prevent him from going through any more seizures. Dr Nassau had stated if Ethan had one more seizure that weekend, It was a very good possibility he would have died! Dr. Nassau saved my babys life!!
Ethan managed to live through that ordeal...
Now shall I go onto his toddler years - pre-teens?? Oh boy what a ride it has been!
I shall continue with that chapter tomorrow..
Good Night Everyone! Stay Tuned .................
