I want to thank all our friends and family that wished us well today. We really appreciate all your support. Abigail is doing great. She’s been her normal self today. For example, the dog is covered with stickers. Things have been pretty normal.
There have been a pretty wide variety of reactions. When I told my mother that Abigail had a seizure, she just said, “Yeah,” as though that were the most common thing in the world. I mean, if she’d made a fuss everytime I’d had a seizure…
It turns out she thought I said fever. No doubt when I mentioned EMTs she became concerned about some latent hypochondria in me.
We slept with Abigail in our bed last night, which was relaxing for Jessica and I. We wouldn’t have been able to sleep otherwise. We would have been jumping at every rustle and sigh from the monitor.
However, Abigail immediately spread out like she was trying out for lead singer of Creed. That made our already small bed into a tiny one. Plus she needed to have her baby handy. And she woke up more than once in the middle of the night to say, “Hi, Maggie!” Sadly, Maggie was downstairs and didn’t get to receive her greeting personally.
Those wake ups don’t count the ones we induced to give her medicine. We woke her up every three hours, alternating between tylenol and motrin to maximize the fever reduction. The first time we tried this, she was extremely displeased, shaking her head back and forth as we tried to get the dropper in her mouth. By the fourth time, she held the dropper between her teeth, sucking out every last drop of sweet medicated goodness.
“Abbey’s helping daddy,” she said, when I finally popped it free.
The only really tough part of the day was naptime. The seizure happened near the end of her nap yesterday and I don’t think either Jessica or I could relax during Abigail’s daily rest today. We were both exhausted and could have used a nap ourselves, but instead we were busy around the house and checking on Abigail every half an hour or so.
But she came through it just fine. A little grumpy, but that’s pretty normal. I wake up from naps pretty much the same way.
I’ll keep you posted if there are any changes, but again, thank you for your thoughts. I think we’re going to be just fine.
Nonsensicles 
Hi Jessica and Alex,
Bill called this evening to tell us that Abigail had a seizure from spiking a fever. We know how frightening that was for you, and are so glad to hear that she is doing fine, and happy that she is back to her sweet, adorable self. Take care of yourselves. Our thoughts and prayers are for Abigail and you.
Dear Abigail – Get Well Soon! We love you.
Love,
Aunt Monika and Uncle Tom
Dear Alex and Jessica,
Even thought it was two and half years ago, I can still remember the over whelming fear of riding in an ambulance with Kailey after she had had a seizure brought on by a head trauma. I wasn’t with her when it happened but was able to get to the school before the ambulance left. The heart wrenching call to my father to ask him to pick Kira up and not being able to give him any details because I was still driving to school was one of the hardest parts. But, then again, Kailey not moving a muscle and not talking the whole ride the hospital was bad, too. Some phrases will stay with me forever: “We need to take her to the Stanford pediatric trauma unit”, “Turn on the siren. I’m down grading her condition”. I clung to the steady calmness the EMT working on Kailey.
Kailey was, of course, alright. Parents that saw it happen tell me that the situation was over blown. I figure that once someone thinks they’ve seen a grand-mal seizure there are certain protocols that must be followed. And, Kailey was just following directions in the ambulance. She had been told not to move while they put her on the backboard, and she took her job seriously. I now know what scared stiff looks like.
There are a few things that happened that I will always be grateful for:
-The EMT that was so calm and checked on Kailey multiple times at the hospital.
-The doctor that finally thought to ask Kailey to look at him while he was standing behind her so she had to do a back arch to see him. That was when we all knew she was going to be okay.
-That this happened during the school’s Halloween carnival, so Kailey was wearing the ladybug costume I had made her. I found holding her over stuffed wings very reassuring, and she was referred to as “the ladybug” the whole time we were there. She made a lot of people smile. The nurses thought she was so cute.
-That I had insurance that paid for 90% of the hospital bills. Right outside our room was a young baby with what was obviously a rip-roaring ear infection. His family didn’t have insurance so they had to stay in the hallway. The doctors needed to borrow medical equipment from our room. When the doctor asked if the baby had had all his shots, his mother asked if the hospital could give them to him because the free clinic was booked solid for the next month.
Don’t be surprised if six months from now you’re still getting new bills from doctors you don’t remember meeting (I’m sure I would have remembered a Dr. Gregory being in the room). And hopefully in a short time you will also be told “Mom/Dad, stop telling that story. It’s embarrassing”! But, you will need to tell it.
Hugs,
Bethani
Thanks for this, Bethani. I know that a lot of people go through this. Having seen it, it’s just unbelievable at the time that your child can be okay after going through that. I’m glad that Kailey came through it so well, too.
Glad to hear that Abigail is doing better. I just got the link forwarded to me today from Erich. So sorry to hear that you all had to experience that. I just can’t imagine. We all wish sweet Abigail a speedy recovery!
Melissa, Erich, Jacob and Sophie