The Rainbolts

 On Wednesday, August 22nd at 5:15 pm, Harper gave me the scare of a lifetime.  That morning the girls and I went to the park around eleven am and had a picnic with Sarah, Lydia, and Jack Henry and then we played until we left around one.  Harper missed her morning nap so when I got home a gave her a little more to eat just so she would sleep and not wake up from hunger and then sent her to nap.  She slept about four hours and I wasn't too concerned since she missed her morning one and I had a video monitor watching her off and on.  A little after five pm, I heard her stirring and saw that she was moving so I went in to get her.  I walked in and turned the light on and she didn't raise up like she typically does.  I bent over and picked her up and she was kind of limp.  Her head flopped to the side which is not her at all.  I then saw her eyes and they were going back and forth horizontally and rapidly.  I thought, what in the world.  I laid her on the changing table and looked her over.  Her eyes were still going crazy and I tried to get her to track a stuffed animal that we keep on her changing table.  She couldn't see it or track it and she wouldn't respond to my voice.  At this time, I'm starting to freak out!  I scoop her up and find my phone.  Being a nurse, I even started second guessing myself and wondering if I was really seeing what I was.  I laid her on the floor and looked at her again, she still didn't have muscle control and her eyes were still moving back and forth rapidly.  I called Michael and he didn't answer his cell.  I then tried his work number and he picked up and I told him to get home immediately. At this point, I picked Harper up and was grabbing all kinds of things for the diaper bag.  And if you know Harper she is not a cuddler so when I was just holding her and she was not fighting me or wanting down, there is something wrong.  About this time she starts throwing up.  I was covered and she was covered so I laid her on a towel in the bathroom, head to the side, and I try to clean her up and I have to take my shirt off.  It was so gross.  Michael walked in about this time and I'm trying to get her dressed and he tries to get Harper to look at him or respond and she won't.  She is breathing this whole time.  He tries to hold her like he usually does but she can't hold her head up.  It is the weirdest thing.  At this time, I'm thinking she may have had a seizure.  We get her in the car and Eden loaded up and take off to Arkansas Children's Hospital.  On the way I call my mom to come meet us so she can spend the night with Eden if we end up staying late and Michael ends up talking to Sarah and she comes to get Eden quickly from the ER.

On the way to the ER, Harper throws up several more times on the way and she is not holding her head  up in her car seat.  We get there and check in, and she throws up again.  The poor triage nurse let us bypass a few people that were waiting because of the possible seizure that she had.  We see lots and lots of doctors and answer tons of questions.  Harper's eyes stopped going back and forth before Michael got home but the doctors were able to see her lack of muscle control.  They kept asking if she had fallen and hit her head or if she had ingested anything.  We of course kept saying we didn't think so.  Neither Michael or I take any medicine and the only thing Eden gets is a vitamin and all cleaning things are behind child lock and NOTHING was out!!  It took her 2 - 2 1/2 hours for her to get her muscle control back and for her to really be able to sit up without falling over.  It was so weird.  They ended up admitting her for the night for observation and to get an EEG and head MRI on Thursday.  She continued to throw up several times in the ER.  I stunk so bad because she kept getting it on me;)  We got into her room around eleven and didn't get any sleep that night.  I stayed with her and Michael went home a little before one am so one of us would be rested the next day.  They came in and gave her an IV at 1:30 am and she was made NPO (can't eat or drink) after midnight for the MRI.  They took her for her EEG at 10:45 and we got back from it around noon.  She HATED it.  Every time the nurse would touch her to put the leads on her head she would scream. They needed her to go to sleep and she was so tired and she fought it forever and when everyone finally left the room, she gave it up.  Then they come in and woke her up=(  She was not a happy camper.  Oh well, all the nurses ate her up because she is so stinkin' cute=)

Her MRI was scheduled for 2pm but she went for it a little before 6pm.  Dr. Willis, her neurologist, said that if her MRI came back clear then we could be discharged, YAY!!  A little before seven, Dr. Willis' resident, came in and said the EEG and MRI were perfect.  Hallelujah!!!!  We got discharged and walked out of the hospital at 7:40pm.  Nobody knows if she actually had a seizure or what made her loose muscle control and cause her eye thing.  The kicker is Michael and Eden had gotten the stomach bug several days before and it made Michael and Beth (another poor soul who got it) both pass out.  So weird.  So I'm wondering if that was an infants way of fainting or what.  She never ran a fever or anything and she never threw up until after the episode.  There are still thousands of questions and we may never know.  Dr. Willis said that some infants can have migraines that might would present like that.  Migraines do run in the family so who knows.  We were instructed to follow-up with a neurologist and to watch her closely if she ever does get a fever because if she did have a true seizure she would be more susceptible to febrile seizures.  All in all, we are praying that we NEVER see her that way again!!!!  It scared us to death.  Here are a few pictures from her room on Thursday when she was doing great!

 August 12th-17th we spent in Searcy at Granna and Gigi's house (hence the "G" house).  Craig and Tiffany had come in from Virginia and Matt, Beth, and Brisco made it down from Michigan.  Jeff, Sarah, Lydia, and Jack Henry were there too.  Marilyn and Betty had a packed house=)  We had so much fun with everyone.  We hate that everyone is kind of spread out and we see them two or three times a year if we are lucky so a lot of catching up is done in a week.  With all the fun that was had we also had a little tummy bug shake the house.  Several got it while at the house and some got it a day or two later at home.  Eden and Michael both got it and I think Harper got it a little too (but that's a whole post in itself).  While at the house we had a big time playing and relaxing.  The girls got out a little to shop here and there and we went to JoJo's one night to see her, Allen, and Nancy and had dinner with them.  One morning our family went over to see Grandmother and we helped make oatmeal raisin cookies and snicker-doodle cookies.  I think Eden even helped with a pecan pie.  She stayed all afternoon with Grandmother and had a blast with her.  Lydia, Eden, and Brisco had a wonderful time playing together and running around and around in the house, ha=)  Harper loved being surrounded by all the "new" boy toys: cars, trains, trucks.  It was so funny.  She LOVED them.  A HUGE thanks to Marilyn and Betty for letting us crash their place and helping us all with the kiddos while we are there.  And not to forget all the wonderful meals too, Delicious!  Thank you!!

FYI:  The pictures did not upload in order as much as I tried and I'm to lazy to rearrange them today:)