A little scare.

This past Saturday started out really normally. Lucy ate around 7am and then went back to sleep for about 45 minutes then started fussing. Wesley offered to go get her and then he brought her back into the room and we all played with her in the bed for a little while. Then Wesley took her to the living room to entertain her while I got a tiny bit more sleep. As I was waking up (around 9am) he was changing her diaper. All the sudden I hear him saying, "Lucy, what's wrong?" and then in the next second, "Babe! She's not breathing and her lips are turning blue!" Of course everything starts moving in slow motion. I jumped out of bed and threw my glasses on and he was holding her and she was really limp. Even though it seemed like forever, by the time I got in the nursery she was breathing again but she just kept acting like she was falling asleep and she wasn't really responding to us and she was still acting like she wasn't getting any air, even though I knew she was breathing. We had even checked her mouth just to be sure by some freak chance she had grabbed something small and choked on it. Nothing. We decided to call 911 because she was still just acting so strange. They got there in about 3-4 minutes and she had started to just move around a little more after we put on flat on the couch per the 911 operator's instructions. They checked her blood sugar by pricking her toe and I guess it came back normal. Then they asked us which hospital we were going to take her to. I was really surprised -- I guess I hadn't thought about having to take her to the hospital. Since she's been to Egleston before and it's right around the corner from our house, we decided to take her there. They said she didn't need to ride in the ambulance but that we could take her ourselves if someone sat in the backseat to watch her. We just literally threw on our shoes and headed to the ER. They got her checked in and when they put in back in a room she started to have another episode where her oxygen levels went down and she was very limp and unresponsive. So they moved her to a bigger room and put her on oxygen. I don't know all they did in the next few minutes ... I know there were at least 3 doctors and 4 nurses in there. They drew her blood and gave her an I.V. and the whole time she's just screaming and it was so hard for me to hear that. But her screaming was better than her being limp and unresponsive! They finally let me hold her after they had done all their tests. They did a chest X-ray, a CT scan, and a lumbar puncture to rule out meningitis. They let me hold her and just wheeled us both around to get the CT scan. She was a trooper. Even during the lumbar puncture she basically fell asleep while they were doing it (after crying during the initial insertion of the needle). Nothing was showing up, so they said they at least wanted to keep her overnight for observation. They also wanted to do an EEG so they could see if it might have been a seizure. They gave her I.V. antibiotics in case it was an infection.

It was like deja vu, having to rush in to the hospital with her wearing basically pajamas and not knowing what was wrong with our baby. I cried a lot for a few hours. Then eventually they said she was doing well enough that she could go straight to a room on the regular unit, and not have to go to the ICU. So that afternoon we went up to the regular floor and they took her off oxygen since she seemed to be doing better. They also let me start nursing her which definitely made me and her feel better. This was about 2pm and she hadn't eaten since 7am that morning -- she had only had the IV since about 9:15am. I think when we got to the regular room and they took her off oxygen and I was able to feed her I calmed down a ton and just prepared to stay. Wesley went home and let our dog out and got us some clothes and toiletries.

What was cool (if you can call anything about that situation cool) is that the floor we were on at the hospital is the same floor she'll be going to after her surgery to recover. It's the "neurological" floor they called it. She will have the same nurses and a similar room. It was really good to know that. I have to say, I HATE going to the hospital with Lucy, but I cannot say enough good things about Children's at Egleston and their doctors and nurses. They are so supportive and so perfect to work with kids and their parents. One nurse hugged me in the E.R. and all the other doctors and nurses make sure to ask if you understand everything that's going on and they know it's frightening and they just try to make it better. Like letting me hold Lucy while they transported us everywhere instead of just making her lay alone on the bed.

The only test they were waiting on was the EEG, which I guess can't be done on the weekends unless it's an extreme emergency. So we knew it would be Monday before we could have that done, but we were hoping we could come home and then go back to do it outpatient. But the doctors said they wanted to keep her in the hospital through Monday just to be sure nothing happened again since they said if it was going to happen again, the greatest chance would be within 24-48 hours after the original incident. So we were stuck there until Monday afternoon. But I have to thank our friends Drew and Diane (and little Anna!), and Jeri, and Sarah and Jarrett for coming to visit us. It definitely made things easier and just less boring and overwhelming. I'm sure visiting a hospital on the weekend isn't their idea of a fun thing, so we really appreciate it.

Lucy slept great both nights and the only thing that bothered her was this hard splint on one arm to keep the I.V. in and the fact that the nurses and doctors were always in and out at odd times checking her out and getting her vitals. Wesley went home both nights to sleep since there was only one pull-out couch bed in the room. (I'm guessing this will be what happens when she is recovering from her surgery, too.)

So the end of the story is that we just don't know what happened. Nothing showed up -- everything was normal. They are making her wear an apnea monitor for about 2 weeks 24 hours a day (except for bathtime) and then for about a week just when she's napping/sleeping/in the car seat. It's just a band that goes around her chest that has electrodes in it that measure her heart rate and her breathing. It's really annoying because it has to be plugged in as much as possible so wherever we go, even from room to room, I have to carry the big pack around and all the wires, etc. The wires are always getting tangled up in her legs, too! But it gives me some peace of mind knowing that God forbid, if something should happen in the next few weeks, the monitor would let us know immediately. I'm hoping nothing will happen and nothing will show up!

They also made us take an infant CPR class yesterday before going home. It was really good for Wesley and I to learn about how to do CPR on Lucy should we ever need to. It just gives me confidence that we at least know what we're doing but I hope we never need to use it!

So we're back at home and just enjoying all that means ... our own beds and homecooked food and only a few wires attached instead of lots of wires. I'll be glad when we can take the monitor off, too!

Another good thing is that we thought we didn't know her blood type, but while we were there I asked about it again and they looked in her records from her previous hospital visit and the blood type was there: O+! So now we know and we can find people to donate since neither Wesley or I are a match (B+ and A+ respectively). But we know Lucy's Gigi is a match and we have lots of O- volunteers, too, which is a blood type she can receive.

So, you know, just another eventful weekend in the Fielding household! Looking forward to this weekend and all it's boringness! :)

Lucy in the hospital -- everyone remarked on how happy she was and how friendly she seemed to be. :) Our little sunshine.


Wires: the fall's hottest baby accessory.