9-1-1

 

Annie getting her first bath. She wasn't too sure at first but then decided she was into it. I made sure the kids were not around because I didn't want them getting any ideas and Michael always uses water that is way too cold. 

February 23rd was her first bath and only because she had a big poop. 

My little buddy and I waiting for the big kids in the car. 

 

I took David and Annie on a walk. Nothing makes me feel better than some fresh air and sunshine. It was a little bumpy for Annie but she did ok. 

I love watching babies sleep, hehe. 

Lilah asking for a picture. Such a silly girl. 

Lilah asks to hold Annie all the time. Sometimes she picks her up if I turn around. I think she thinks Annie is her doll. 

We have grown to love the movie Encanto. David is always asking me to play him the songs on my phone. 

These kids crack me up, ha! 

And we got our one day of snow in February. It was just enough to cover our grass and it didn't stay very long this year but it was still pretty and fun. 

I had canceled Annie's well-baby visit because it had been very windy on the day I was supposed to take her. And of course when I rescheduled, it was snowing. 

I love her pouty mouth when she sleeps. 

She usually sleeps with me in bed but once in a while she will actually take a nap in her bassinet. 

It was just like any other night. Mike had just put the kids to sleep and had gone to sleep. He had probably been asleep for 30 minute to an hour. I was done nursin Annie. It was around midnight February 23rd. I put Annie down, went to bed, turned off the lights and then I heard Mike whimpering. He used to talk in his sleep so I thought maybe he was just talking. But then he kept getting louder. I thought maybe he was having a nightmare that he couldn't wake up from. My back was facing towards him but I turned a little and patted his back, and nothing. He made this really loud cry that scared me. So, I jumped out of bed and turned the lights back on so I could wake him up. 

And then I saw him in full seizure. He was having a tonic-clonic seizure. His eyes were rolled back and he was starting to turn grey. I took pictures but I won't upload them because he looks half dead in them. I stayed calm, turned him on his side because he was not getting any air, and thankfully after was probably 30 seconds, he started gasping for air. I kept him on his side because his mouth has full of drool. His body was still convulsing but it had started to slow down. I kept talking to him, asking him to breathe and relax. His body finally started shaking and his breathing slowed down even though it was still some gasps. 

I kept talking to him but he wouldn't respond. His pupils were fully dilated and his eyes were open but he wan't looking at anything. It's like he wasn't even there. Over the next 30 minutes, his breathing slowed down. He had never had a seizure before so I thought i'd just watch him overnight and take him to urgent care first thing in the morning and ask for a CT. It took him about an hour to wake up. He was not making any sense when he talked, but atleast he was talking.

About an hour and a half had passed and I thought I'd lay down and close my eyes because Annie was going to wake up to eat very soon. No sooner did I close my eyes that Mike started having a second seizure. Same thing, wailing, shaking, gasping or air. This one did not last as long but I decided to call his mom to see if he had history of seizures and to ask her what I should do. I called her in Netherlands and thankfully it was day time for her. She sugested I call 9-1-1 because although he ended up waking up quicker for this seizure, he was very confused. I also didn't know what I would do if he had a seizure on the way to the hospital. She also suggested that I ask them to take him to Loma Linda and put on my scrubs and badge. I am so glad she told me to do that. My sister happened to be in town that day. I had woken her up after Mike's first seizure and told her if it happened agian I would have to go to the hospital. When it happened agian, she came down and I gave her instructions on what to do with the kids and Annie in the morning. I don't know what I would've done if she hadn't been there. 

I prepared Lilah's clothes for school, I took out milk out of the freezer and told my sister how often to feed her and how much and I got my pump bag and packed some snacks because I knew it would be a long night. And then I called 9-1-1. It was my first time ever calling 9-1-1. 

The first people that showed up were the fire department. They all came into our room and brought a gurney in. Here they are assessing Mike while he was in bed. He was more awake here after his second seizure. Annie was fast asleep and had no idea what was even happening. I had managed to get Mike dressed but he kept refusing to get up and said he wanted to go to back to bed. I took me forever to put his shoes on and then he would just slip them off, just like a little kid. He had gotten up to go to the bathroom after his first seizure and ran into the wall. He was so stubborn I don't think I could've gotten him in the car by myself even if I tried. 

It was such a cold night that my windshield had frosted over. The ambulance told me to follow them and I was so scared they would leave me because I couldn't get the ice off my windshield. The guys from the fire department were so nice and asked me to grab my hose. They then hosed off all of the ice and I was able to see and follow the ambulance. I asked them to take Mike to Loma Linda Hospital. When the ambulance got there, the fireman told the ambulance to take him there and the RN said, sure. I was so glad, it really came in handy. 

I followed the ambulance there and Mike was soon admitted. Thankfully he got his own room and it was mostly quiet. 

I was able to just close the curtain and pump in the room without having to leave him. 

After a few hours ,I decided to close my eyes while leaning against the rails. 15 minutes later, the nurse came in and asked Mike if he was ok. I turned over to him and realized he was staring off and was about to have another seizure. Good thing he had his pulse ox off because I guess he had started desatting again. He desatted all the way to the 80s. Thankully for Mike, I worked with a lot of seizure patients and was able to help the nurse out. I grabbed the oxygen for her, turned on the suction to suction his mouth, and turned him over while other people came in the room. A minute or two later, the doctor came in and saw the seizure and put orders in for Keppra. She said since it had been his 3rd consecutive seizure, that she was going to give him medication. 

The Keppra seemed to do the trick and he didn't have any more seizure after that. They took him in for a stat CT after that and I tried my best to stay calm but all I could think about were those young male patients that I took care of in Neuro ICU that had come in for tumors. I was so nervous that they would find brain cancer because it is not normal for a healthy guy like Mike to have seizures. 

Thankfully they did the CT fairly quickly and the doctor came in right away. He said, "I thought you'd be worried and want to hear what the results were." I was so thankful he did not let me wait around or that he did not forget about me. It was such a relief to have the CT came back clean. For the rest of the night, Mike slept. I went back home to take the milk to Annie. I tried to make it back before 6am but decided to stay back and help Priscilla with the kids a little. 

My sister-in-law, Jill sent us some dinner. She is such a great example of service to me. She is always quick to serve and does it without telling anyone. 

Feeding my little Annie before heading back to the hospital. I tried not to think too much about missing her. There was no time for that. I was just so grateful for my siblings and for all of their help with the kids because my kids are not at an easy age right now. 

Thankfully, I had been using my Haka and had plenty of milk for Annie while I was away. 

My brother even cooked me a delicious breakfast before leaving in the morning. I had missed the morning rounds and Mike was not the best at telling me what they had said. Apparently, they had admitted him to the 13th floor but he forgot to tell me. 

When I finally found him on the 13th floor he was sleeping. It took him a while to get adjusted to his new medication because it made him really sleepy at first. Mike had a head wrap because he was on EEG monitoring, and I thought it was funny that I walked in and Joey from Friends also had his head in a wrap. By this time Mike had also had an MRI done. He had had this while he was still in the ED. I remember going to pump on the floor that I work on before anyone got there in the morning. It was such a blessing to be at the hospital where I work because I knew where everything was and my badge let me in all of the doors. 

Mike mostly slept. He absolutely hated being in bed. Mike is someone who is always on the go so he hated being strapped down with wires everywhere. He was still not like himself. I think having so many seizures also wiped him out. 

After a day of being on the EEG, they never ended up finding anything. Which I was happy to hear but it was also hard to not have answers. 

My friend Lara sent me and my siblings lunch. I was reminded of how acts of kindness can really change things for someone. Such a sweet thing of her to do. It was nice to have left overs for lunch so that I could spend more time with Mike without having to pack a lunch or go down to the cafeteria. 

Before shift change, I went home to get some sleep and take the milk to Annie. I wanted to give my siblings a break also. Lilah wanted to sleep with me so we had a little girls' sleepover. 

And then Lilah went to her bed because she is too crazy and I didn't want her kicking Annie or I in her sleep. 

In the morning, the first thing she did was climb back in bed with Annie. I hope she always loves her little sister this much. 

I was going to cancel Annie's pictures but decided to just go through with it. The only thing is we wouldn't be able to do a family picture and Mike wouldn't have his picture with the baby. Annie was already 3 weeks old so we went ahead with the pictures. Emily has done a great job with all of my babies. Annie is her last one to photograph. Such great memories to have. 

After 3 days of being at the hospital, Mike finally got to come home. I forgot to get him a shirt. Thankfully I had my sweater with me so Mike got to wear that home. I was so happy to have him home. This experience definitely opened up my eyes and made me see my life in a new perspective. I realized how much Mike does for me and how thankful I am to have him as my partner. This whole ordeal has definitely strengthened our marriage. 

We never found any answers as to why this happened. He had never had any seizures in the past and he hasn't had any seizures since. Perhaps it is a miracle and a blessing. Sometimes I think about Marcia being on her mission and the blessing it is on all of us to have her be on the Lord's errand. 

The day I called her to tell her Mike had, had seizures, she had also gotten a call her sister Ann had passed away. It was definitely a hard week but I can see the blessings in our lives from having her serve even if she is far away. 

Another hard part of this whole ordeal is having Mike's license taken away. It has definitely been a challenge but I'm glad that's as hard as things got. I would take that any day over a tumor or cancer.