We were in Stockton over the weekend, for Alaethia's cousin Elijah's 3rd birthday party. Keith's brother Kelly, and his wife, Janay, and their 4 kids were there from Oregon, and Keith's Parents,and brothers Karl, Kody and Kyle and sister Danielle. It was so great to have so many Hesses around! The only one who wasn't there was his sister Danae (we missed you horribly!!) The kids had a great time, splashing around in the pool, bouncing in the bounce-house, and whacking the pinata. Alaethia got 3 pieces of candy- all by herself!! (We were so proud!) Kevin and Katrina were even house-sitting some puppies, so you can just imagine all the excitement!!
Laeth enjoyed watching all of her cousins. She really loves to be around all of them. Lilly and Laeth are the same age, and it was so fun to see them together. It is amazing how much these kids grow up between visits!! They were all riding bikes or cars and it was the first time they had ever been able to all play together. Elijah even shared some of his birthday toys with her!! We were very impressed. After the Party, Keith went on a Ride-Along with his cousin, Ryan, and had a blast busting bad-guys. He got back at 6am and had lots of stories to tell.
On monday morning, all of the Oregon Hesses had to go home, but Kevin and Katrina let us stay and extra night. We got to go to a Birthday Party at Chili's with them, and it was nice to spend some extra time with them. Little did we know, that night would be the scariest night of our lives...
I'm not sure of the time, but I woke up to Laeth kicking the covers off. Which I didn't think was strange, because she does this throughout the night. I'm not sure how much time had passed, but I woke up a second time to her shaking uncontrollably. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I noticed that her eyes were rolled back into her head, and her mouth was limply ajar. It felt like something out of a scary movie. I woke Keith up, and he took one look at her, picked up her shaking, but seemingly almost lifeless, little body into Kevin and Katrina's Room. We kept trying to get her attention, calling her name, anything we could think of. We woke them from a deep sleep and frantically asked what to do. Aunt Katrina called 911, while Uncle Kevin put his finger in Laeth's mouth to keep her from swallowing her tongue. Keith fainted. (He later told me he thought these were our last hours with her. Poor, sweet guy!!) I sat by her on the couch and tried to keep my voice calm, reassuring her that we were all there beside her, and loved her. She still wasn't responding. It was the strangest experience of my life. We just felt so helpless. We Prayed.
The Fire Department and Ambulance arrived in under 2 minutes. Yay big towns!! We were so impressed with their efficiency. They were amazing. Somehow, they kept everyone calm, even when they wheeled Laeth, Minnie, and I out on the stretcher. (they let me hold her) Keith rode in the passenger seat. When we arrived at the hospital, Uncle Kevin (a Police Officer) had already made some calls, and they were expecting us. The Head Nurse came and gave Laeth a soft, fuzzy, blue hospital gown to wear, and a cute purple stuffed frog. We felt well taken care of. Uncle Kevin came by shortly, and they old him her temperature had been 104.6 when we got to the hospital. That means that she had COOLED DOWN to 104.6. She had been way hotter than that when she had the seizure. She went through X-rays, blood tests, had to have a catheter, got prepped for an IV, threw up, got her toe pricked, and had her temperature taken twice...but not in her mouth. Poor girl handled it all like a pro. She barely even cried. Her least favorite were the temperature taking and the X-ray. To do an X-ray on kids, they have this hard plastic restraining "seat" that they have to sit in, with their arms up. She did not like this. Luckily for me, they had Keith do this with her, since I'm pregnant. I'm so glad Kevin was there to stand with me outside the X-ray room doors. It was so hard to stay out in the hall while she was screaming 1 room away.
Long story, a little shorter, we went in at 2:30am and got out by 6am. Good thing we had Uncle Kevin and his connections!! We wouldn't even have known which hospital to go to!! Praise the Lord they let us stay another night!!! Praise God Alaethia's still alive!! Praise Him she's not permanently damaged!! I could go on and on. The paramedics said that she won't necessarily have these seizures the rest of her life, probably won't actually. I guess it is pretty common for kids under 5 to have seizures when their temp gets too high. God designed seizures to cool the kid off. Pretty cool.
So, please keep Laeth in your prayers, she's still exhausted!!
Let Me Tell You About My Dad
12 years ago
