Around 11 o’clock Monday night I was awakened by a panicked scream from Jasmine. When I hurried to her playpen she looked fine at first, but then I realized she was convulsing.
Andy jumped out of bed and turned on some light and we saw that she had vacant, glassy eyes and would jerk uncontrollably. It hardly seemed like she was breathing.
Jasmine was burning up with fever, so we took off her sleeper and Andy ran her downstairs and put cold water on her in the sink.
We prayed aloud and talked to her, rubbing her with a towel. The whole time it felt like she wasn’t in her body. She didn’t cry, she was floppy, and her eyes were glazed over as she just kept on convulsing.
I was so scared she would stop breathing.
After ten or fifteen minutes she finally let out a little cry, and over the next while she became more and more herself. She was still floppy and shaking, but she could make a little noise and breathe better.
Andy and I held and rocked her for a long time, and eventually she was able to drink some out of a bottle and then suck on her nuki.
After things quieted down a bit, we researched childhood seizures and found that they aren’t as uncommon or serious as we originally thought.
Febrile seizures as they are called, are often preceded by a fever, and occur when there is a rapid change in temperature. They usually happen between 6 months and 3 years of age, peaking around 18 months. The reason for this is because during those years the brain is developing at a very rapid pace and can “short out”.
These Febrile seizures are usually not dangerous and are not a sign of epilepsy.
Nevertheless, it is one of the most frightening and horrifying experiences as a parent, and I hope we never have to go through it again!
I just went through this with our youngest in August who was 14 months old at the time. It was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever been through as a parent!! Ethan had started a fever during the night from teething and I had been rocking him all day. He was going to sleep but kept startling with a little outcry, which I thought was odd. Then all of a sudden he started screaming like the devil was after him, gazed toward the window while convulsing, but his eyes glazed over quickly. His crying faded out and he did stop breathing, turned all blue, went stiff, then looked lifeless and floppy. My heart was starting to feel shattered as I rubbed him and tried to talk to him but feeling like I was losing him. It all happened so quickly, probably only a minute or two, then he finally gave a little inhale and started to pink up. The not breathing scared me so bad that as soon as he did start again we beelined it to the ER. We know now that wasn’t necessary but that was a parents worst nightmare. 😪 Never want to repeat that!
Seizures are so scary as a parent! Especially if you don’t know what’s happening. Bless you!
Wow! What a scary time. I, too, hope you never have to go through this again!