The Week That Just Won't End!

We have had one heck of a week. It's almost the weekend and I am so ready for Craig to be off work again!

Jenna has been having issues sleeping lately. We thought it was because we were trying some medicine for her anxiety. Now I'm not so sure that was the cause.

At 2am on Sunday morning Jenna woke up and wanted a movie. Craig put on Scooby-Doo (an old classic!!!) and she fell back asleep. I checked on her at 2:30 after Cohen's feeding. She was still sleeping, so I went back to bed.

At 3:30, Craig's anxious yelling startled me out of sleep. He was hollering for me to come quick, Jenna was having a seizure - "It's a bad one," he said.

I ran into the living room and there she was, convulsing on the couch. I went to get the Valium in case we needed it, and I think we both figured we needed it already. I was so nervous, it took me a minute to locate it. I came back to find Craig stroking Jenna's hair, bending down to her ear to talk to her in a soothing voice in case she could hear him and was scared.

Seizures always look so bad, but this one was especially difficult to watch! Her eyelids, tongue and lips were pulsing to the same beat the rest of her body was - her arms were above her head, jerking, as if she was a cheering spectator at a sports event. Her legs stiffened repeatedly, tangled in the covers.

I always feel so helpless, as if something has taken over my child and I can't reach her when she's all alone and dealing with something I have no control over.

After we gave her the Valium, I called 9-1-1 because it looked as if she was starting to have trouble breathing and the last time we saw that, they almost had to intubate her. Craig and I exchanged a look as I impatiently waited - ON HOLD!!! - for someone to talk to me. We had seen seizures over the past few years, but this was different. This was like the one back in 03 that left her in the ICU for a week.

The ambulance arrived and Jenna was still seizing a bit but her body had calmed down considerably. They put her on an oxygen tank, strapped her in the gurney and away we went. Good thing I had just fed Cohen, who along with Hannah, slept through it all.

At the ER, Jenna was out of it; the valium had done its job. She only fought a little when they put in her IV. About two hours later, Craig arrived with Cohen and Hannah so I could nurse. When I got back to Jenna's side, I noticed she was breathing differently. I had a strange feeling she was going to seize again. Sure enough, she did - for about a minute. The nurse stood at her side and watched her oxygen to make sure she was getting enough through the oxygen mask. Then he walked away and I was a little frustrated. I thought the Valium might be wearing off and that was why she had the seizure - which meant it was only going to get worse as they continued to occur.

She had several more before they would give her Adovan through her IV. In the meantime I warned them that Jenna would surprise them if they did not give her some medication. The last two seizures ended up being right on top of each other and the final one was much more violent than the others. I was so relieved when they finally gave her the med! I felt like screaming in the meantime!

While we were there, we discovered that Jenna had RSV, which might have diminished her strength and possibly instigated the seizures.

We went up to Pediatric Intensive Care and Craig and I traded off shifts to ensure Jenna would not flip out of her bed when she woke up. Boy do we know our girl! When she woke up, she was like a prize fighter in a wrestling ring! Delirious, unhappy and full of anxiety in addition to being miss loosie-goosie with no ability to sit unassisted - a dangerous combo!

Smile?! I don't feel like smiling...

The situation was complicated by the fact that Cohen will not take a bottle. So the most I got to sit with Jenna was three hours at a time. Craig had to stay overnight. The nurses all suited up in special suits because she had RSV and they didn't want to pass it around.

The first night Hannah, Cohen and Mommy were home alone, missing Jenna and Daddy, Hannah and Mommy worked on a card for Jenna
(Hannah got a bit carried away with the stamps!)

The blessing? We live so close to the hospital - two exits away - that we could go back and forth without too much hassle. And parking was free. We couldn't help comparing the situation to the same type of situation back home - where the hospital was an hour and a half away and the parking could run you up to five bucks a day. This was especially difficult when Cohen was in the NICU and I had to go back and forth to try to get him to nurse - oh, the irony! That's all he does now!!! :) So even though we missed having friends and family present, the short commute made things much, much easier!

Cohen and Hannah were very, very good during their MANY trips to the hospital -
looks more like 5 star accommodations, doesn't it? Oh, the deception! :)

And for you coffee lovers...

...Starbucks in the lobby!
There were a few times passing by that I wished I actually liked coffee!

And despite being a very upscale hospital, it wasn't without its problems...
Look familiar?! ;)
(if not, see earlier posts!!!)

When Jenna was released on Tuesday afternoon, we were very relieved but felt as though we had climbed a very large, very steep mountain. This was the first time we've been completely alone with Jenna in the hospital. But we handled it. I don't like watching Jenna suffer, but I know God was with us and her - she was never really alone.

Release day and a lopsided smile for the camera!
The EEG probes did WONDERS for her hair!

Recovery has taken a while. For the first two days she was back home, Jenna struggled to walk without bumping into things, stumbling in circles to get her balance and frequently falling to the floor. There was no holding her down! She's one determined little girl! But she is doing much better today. She is less anxious and much happier! YAY!

Thank you for your prayers! Jenna is going to be just fine!