Sunday, November 27, 2011

8 months

Yesterday Emrie turned 8 months! Where is time going? 
Yesterday is not how I expected celebrating her being 8 months
We flew to California on Wednesday for Thanksgiving.  On the plane I noticed Emrie kind of shivered. I really didn't think anything of it and just thought she was cold.
We got to Grant's moms house and Emrie did the weird shiver/twitch again. I started noticing it more and more the next 2 days.  I decided to call my pediatrician back home and explained what was happening and she told me to go to the ER right away.  Well instantly I started crying and felt helpless being in another state. 
We went to the closest ER and waited 2 hours and finally saw the dr. that could have easily been the janitor. Here is how our conversation went:

Dr: "so what are you here for?"
me: "Well, Emrie has started to do a wierd twitch/tremor sort of thing and it has become more frequent and so I called my pediatrician and she said to go to the ER right away"
Dr: "That's what every dr. says.  She looks healthy and great!"
me: "well the nurse was really concerned that it may be siezures.  Could it be?"
Dr. "oh yeah it totally could be, but I have a good feeling about this one."
me: "ok, thanks?"

Seriously, our conversation was 5 minutes and we were out of there.

It still didn't settle well with me.  

Yesterday, we were at the airport and Emrie continued to have these weird episodes and so Grant called a wonderful Dr. that is a family friend and who we went to India with who started the Pediatric Intensive Care unit at Phoenix Children's Hospital.  Grant explained to him what was going on and the Dr. wanted us to come to the hospital right when we got off the plane.  He admitted us over the phone so when we got to the hospital we would not have to fill out any paperwork and could go straight up to a room.

So many things were running through my head.  Grant and I both cried half of the flight home.  It was the unknown and my mind went to the worst.  And this is the little face that was staring back at me the whole time on the plane...

After I had Emrie, I remember one night while feeding her in her dark and quiet room praying.  I remember praying and handing Emrie's sweet life over to the Lord.

It was hard.  But I realized that she is not mine.  She is the Lords and I have been blessed that God chose me as her momma. His will is best not mine. He is in control.
I kept trying to remind myself of these truths.

Getting to the hospital and unloading in the ICU was surreal.  I felt like I was in a nightmare and it was never going to end.  The doctors and nurses consulted with us and asked us some things that had been going on.  They wanted to do a 24hr EEG to see if there was any seizure activity going on.  After explaining what was happening and having them see a few episodes, you could just see on their faces that they had an idea of what it was.


Having the best Dr. in the world taking care of Emrie gave me a little bit of peace and there were SOO many people praying.

The hardest part was having to hold my sweet little girl down while they put 24 electrodes on her head to monitor her brain activity.  That was the only time she cried and Grant and I just sobbed.

This sweet thing was just swooning the nurses and they all just loved her.  She was SOO happy and smiley to all of them.


About 2 hours after the monitoring began, we got a call from the Dr.  He described what was going on with Emrie.  The first thing he said was "praise the lord, she is not having seizures!!" My heart was so happy! He explained she was having something called "shudder attacks." No known reason for them and can be common in young children.  Looks like a shiver and only lasts for about 5 seconds.  Very benign and no lasting effects.  She could have it for a couple of years or less, but then it should just clear up on it's own.  He said he wanted to continue monitor through the night and then we would talk in the morning.

WOW! Praise the Lord.  We were overjoyed and could not believe it! all the signs pointed to a seizure, but the Lord was gracious and prayers were answered.

This morning we met with the dr. and he explained to us that what all the Drs, neurologist and nurses thought was going on, was much far worse than this.  He said all the signs pointed to something way more severe and "shudder attacks" never came to his mind. He was preparing to talk to us hours on end about the next step and what we were going to need to do. THAT right there made me praise God and know that prayer is truly POWERFUL!

We were discharged today and maybe have spoiled little miss Emrie a little more than usual with love.  She is such a blessing and the thought of anything being wrong broke my heart. What a joy she is and great example of a joyful spirit.  With everything she was hooked up to and being so confined, she still had the BIGGEST smile on her face. 

If only I could have the spirit of my sweet 8 month old!


 

13 comments:

... said...

AW im so glad that Emrie is doing well! You must have been so scared. God is good! He answers prayers and always takes care of us! :) She is such a darling!

Bobbie said...

First of all i LOVE the name of your little one. so precious. second im so happy that everything turned out ok! Its amazing how God will provide
-Bobbi

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad everything turned out okay! She is so stinking cute, even with electrodes in her head :) Let me know if you need anything.

Andrea @ The Dawley Fam said...

Praise the LORD that it was nothing too serious! God is so good! She is such a little cutie, I can't even imagine going through that with my baby! Glad it's over and you're home now. Enjoy your day!

Chelsea said...

WOW! I'm so glad to hear everything is going well with her! Prayer is so, so powerful!

Anonymous said...

God is so good! We were so worried about Emrie!! I was praising God when your mom called and told us it was shudder attacks!!
XOXOXO

his little lady said...

ohh, poor little girl! she still looks beautiful!! sending so many prayers for quick recoveries your way!
xo TJ

Mindee said...

Oh my goodness what a blessing that she was ok!! That would be so scary to go through..she is so so adorable and bright eyed! The power of prayer is so amazing.

Linny Jane Vintage said...

Oh Ashley what a weekend!! So sorry you had to go thru all that but so so glad it turned out well for little Emrie!

Nicole said...

awww sweet baby girl. so thankful she is ok.

xoxo

the world so sweet said...

wow! what a story. so glad to hear she's ok.

grey rose (they/them) said...

oh, ashley! praise jesus for his keeping your family. love you and praying xoxo

Heather said...

This must have been incredibly difficult to go through. As a mom we just want everything to be perfect with our child's health - and when it's not - it can be so scary. I'm really glad everything is okay with your sweet girl.