Grayson's first fever

This is not a story I enjoy thinking about or telling. I'm really trying hard to get the images and the panic out of my mind. It was a little over a week ago (July 10, 2013) and the images and nervousness about G have gotten soooo much better. Thank you Lord for that peace!

On Wednesday morning Chad and I woke up and went down to breakfast together. Neither of us were meeting students for discipleship that morning and we were excited to eat breakfast as a family. Grayson hammed it up to the hotel staff and we sat together and laughed. 

Around 9:00 we were back up in our hotel room and all of a sudden we thought Grayson felt really warm. I took his temperature and it was 102.4. I called a pediatricians office that is right across from our hotel and they told me they couldn't see him because he wasn't a patient there. I called a CVS minute clinic near our hotel and they said they don't see kids under 2. I called Leigh (who talked to some nurse friends), his Clemson pediatricians office, some friends and we all kind of agreed maybe it was just a fever from teething. After all, he was getting 3 up top. I decided to just give him some tylenol. He fell asleep on me (never happens) while I was on the phone, so I decided to wait until he woke up.

He woke up around 11 and I gave him some tylenol. His fever was down over the next couple of hours and he acted like he felt fine. I took him out to lunch with me for our women's time and then Chad and I took him to the grocery store to buy some groceries for the team. He was his normal, happy self. 

I put him down for a nap around 2:15 and he slept until almost 5. That is a long nap for G. I figured he was just worn out. I took his temperature when he woke up and it was 102.8. I thought that seemed high but the pediatrician I had talked to wasn't too concerned about that temperature and G was acting fine. I decided not to give him any more Tylenol since he seemed fine and just to wait 2 more hours until I put him to bed (apparently a poor decision). 

I figured we would walk to soccer nights for an hour or so and then I would bring him back early and put him to bed early.

We were at soccer nights by 5:30 and I decided to keep G with me (instead of putting him at the childcare tent) since he had had a fever all day. He sat by me while Farris and I registered people and talked, smiled at people and acted normal. 

Around 6:15, most people were registered and I put G down in the grass by my feet to play. He sat there for about 2 minutes playing with the grass. Farris and I were watching him and talking. Then he fell straight back. In hindsight, this should've flagged me, because he doesn't do that. He is very steady sitting up and if he were to go to a horizontal position, he rolls to his belly instantly. He really kind of clunked back and just laid in the grass. The next little segment happened in about 7 seconds of time... His eyes were staring up at the table above him and Farris said something along the lines of "man, he is really fixed on that table". We kind of laughed and I said "yeah, almost like he's unconscious". Right when I was saying "unconscious" I think it hit both of us. This is the image I have in my mind. His little body lying in the grass. So awful. 

I snatched him up and began screaming his name. His hole body was limp and his eyes kind of rolled back in his head. I  started screaming "help! help!" and ran with his little body to a table near ours and sat him up on the table. Everything that was going on around me is a real blur. But I think Farris was yelling for someone to call 911. 

Not real sure what was going through my head but I took off from the registration tables across a pretty large field to where the large group was. Probably over 300 parents and kids standing around. They were having their opening ceremony and I took off running for the group frantically screaming "CHAD, CHAD". In my mind, I ran across that field at the speed of lightning :) I was scanning the crowd for Chad as I ran and I couldn't find him, so I just kept screaming his name. I had to have made quite a scene, but at the time I thought nothing of it. 

All of a sudden Chad popped out from the crowd and I said something along the lines of "It's Grayson, he's unresponsive" and Chad took off. Why I thought it was a good idea to leave my baby boy and run off, I don't know. All I could think was I needed Chad. Thankfully, Grayson was in good hands. 

By the time I got back to the table there was a bit of a crowd around. There were several people who jumped into action. There was a couple from Redemption Hill (who knew what they were doing) that were tending to him. A nurse was on the phone with 911 giving very detailed, thorough notes about what was going on and since she is from Medford, was able to tell them exactly where we were. I couldn't look. I dropped to my knees on the grass behind the group around him and just started praying. 

When Chad got to him, his lips were a bluish color and he was still out of it. 

Chad started saying "Christy, he is ok. He is ok." I eventually stood up and went to him and he just looked kind of dazed, but he was alert. The 911 crew got there shortly after.  They were really fast. There were several firetrucks and ambulances with their lights flashing and sirens. Again, quite a scene in front of all these kiddos and their parents. They asked a few questions, said they thought Grayson should be checked out and put him on a stretcher to roll him off the field. 

in the ambulance

They thought it was best to take him to Mass General Hospital. We got to a room about an hour later and some doctors came to check G out. He was exhausted and hungry. I fed him and he took a little 30 minute nap, we tried to keep him entertained in the hospital room (we were thankful he seemed fairly normal and active) and then some doctors came in to see him.

The doctors said that he had a febrile seizure, probably due to his fever. They said a fever never comes from teething. We should have given him tylenol to keep his fever down. They said every baby has a different temperature threshold their body can tolerate. And I guess Grayson reached his and his body shut down. They thought maybe he had an ear infection but wanted us to come back the next day to check it again. His vitals all looked good so they let us go home. 

I tried calling back to get an appointment the next day and they told me they were full. No way I could get in. I then got the run around from several different practices and ended up crying to one receptionist/nurse. She felt bad for me.  Nobody would see him since we weren't from the area/ not a regular patient. Finally we found a place in Chelsea that would see him and they pretty quickly diagnosed him with a strand of hand, foot and mouth disease. They said he had ulcers all in the back of his throat. No antibiotic, just keep him on tylenol and he will get over it. We were thankful for some reasoning behind the fever and seizure. 

As we were in the hospital all I could think of was things to be thankful for...

Thankful for how healthy Grayson has been for the past 8 months. 

Thankful we were around a large group with some qualified healthcare people. (What if I had been in the hotel room by myself?)

Thankful Grayson never stopped breathing.

Thankful to be in a place with great healthcare. After our time in India, that is not something I take for granted. 

Thankful for a community of friends around us in Boston who jumped in to help, drove our car to the hospital, checked in on and loved us well.

Thankful the Lord is sovereign and knows the number of our days. Oh how freeing that is...