We spent Saturday at home just catching up. I felt pretty "normal" Sunday morning, so we all headed to church. There were many people patiently waiting to meet Jack. Jack was almost asleep in my arms as the service began, but then the music started and he sat right up and listened very intently. I eventually took Jack down to the nursery where he stayed in my arms and was very quiet and calm. Everyone commented about how still he was. I noticed a difference in him but figured he was just tired or overwhelmed. He dozed in my arms for pretty much the whole service. Something didn't seem right. This was not the Jack I had been with for the past 2 weeks. This was not the Jack who we had spent all day with at home on Saturday. After church, he continued to sleep a lot at home, but we figured it was jetlag kicking in.
Monday morning (December 23) Jack had a bottle and minutes later threw it up. Then he had a bad bout of diarrhea. He fell back to sleep quickly and slept, and slept and slept. He slept for most of the day. I'd wake him up for short intervals. He just wouldn't stay awake. Finally at around 10:30pm Jon woke him up. We figured he wouldn't sleep through the night if we didn't wake him. Jon gave him a bottle and began to change him. Jon called for me to come look at the weird face Jack was making. I said bring him to the bathroom I think he is going to throw up. He started convulsing and his jaw was locked. Suddenly he just went limp in Jon's arms. Something was terribly wrong. I called 911. They said he was probably having seizures. Finally the ambulance arrived (it felt like an eternity)! I rode in the ambulance with Jack to the hospital. He had more seizures while at the hospital. They kept us there overnight. He had more seizures while we were there but he still didn't have a fever. The dr's were pretty sure they were febrile seizures but found it odd that he didn't have a fever (which brings on febrile seizures). When he had his last seizure, he definitely had a fever. They treated him with Tylenol and another medication used to treat seizures and he didn't have any attacks after that. I messaged some of the workers from Jack's orphanage right away to find out if he had had seizures while in China but they didn't know of him having any. This was definitely a VERY scary situation. Every time he had an attack my heart broke for him and I was terrified of what these seizures could mean. Did Jack have epilepsy and this was hidden from us? Was there something else wrong with him that we were not told? And of course none of this mattered because Jack was now our son and we would do anything for him. I was just upset that if this information had been kept from us, we were not given the opportunity to prepare ourselves.
Jack did not have any seizures for several hours and the neurologist was fairly certain the attacks were due to his fever. We were allowed to go home (December 24). The neurologist prescribed us some meds just in case the fever returned and we wanted to avoid another attack, otherwise we could just give him Tylenol. The meds they gave him at the hospital made him so drowsy and he couldn't hold his head straight or stand without falling down so we didn't want to give him any more unless absolutely necessary. We just kept a close eye on him at home and gave Tylenol if we suspected a fever. We were also given an appointment for Jack to have an electroencephalogram (EEG). Everything was normal. We thank God he has not had a seizure since.
Jon and I know this was all brought on by stress. Of course the dr's don't agree with that because stress itself doesn't cause seizures. No but I strongly believe stress plays havoc with our bodies in ways we don't understand. Jack had never had any seizures before while in China (that they are aware of) and I'm confident that it would have been in his report had he had them while in the orphanage and I'm sure he had a fever multiple time before without any seizures. Suddenly a BIG change happened in his life, he got sick, had a fever and had seizures.
December 24-25. We stayed home Christmas eve. We didn't want to take Jack to church after all he had just gone through. Christmas day was also spent at home. Mom and dad came up for breakfast and the kids opened their presents. Later in the afternoon Jon took Nathaniel and Fredrick to have Christmas with his family while I just hung out with Jack. We still weren't comfortable with having him around a large group of people and in a different environment. We just wanted him to hang out at home and be relaxed and comfortable. We did that for the next couple of weeks.
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| The boys with their pappy! |
Jack is now a healthy, happy, thriving little boy! He brings us so much joy and laughter. He is also a very head strong 2 year old who does not like the word 'NO'! He wants it his way or no way. Jack can be very frustrating when he is upset. He throws his blankie on the floor because he's mad, but then screams and carries on because he wants his blankie (which is on the floor). *sigh* LOL! Jack wants to do everything his big brothers do which can cause some stress for mama...especially when he wants to climb the high structures at the park.
Jack has completed our family!
