"I'm totally freaking out--911's on the way."

This is the phone call I got on my way home from the grocery store on Wednesday night. Justin had to call paramedics when Amelia turned blue, went stiff, and stopped breathing--with her eyes open. The rest is somewhat of a blur and no fun retelling. In any case, she went via ambulance to the ER where they told us that more than likely, her reflux caused her to have an "episode." (For lack of a better word.) Though it could have been a seizure, her pediatrician later said that she would put her money on Sandifer's Syndrome (Blogger won't let me link it today, but here it is: http://www.infantrefluxdisease.com/sandifers-syndrome.php). Reflux babies always have a rattling, phlegmy sound to them because their food comes back up and they don't know what to do with it. As non-infants, we would spit/swallow it--but babies don't know how to go about any of this so it sits. When the throat is irritated from reflux, this can be a disaster of a combination and periods of apnea are common in these poor infants.

The good news is that she is fine now and has been fine since. She continues to get better each day--with minor set backs here and there--but no more scary scenes since that night. I'm not sure we can handle that again, so let's all hope that it was a one-time thing--and most certainly NOT a seizure (which we still can't rule out). Poor daddy had to retell his experience to the paramedics, the attending ER nurse, the ER doc and Dr. Emge the next day and each time, he fell apart. It must have been so awful for him to have dealt with that alone! And then there's me--enjoying my "break" at the grocery store for an hour a week and having to race home in time for the paramedics to show up. Awful all around.


While we cried and clung to each other in desperate fear, this is what the patient did for the 4 hours we spent in the ER while the doctors "observed" her:




It wasn't supposed to be like this. . .




When the doctor came in to see us, it was 9:30 pm and he said that he wanted to observe her for an hour or so after her next feeding. He assumed that would be in a couple hours until I told him that it was bed time and she would be out for the night at that point. He was mightily impressed. And though she wasn't in her crib all swaddled and cozy, she did sleep for the rest of the night. We got home at 1 or 2 (who knows) and she never woke up until 5 am. Of course, the same cannot be said for her parents. . .