I'm a 31 year old mother of 3 beautiful bouncy boys and this is the story of my youngest, Emilio.
Emilio is the sweetest, cutest little 3 year old ever! My 3rd son, which was supposed to be my girl but I guess "God had other plans" :)
I was absolutely certain he was going to be a girl. My cravings were different, all I wanted was sweets, sweets, sweets! I remember drinking the honey right out of the plastic bear and having Pop Tarts for breakfast. This was not typical for me or any of my pregnancies. So I knew that this time, this pregnancy was definitely different. A girl, for sure!
Five months into my pregnancy we went in to get a routine ultrasound, but this one was special. This one they'd be able to tell the sex of the baby!!! I was so excited and full of pee (not a good combination). Minutes after they began I could see two glowing little lumps on the screen. I looked at my husband, then back at the monitor and asked "those are balls aren't they?" She replied with a simple "yes, they are". There I had it. The surprise of a lifetime. My motherly instincts had failed me for the first time, ever. It was a boy, and boy did that sting. But only for about 3 days. I guess I had just let myself get all worked up and excited over picking tutus and patent leather shoes. But the reality of it is, I love boys. Boys are absolutely amazing. I love Lego's and dirt and frogs and Marvel comics and I am soooo glad that I don't have to pretend to be anything princess-y.
Anyways, back to Emilio. Two days after he was born, we still didn't have a name. So we decided on Emilio. His great-grandfather's name and his dad's middle name, and it's a decision I'd regret since!
No one could pronounce Emilio! I should have named him Adam or Abraham. Easy to pronounce in English and Spanish, something that's very important to our Mexican-American culture. But a day late and a dollar short I suppose.
Having Emilio home felt so...right. He was the perfect addition to our family. The boys bonded with him right away. There was no jealousy from either of his two older brothers. I guess they were so used to the idea of a new baby that by the time the stork dropped him off they were just excited to meet him.
Emilio was a quiet baby. He hardly ever cried and when he did, you could barely hear him. It was almost as if he was too lazy to really cry. I didn't mind it at all. Benny, the middle one, had suffered from colic as an infant and I would spend hours on end trying to soothe and comfort him to no avail. Switching formulas, bouncing him, rocking him, rubbing his tummy, giving him teas and rice water, tablets and drops. Nothing helped! Until one day he just finally grew out of it. It was actually a relief to have such a quiet baby. I thought I had paid my dues and was finally being blessed with an "easy baby". But around five months I began to notice that Emilio was more than just a quiet baby. He really struggled to sit on his own. His back didn't have much strength, even if you held him by his hips he would flop to either side if he weren't completely being held and supported. At five months is when he had learned to roll over, which is kind of late when compared to my other two sons. At his six month baby check up I brought my concerns to his pediatrician. He told me that I was just comparing him to my other sons, that all kids develop differently, and that I should just relax a little. So I did.
Here he is at eight months, the following doctor's appointment. As you could see he's leaning a little because he still can't support his own weight to sit by himself.
The fact that he still couldn't sit unassisted at eight months was a huge concern for me. At this check up he still wasn't able to crawl, nor was he even attempting to grab on to furniture to pull himself up, nor was he pointing at anything, he was still very quiet, except at night...he never sleeps through the night, and he didn't respond to his name...the list goes on. He was missing milestone after milestone. But he made good eye contact and even smiled at people. I guess that was enough to keep the doctor's happy because they didn't seem concerned at all. I was just another mother quick to worry.
A week after his first birthday Emilio caught the flu. One of the many benefits of having two older sticky, smelly brothers. But as they got better with a little IBU and a warm bath, Emilio got worse. I laid him down after giving him a bath and instantly his condition worsened. His eyes rolled and bounced to the back of his head, his limbs became limp and cold, and his lips turned blue. Having never seen this before I yelled to my husband, he rushed over and tried to rub his sternum to get a reaction. But there was none. His body was completely limp, like a doll. We rushed towards the Children's Hospital and carried him into the ER. They took him from my arms and put a tube down his tiny throat. Loaded him full of anti convulsants
This picture was taken shortly before his first seizure. Adorable, isn't he?
We went his entire first year believing he had "febrile seizures" which is defined as:
Febrile seizures are convulsions brought on by a fever in infants or small children. During a febrile seizure, a child often loses consciousness and shakes, moving limbs on both sides of the body. Less commonly, the child becomes rigid or has twitches in only a portion of the body, such as an arm or a leg, or on the right or the left side only. Most febrile seizures last a minute or two, although some can be as brief as a few seconds while others last for more than 15 minutes.
The majority of children with febrile seizures have rectal temperatures greater than 102 degrees Fahrenheit. Most febrile seizures occur during the first day of a child's fever. Children prone to febrile seizures are not considered to have epilepsy, since epilepsy is characterized by recurrent seizures that are not triggered by fever.
One of the many things I've learned on this journey is that we are all capable of having a seizure. Everyones threshold is different. Things such as high fevers, an injury to the head, extreme stress, lack of sleep, alcohol and drug abuse, as well as family history can all contribute to having a seizure or seizures. Turns out Emilio's threshold is very low. The seizure in June of '09 was just the first of many. He's had 3 severe seizures, the longest lasting 50 minutes, non stop. He's had countless little ones, usually lasting between 10 seconds up to a minute each.
We discovered after his 2nd severe seizure in April of 2011 that it was no longer febrile seizures. The neurologist said Emilio was epileptic. He would need to be on an anti epileptic medication until further notice. I was very, very sad. VERY sad. But after seeing him have two really horrible, scary seizures I didn't so much care that he was being placed on meds...as long as he didn't get any more of those debilitating seizures I was willing to try anything. So we started him on twice daily Keppra.
His eyes were a little crazy when he first began the medication. It seemed to get him a little dizzy at first. He would bump into things and had trouble focusing. But after the first two weeks the side effects went away.
I was asked to follow up with my pediatrician a few days after being seen in the ER the first time in '09. The pediatrician which shall remain nameless unless you look up my review on Yelp! (insert angry emoticon here)...I had learned to distrust the guy by then. Follow up? For what? Just so I could get swept under the rug like all the other times?! A seizure is what it took to finally be heard.
Upon reading Emilio's chart and recent ER visit, he referred us to the San Diego Regional Center.
And soon after that, I'd have to be loading up my tiny, fragile, voiceless little baby onto a big yellow bus for a special ed class twice per week which included music, art, playtime...they called it the "Early Start Program". An early intervention program is what it is.
And even though I've met a biiiig group of kids, all with different types of disabilities, all beautiful in their own way, I've never met anyone else like Emilio. He is as unique as an 1943 Lincoln Penny formed in bronze. Looks just like all the other ones, but to me he's worth millions.
The majority of children with febrile seizures have rectal temperatures greater than 102 degrees Fahrenheit. Most febrile seizures occur during the first day of a child's fever. Children prone to febrile seizures are not considered to have epilepsy, since epilepsy is characterized by recurrent seizures that are not triggered by fever.
One of the many things I've learned on this journey is that we are all capable of having a seizure. Everyones threshold is different. Things such as high fevers, an injury to the head, extreme stress, lack of sleep, alcohol and drug abuse, as well as family history can all contribute to having a seizure or seizures. Turns out Emilio's threshold is very low. The seizure in June of '09 was just the first of many. He's had 3 severe seizures, the longest lasting 50 minutes, non stop. He's had countless little ones, usually lasting between 10 seconds up to a minute each.
We discovered after his 2nd severe seizure in April of 2011 that it was no longer febrile seizures. The neurologist said Emilio was epileptic. He would need to be on an anti epileptic medication until further notice. I was very, very sad. VERY sad. But after seeing him have two really horrible, scary seizures I didn't so much care that he was being placed on meds...as long as he didn't get any more of those debilitating seizures I was willing to try anything. So we started him on twice daily Keppra.
His eyes were a little crazy when he first began the medication. It seemed to get him a little dizzy at first. He would bump into things and had trouble focusing. But after the first two weeks the side effects went away.
I was asked to follow up with my pediatrician a few days after being seen in the ER the first time in '09. The pediatrician which shall remain nameless unless you look up my review on Yelp! (insert angry emoticon here)...I had learned to distrust the guy by then. Follow up? For what? Just so I could get swept under the rug like all the other times?! A seizure is what it took to finally be heard.
Upon reading Emilio's chart and recent ER visit, he referred us to the San Diego Regional Center.
And soon after that, I'd have to be loading up my tiny, fragile, voiceless little baby onto a big yellow bus for a special ed class twice per week which included music, art, playtime...they called it the "Early Start Program". An early intervention program is what it is.
And even though I've met a biiiig group of kids, all with different types of disabilities, all beautiful in their own way, I've never met anyone else like Emilio. He is as unique as an 1943 Lincoln Penny formed in bronze. Looks just like all the other ones, but to me he's worth millions.
No comments:
Post a Comment