I took my boys to Utah so they could see their cousins and play with Grandma and Grandpa. B couldn't come because he had to work. So, I drove my pregnant self and 3 year old and 1 year old for ten hours across the long road that is I-80. We have had some bad luck on our Utah trips, like the time Edmond got sick and I took the train home, and the time we broke down on the salt flats, and the time we hit a coyote.
I was hoping that this trip would be great. That nothing would taint it. I prayed to know if it was a bad idea to go to Utah without B. I felt good about it. And so we left. The plan was to stay for about ten days. We arrived on Wednesday night after spending the entire day in the car. The boys were traumatized, but all the pain of yesterday was forgotten when they woke up the next morning to discover that Grandma had chickens that she needed help feeding, and Grandpa had gum in his office that he was willing to share with cute little boys who ask nicely. That afternoon we went swimming with Charlene and Halle.
The next day we went to the pool with cousin Tara and her kids. A pool with a water slide where they allow parents to hold their children on their lap and go down. Edmond and Charlie LOVED this. It was so fun to take them down and listen to them giggle the whole way.
On Saturday we went to a barbecue at Andrea's house, where my children played 500 with Uncle Jimmy and his football, received kisses from Grandma Great, drank soda with their cousins, and they saw fireworks for the very first time. They both loved them and weren't scared.
After staying up so late, I knew my kids probably wouldn't sleep well. I was right, Charlie woke up at 1 AM, he had a runny nose and a fever. I thought sleep would help cure his condition, but he wouldn't sleep. Finally at 4AM I took him to Walmart to buy some Tylenol. He was red-eyed and sleepy, and I was grouchy. When we checked out the lady asked how I was. I told her "I've been better." I'm in my pajamas at Walmart with a crying baby at 4am. What did she think I was going to say?
Finally around 5am Charlie went back to sleep until about 8. He took another nap from 10am to 12pm. At 1:00 my parents left for church, leaving me and Calli home with our kids. Charlie was sitting on my lap and Edmond was sitting next to me while we watched Smurfs. Charlie was holding a little bag of dried pears when suddenly his hand went stiff and he dropped the bag. I turned him around to see what he was doing and his big blue eyes were wide and searching my face. His face began to twitch, but his eyes stayed open, staring at me. His hands shook and I held them and told Calli to call 911. Charlie never made a sound, I thought maybe he was having a heart or a breathing problem...I didn't know. The shaking and twitching lasted about three or four minutes, I rocked and held him the whole time. Finally it stopped and he closed his eyes and was so still that Calli and I thought that he had died. I leaned my face close and could feel his soft breathing. He began to moan but kept his eyes closed, like he was in a coma or a deep deep sleep.
Finally the ambulance arrived and they began to do all sorts of testing and they gave him oxygen. His temperature was 101.9. They said they thought it was a febrile seizure and they took him to Primary Children's. I rode with them in the ambulance and called B on the way. They put us in an Emergency room and Dr's and nurses filtered in and out for about 2 hours, all saying that they thought it was a febrile seizure, which is when an infant (ages 6months to 4 years) has a fever that rises too rapidly, (it's not the height of the fever that causes it, it can be as minor as going from 97 to 99 degrees too quickly) causing them to have a seizure. 
Charlie still felt hot to me, so my sister-in-law Andrea went out to tell them he was due for more Tylenol. They never came and brought it to us. My Dad and brother Brian came to give Charlie a blessing. Before the blessing my Dad was holding Charlie and then asked me what Charlie was doing. I looked and he was having another seizure, it looked exactly the same as before with his eyes wide open and his little face and arms and legs twitching. My brother yelled down the hall for help and suddenly there were all sorts of Dr's and nurses hooking Charlie up to an IV and telling me that now this was a complex case because he had had more than one seizure in 24 hours, which is not normal.
They gave him a CT scan, which came back normal. They gave him a spinal tap (which was horrific and I think he is still traumatized from it) they tested his blood. They were able to rule out any brain abnormalities or bacterial infection or meningitis. So, the consenus was that it was just an unknown virus that had caused him to have a fever which caused him to have two seizures.
They had us stay two nights in the hospital. Charlie's fever was up and down during most of our stay. He hated his IV and ripped it off twice. He hated his blood pressure thingy on his toe. He hated the Dr's who came in wearing masks and pretending to be his friend, only to poke him or hurt him in the end.
On Monday night after they determined that he didn't have meningitis they allowed Charlie to leave his room and wander the halls. He looked so cute in his little gown and his diaper hanging out the back. Everyone said hello to him and told him he was cute as we walked down the hall together. I wish I had a picture of him, and maybe if I hadn't been alone I would have been more capable of thinking to take pictures. As it is I only have the two pictures in the emergency room that Andrea took.
Through all of this I was worried about Edmond, who was parentless staying at my Mom's house. I missed two family dinners that we had come to Utah to attend. And B was worried sick 600 miles away.
Finally on Tuesday they let us go home. Charlie was different...super tired and afraid of people. He wouldn't let anyone hold him except me and Grandpa. We stayed until Thursday around 5:00, when Edmond told me he wanted to go home. I said, "Really?" He said, "Yeah." I said, "Ok."
So we packed up right then and we were on the road by 6pm. I drove all night. The boys fell asleep around 10pm and we got home at 3:30AM. We've spent the last few days recovering.
Today is Sunday (a week after the seizures) and Charlie is still taking two 3 hour naps every day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. His eyes are red. He sleeps 12-13 hours every night. He is a little less afraid of people, allowing his Daddy and his Papa to hold him. He's extremely thin. I'm worried about him. I've been doing a lot of research trying to figure out how long the fatigue is supposed to last after a seizure. He has a Dr appointment tomorrow, I'm hoping he can help us figure out what it going on. I wonder if he got mono or some crazy disease from the public pools we went to.
Anyway, that's the scoop. We were bummed that we weren't able to see all our friends and family when we came to Utah. But, we love you all and hope to stay in touch via blogging, phone calls and emails. Thanks for all your prayers and the help we've received.
