oliver and the e.r.

well . . . today was a less-than-stellar day.

oliver is okay now, but we had a little scare.

josh and i were doing a session in the palmyra temple today while jamie and travis (josh's sister and brother-in-law) watched the kids on the temple grounds.  the session was almost over when a temple worker came in and asked for me and josh.  it was horrible.  my mind immediately went to the worst scenario possible.  you know it's bad when they come in and interrupt a temple session.

 i was already a mess when we got out to the hall and the worker said, "one of your children has been seizing."

it was a terrible moment, one that i hate reflecting on.  i became completely hysterical (i don't handle things well), not knowing which child it was and not knowing anything more than "one of my children had had a seizure".  i was a raging lunatic.  in the temple.

they led us to an office (josh practically had to carry me) where, thankfully, travis met us and was able to give us more details and calm me down a bit.  he told me it was oliver that had had the seizure and that he was okay.

josh and i hurried out (thanks to very helpful temple workers who practically had to think for me) where we finally got to see oliver.  we couldn't get out to him fast enough.  he was sitting in his car seat, very lethargic.  it was horrible to see him that way.  i don't want to think about that anymore . . .

fortunately, the ambulance arrived soon after, and oliver was taken for his very first (and hopefully last) ambulance drive.  he became more and more responsive during the ride and was alert and crying, so that was good.  we got to the hospital where they checked him out, gave him a chest x-ray, and brought his fever down.  the very nice (and scottish) doctor diagnosed him as having had a febrile seizure, which are caused by fevers.  

before we went into the temple, i had noticed he was really warm and sleepy, but i just thought it was because of the heat (it was a very warm day) and because he had been running around. 

i am grateful that i wasn't there to see the actual seizure.  that is an image that i prefer not to have in my head.  travis told me it was very scary and that oliver wasn't breathing . . . 

that's enough of that.

but he is fine.  he was back to being his normal ollie self by the afternoon.  we just need to monitor and keep his temperature down for the next few days.

i'm emotionally exhausted.  and i don't think i will be taking my kids' health quite as much for granted anymore.  although our day's trauma was relatively small, things like this really make you think . . . and make you that much more grateful.