Sunday, October 9th, around 11 pm the beginning of mine and my husband's worst nightmare began. My daughter was lying on my chest when I realized just how fast her temperature was increasing, but by that point it had already escalated too high. Gracie Elizabeth began having a febrile seizure (fever seizure) due to her extreme body temperature increase in a 60 minute period of time.
My heart began beating out of my chest faster than I can even explain. My husband scooped her up and I began calling 911. As I'm being connected to the dispatcher our daughter stopped seizing, BUT she became limp and her color changed so quickly I barely had time to blink before I saw her blue lips.
At this point my husband listened for her heartbeat, it faded to silence within seconds. She had lost all signs of life and my phone just so happened to die while having battery life, (no thank you satan)!! My husband yelled to me that she needed CPR as he grabbed his phone to call 911. I took my lifeless daughter and laid her down to begin resuscitating her. I can remember every single millisecond of breathing into my 14-month-old daughter. Her lips were a gray-blue color and her face had lost most all color. She laid there so still that you would have thought she were sleeping. As a mom, this is something I would NEVER wish on any parent.
I adjusted her head and blew two breaths into her tiny body. I took two fingers, palpated for her sternum and moved up about a quarter to half an inch to begin compressions. I realized the breaths had not gone in, stopping compressions immediately, and I adjusted her head. I did a blind finger sweep and noticed her tongue had folded back and was blocking her airway. I blew two more breaths and she nearly immediately began coughing coming in and out of conscienceness. I screamed to her for what felt like a lifetime, "BREATHE GRACIE!!" I was praying to God the entire time waiting for the ambulance to arrive. This was my little girl and she was absolutely helpless, so, I did what I was trained to do.
My four years of studying sports medicine, living it day in and day out, I was taught to treat EVERY injury as a life-threatening situation. College graduation day, 4 1/2 years ago, NEVER did I see for what my fight or flight senses were being prepared. The 10 years of CPR training that I've had prepared me to instinctually know what to do without hesitation. Some would say I should be mad at God for "allowing" the seizure to happen. BUT WHY, so we knew something was very wrong!? That would just be silly!! Her seizure was an indicator that something was terribly wrong and that medical attention was necessary, otherwise, who's to say what would have happened if we would have gone to sleep and awoke the next morning. My heart just can't fathom that!!
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| Gracie Elizabeth watching Disney Junior after her lumbar puncture (spinal tap). |
When we got to the hospital she was poked, prodded, x-rayed and even had a spinal tap all before 3 am. Around 4:15 am we were discharged and sent home. The next day we went to our pediatrician's office to see blood testing results and stool cultures. It took a few days and MANY antibiotics before we found out she had salmonella. I will NEVER know how or where she got this!! My husband has made fun of me because of how thoroughly I clean all food we eat and how aware I am of everything Gracie does, but no one is exempt from what the world throws our way.
The first thing my husband said to me as we entered the ER from the ambulance that night, "We won't let satan take our joy." God uses all things for His greater purpose and no matter what the turn of events could have been I know that either way God had His arms wrapped around my Gracie. I'm thankful and beyond grateful I get to receive the blessing of having her awhile longer to love on and guide her in God's wisdom.
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Monday afternoon we were definitely EXHAUSTED.
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So many are looking at this and telling me they don't know what they would do if they would have had to do what we did. Uggghhhh, you fight for your child's life!! No questions asked!! And then God really made it a point to tell me, "I fight for the life of my children every single day." Wow!! It broke me. My heart literally hurt because I thought, "What if Gracie would not have started breathing after I gave her CPR?!" God feels that sooo many times each day, "Stop turning to the world and let me save you!!"
God above is the only way to victory and the only eternal salvation. I posted on my personal Facebook this statement and my heart nearly explodes when I meditate on it's full meaning, "I've both given birth to && resuscitated my daughter. Is this just a finite portion of how Jesus FEELS when we're born again?"
I challenge you, change your perspective on the trials of this life and use it for His eternal glory!
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Round 3 of blood work for the week and this sassy girl took it like a champ.
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“Rejoice ALWAYS, pray CONTINUALLY, give thanks in ALL circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” [1 Thessalonians 5:16-18]
Imperfectly Yours,
Katie