Febrile convulsions! I nearly had a heart attack on Saturday over my baby boy Ryder

[willytheekid]

Febrile convulsions!

Heard of these?....we didn't know anything about them....until saturday.

My baby boy Ryder got a cold on friday (So did Charlotte), I decided to take the day off work to look after them and make sure they were both ok.
Sat morning Charlotte was much better...but little Ryder seemed slightly worse, so off we went to see the doctor in rangiora.

While in the waiting room little Ryder seemed fine, sick...but happy as usual.
Then he just started shaking, his little blue eyes rolled back and he started frothing at the mouth and convulsing harder.
We yelled out for help and immediatly got taken out the back.
Ryder kept having a Fit for over 3mins and couldn't breath during the seizure, they gave him oxygen and kept him in the recovery position.....when they annouced that a ambulance was on its way and we have to go into central hospital.... my world just fell apart.:weep:

While waiting for the ambulance Ryder stopped convulsing but wasn't coherant and just made the most heart breaking sounds I have ever heard....Ive seen some scary shit in my life, but this...I could just barely handle.(it took all of our self control to stay calm and be there for our son...Charlotte was AMAZING!)

Ryder came around just before the ambulance turned up, But he was exhausted and struggling to stay conscious....and still making the most heart breaking sounds a parent could hear.
The Doctors and ambulance staff were amazing at keeping us informed and assured us everything was alright.

Charlotte and Ryder had a nice slow trip into central with me following the ambulance with charlottes crying mother in the "car", we then spent the next 6hrs or so freaking out while the doctors in the acute childcare ward did test after test on poor little Ryder (they were checking for epilipsie etc).

They gave him the all clear and told us we could take him home but keep a close eye on his temp and cold etc.

Ryders condition was a Febrile convulsion

We have never heard of these?, but according to the hospital staff they see 1 case a day and assure us its common in small children (they can't regulate their heat and once they reach 40 degrees, they go into a Fit)

Once home we checked every health book we had, plunket etc, for details about this "common" heat issue in small kids.....nothing!...not a mention!:facepalm:

So I thought I would share this with as may parents as possible (And you lot! lol)
as its one of the most scary things I have every been through...to see your baby fitting and possibly fighting for life.....not nice at all!, give me a drunk driver plowing into me at the lights, or a 4x4 punchng me off the road & leaving me for dead...those things I can handle!....but this!...this was much worse because it wasn't me...it was my wee Ryder....my baby boy of 1yr 3months possibly fighting for life and in pain.....its been a rough weekend.

Off to the Doc's again @ 14:30 due to his fever not breaking.....wish they told me having kids can break ya heart!

[Ronin]

Yup, hard to see stuff involving your kids. shoot foxzee a pm as I know her youngest had the same (my step daughter). Good that you were in the right place for it to happen though. I know it is some scary shit but your little man will be fine :yes:

[Paul in NZ]

Kids scare the shit out of you and it never stops mate. Its because you love them more than anything and thats the way its supposed to be.

Keep calm and carry on lad!

[willytheekid]

Cheers guys....scared the shit out of us at the time (still worried to be honest)

hated seeing my wee guy like that, wished I could have swapped places with him.

Will keep a stiff upper lip and all that tho, just thought I would share this in case any other parents on KB havn't heard of this condition....not knowing was the worst part

[slofox]

My daughter (now 35) had a febrile convulsion when she was 2. Late at night. We were at home - living not far away from Dargaville at the time. The convulsion left her unconscious for about forty minutes. During which time we had to ring a doctor and sort him out to meet us at the local medical practice in town. From there she went to the local hospital and stayed there a couple of days.

At the time it was damn scary. I had to carry her while she was unconscious and she was totally limp - like a wilted leaf, completely floppy. I had to keep checking to make sure she hadn't died 'cause she sure as hell felt dead. Scariest thing I ever went through with one of my kids.

Febrile convulsion is from fever (hence "febrile") and is not that uncommon in kids. Daughter continued to scare us with high fevers for the next several years. We had to tepid sponge her on innumerable occasions, much to her disgust. But she never had another convulsion and would appear to be as healthy as the next person nowadays.

[willytheekid]

My daughter (now 35) had a febrile convulsion when she was 2. Late at night. We were at home - living not far away from Dargaville at the time. The convulsion left her unconscious for about forty minutes. During which time we had to ring a doctor and sort him out to meet us at the local medical practice in town. From there she went to the local hospital and stayed there a couple of days.

At the time it was damn scary. I had to carry her while she was unconscious and she was totally limp - like a wilted leaf, completely floppy. I had to keep checking to make sure she hadn't died 'cause she sure as hell felt dead. Scariest thing I ever went through with one of my kids.

Febrile convulsion is from fever (hence "febrile") and is not that uncommon in kids. Daughter continued to scare us with high fevers for the next several years. We had to tepid sponge her on innumerable occasions, much to her disgust. But she never had another convulsion and would appear to be as healthy as the next person nowadays.

Thanks Slofox, its great to hear from someone who's been through it before....scared the crap out of us at the time (still worried due to his fever not coming under control since).
I honestly thought he was having an epileptic fit at the time as he went ridged, frothing at the mouth and his arms and legs were spasming.
We have read up on the condition and have even got some diazepam in case it happens again...and its worse.

thanks again Slofox :love:

[Riff Raff]

As a paramedic I've lost count of the number of febrile convulsions I attended, but I was a complete mess when my little girl had one at 15 months. It is pretty terrifying watching it happen to your child, even when you know what is happening. They are very common in young children.

[nzspokes]

I had them when i was 2. Aparently i had a chest infection that got out of hand. I had about 6. I was an extreme case aparently. It left me with a condition called a Femial tremmor. Nothing major. My mother went into counciling after due to the stress of it. But here i am 40 years later.

My son was trapped at birth with the cord around his neck. When the midwife is yelling for help you know your in trouble. He was born blue and nonresponsive. it was the worst half hour of my life. But now hes fine and beats up his older sister on a regular basis.

It scares the hell out of you. But I believe im very unusual to have long term effects from it. Then again its not effected my life at all.

[MisterD]

Been there too willy. Our youngest, Matty, had one when he was about 18 months. He'd been down to bed for about 30 minutes when I heard the weirdest wailing cry from him, went into check and he just started convulsing as you describe.

I had a brief moment of panic, called 111 and got put through to a someone who talked us through it while the ambo came. The St J's guys were brilliant and despited the noise and excitement #1 son, James, slept through it all. Matty has never shown any ill-effects, but we've been much more careful with fevers and the amount of insulation on him in bed

I have no clue why they don't cover this in ante-natal classes...

[Winston001]

Aw mate, my heart goes out to you and your family. It was gut-wrenching just reading your post.

I've vaguely heard of febrile convulsions but knew nothing.

We had a similar experience with our daughter at 6 months when she developed a rotavirus infection. The image of our beautiful baby's terrified face as the doctors did a lumbar-puncture is seared in my mind.

Rotavirus is serious - it kills. Even so, its not a well know infection and is often missed.

The upside of your experience is that you'll appreciate and love your little boy even more after the trauma you have all suffered. Its strange but these experiences make life more vital and real.

Thanks for sharing.

[nudemetalz]

Me being someone who suffers from epilepsy and also has a kid approx same age that was something else to read !!

Glad to hear he's okay though.

[White trash]

You poor bastard. As Sue's stated above, it's bloody terifying stuff. And I thank christ it was her dealing with our daughters one than me, I'd have been freaking out BIG time.

[willytheekid]

Charlotte and I would like to thank all of you for sharing your experiences with us and the kind words of support.

Ryder is struggling to deal with the ear infection as its a mean one that is combating the normal antibiotics....back from the doctors now with some stronger/mutated antibiotics and hoping his fever and ears get better soon (we really don't want to go through that again!)

So from my family....thank you KB members :love: ...you have helped alleviate some of our fears.

kids ay...fun to make...scary as hell to live with

Stay safe everyone :love:

Willy, Charlotte and Ryder

[Oakie]

Yeah, been there when #2 daughter was about 10 months old. Just kept her in the recovery position and dabbed at her with a coolish cloth while we waited for the ambulance to arrive. She spent the afternoon in hospital but back home that night and it never happened again. Daughter #1 was impressed with it all though as at age 4 she got to have a ride in the ambulance.

[JMemonic]

Holy hell batman, I would have gone into a total panic. Glad all is well.

one more reason to be glad I dont have kids.

[buffstar]

Sorry to hear about your familys scary day at the docs! :shit: Glad to hear it all turned out okay in the end, but still a nasty scary time for you all
I well remember the days of one of my brood having re-occuring tonsillitus (sp) and very similar reaction..... As Slofox has mentioned tepid sponging is the way to go - I dont know why, but the sh** always seemed to hit the fan with my daughter at night time..... but you soon learn the signs - hot little body, glazed eyes - into the bath with you my lovely - PJ's and all!
ahhhh kids - dunno what 'love' is till ya got em :yes: the pics of your wee Ryder are gorge' btw..... bless :love: :love:

[PrincessBandit]

It's reassuring to read the posts of others who have 'been there done that'. We never had anything like that with our kids but son had bad asthma as a child. He has it well controlled now, but the first time he suffered from it as a baby I had no idea what was happening. It's terrifying seeing your child struggle to breathe and so on that front I can completely understand your panic with your young fellow.
So good that you were there on hand when it happened and took charge of the situation. I reckon often the adrenaline makes you act, but afterwards when you think about it and reflect on it then it hits you even harder.

Hope he continues to improve.

[ynot slow]

Not nice when kids are really sick,worst is seeing them off to theatre,had both mine have surgery before 2 yrs old,you know they'll be ok,but even a 30 mins op seems a lifetime till they are in recovery,and mums are well adept at it,still think my ex was awesome with our girls at that time,I just did the coffee run as excuse to get away and sort my emotions.Having said that I know how my folks felt when I went under surgery so it doesn't get easier as we(their kids age)either,parents will be parents,kids still kids even at 40yr old.

[Mad-V2]

From my experience our kids can handle anything a surgeon can throw at them.
My daughters been through 4 major opp's with kidney failure since birth.
Handing our baby to a stranger like that is the hardest thing I've had to deal with.
Now at 5 she remembers nothing, even now running on one kidney at half strength, you wouldn't know anything was wrong with her.
But the Wellingtons Neo Natal unit did an Awesome job and we cant thank them enough.
Especially putting up with me living there so long.

Hope your little one gets better soon.

[Ronin]

My son had minor surgery when he was 4 1/2. They let me into the recovery room so I could be there when he woke up. The ward sister pointed at a chair "sit down" told her I was fine but she insisted and told me that if she had a dollar for every tough guy that hit the floor with relief when their kid woke up she would be rich. So I sat, and did indeed feel woozy when his eyes opened. You don't realise just how wound up you get.

Hope the little fulla is doing well today.

[Edbear]

I think every parent goes through something like this at some time. I nearly lost both my wife and youngest daughter at her birth. Four weeks premature, born in the ambulance on the side of the road, she had the cord around her neck three times and Jill was hemorrhaging.

The three children are all grown up now but over the years we've had a few scares, too many to mention here, but every parent will understand and sympathise with you!

[yungatart]

My number 3 child had his first febrile convulsion at 11 months...terrifying! I was a nurse and had seen them often at work, but it is a whole different ball game when it is your own, as Riff Raff says. Unfortunately, our boy continued to have them everytime he got so much as a sniffle...I never did get used to them though.

Hope your little one continues to improve.

[Grasshopperus]

Hey Willy, how many K's has the boy racked up on the Quzzi?

But yeah, I can't imagine the terror.

[Taz]

My Daughter now 11 had them frequently up until 4 or 5. First one she was only a couple of months old. Was very scary the first time. We started monitoring her temperature when she was ailing and sure enough as soon as she hit 40 degrees she'd collapse.

[Winston001]

So I told my wife about your heart-rending experience Willy and she immediately knew exactly what you were talking about.

How? When our children were born about 15 years ago, Baby and Child by Penelope Leach became our bible (ok, I sort of glanced at it in an interested way :blink:). My wife devoured it and kept revising as the children became toddlers.

This is simply the best single book on what to know about and expect as new parents. It is a terrifying ride and there are no trainer wheels for parents of young children. You've got them and you just have to cope. Having a book to refer to can save your sanity.

Trust everything is looking up Willy. :niceone:

[meteor]

My youngest boy (14 now) had a febrile seizure when he was about 2. It the car seat, wrapped up, sun through the window, got too hot and that brought it on. Ambulance to hospital, into a cold bath, clothes off to bring his core temp down and he was as good as new. Very scary stuff. Turns out youngsters can't modify their inner temperature until about 7ish so parents have to dress/undress them appropriately to climate...

[willytheekid]

Its been a long weekend

Ryder had another febrile convulsion on Friday night...lasted nearly two minutes this time.
I watched the poor wee man lock up and slide sideways on the couch into a seizure while he was sitting having a juice box...no warning, nothing!
Paramedics, hospital and the cold hard fact that this may not be the last time.

I don't like these things!...just heart breakingly scary watching your wee kid convulse and not breath :weep:


...its been a long weekend

[caseye]

Hang in there mate, that little guy is doing his bit too ya know. Damn straight he doesn't like having these things any more than you like seeing it happen.
You've got possibly NZ's largest support network made up of some damn fine people.
This will pass Willy, look after mum and the kids and the rest will sort itself.

[buffstar]

Dude........ That sucks. farkn horrible innit :(
was he sick at all prior? or was it just out of the blue completely healthy like?

[ducatilover]

That's bloody scary stuff mate.
Hugs and stuff

[willytheekid]

Dude........ That sucks. farkn horrible innit :(
was he sick at all prior? or was it just out of the blue completely healthy like?

He has had one previous to this, but he has a cold & slight fever presently (was at the docs the day before getting him checked out to be safe)
His fever has set this one off, it was just without warning as he was happy and bubbly as usual (Hes always been a lovely wee kid), he was just sitting on the couch with his little juice box watching TV & listening to me an Charlotte talking...then he just slid side ways and started spasming and frothing at the mouth...it went on for nearly 2 minutes (he can't breath during the convulsions!)...friggin heart breaking to watch :weep:
(Only thing you can do is strip them off, place in recovery position and cool them off with wet towels or tepid bath...and ring an ambulance)

Hes back to normal now, and we are watching him closely till his cold has gone (Hes getting sick of getting his temp taken :laugh:)...but it looks like he may have these till hes about 6yrs old (some kids just shut down when they get to hot...hes one of them)

Many thanks for the wonderful support from everyone :love:

...Heres my wee man Ryder

[nudemetalz]

Glad to hear he's okay now, Willy.

:) :) :)

[avgas]

Cheers for the thread Willy, I too did not know this existed. While I still think I will freak out if I see it happen to my wee man........hopefully not so much now that I know what it is.
scary shit.

[Brian d marge]

yup another whose been there , , first time the oldest had a fit , was at work , wife in panic , me ahhh dont worry about it , second time , me in panic , wife " told you so "
its scary alright ...

Stphen