Last week was a LONG week for us. On Tuesday night I got home from work a little late and my mom was feeding the girls dinner. When they were done I picked Emily up from her high chair to go change her diaper. She flailed her left arm and leg, whipped her head to the left and kept closing her eyes. She did this a few more times, all the while I thought she might just be playing. Then I realized that she was lethargic and the flinching was happening approximately every 15 seconds. We then realized that it was likely a seizure. I wasn't sure what to do when a baby has a seizure so I called 911. This went on for probably 5 minutes. The ambulance arrived and brought Emily and me to the hospital while my mom headed over with Abby. After about a half an hour she started acting normal and playful again, but the doctors decided to keep her overnight to run some tests. Her CAT Scan turned out fine, however her EEG showed some activity in the right side of the brain that indicated that she had a seizure (also explaining why the left side was jerking - each side of the brain controls the opposite side of the body). Because the CAT Scan showed that she wasn't bleeding or anything the doctors let her out after about 24 hours of observation. We spoke with the pediatric neurologist for a long time (she was VERY nice!) and she basically said that everyone is allowed one seizure in their lives without having to worry too much. She also said that non-specific seizures are VERY common in babies as their bodies are growing so rapidly. The cause for concern, however is that my mom had an AVM (arterio-venous malformation, similar to an aneurysm) which was removed when I was 3, and my great-grandmother died when her AVM burst. Some symptoms of an AVM would include seizures and black-outs, so that was cause for concern. AVM's are formed at conception (they are congenital) and are hereditary so they would like to screen Emily to make sure that she doesn't have one. Over the next few weeks we'll be having some more tests run on Emily including an MRI and MRA. Emily is still young and can't sit still during the MRI, so she'll have to be under general anesthesia for the tests. Though there are some risks associated with anesthesia, it is worth it to make sure that Emily is completely healthy. The doctor ensured us that if Emily were her daughter she would absolutely do the tests. After all this, Emily is back to her normal playful self.
Emily in the emergency room before being moved up to the pediatric floor:
To help ease our minds the doctor prescribed an anti-seizure medication for use if Emily has another seizure that lasts more than 5 minutes. The medicine will stop the seizure and prevent any brain damage. Though it's another thing that we need to carry around (traveling with twins requires a VERY large diaper bag as it is), it is well worth the peace of mind.
Things are now mostly back to normal at our house. The girls have had a great weekend. Here are some pictures:
Emily playing with a mirror
She loves playing with the camera
Abby playing outside:
Abby loves to relax outside:
The girls think Dad is SO funny
Emily feeling the grass:
Abby loves the swing:
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