just when I thought things were normal. . .

. . .I found myself diving for the phone to call 9-1-1. Yup, that's right. Last Tuesday seemed like a typical night. I picked up Batu and Ayla from daycare. On the way home, Batu started to get a little whiny and mopey in the car. I brushed it off as typical baby sister jealousy. When we got home, he was really clingy. Ayla fell asleep in the car seat so I transferred her to her room and changed into sweats. Batu continued to moan and groan so I picked him up, still thinking he was in a regression state. After a few minutes of holding him, his body started to twitch and jerk for about 30 seconds. Then he went limp in my arms. My mind started racing. I put him on a chair and he was completely despondent, eye lids half closed, and lips turning blue. I dove for the phone and called 911. The operator kept me on the line until the ambulance arrived. He kept asking me if Batu was breathing, and he was, thank god. I laid him on the floor, on his side as instructed. The next thing I knew I was grabbing Ayla, my bag and heading for the ambulance. I explained the episode about 10 times to the EMTs. I had noticed that Batu felt warm when I was holding him, and they suspected he had a febrile seizure. After we got to the ER, they took Batu's temp which was 103.7. Thankfully at the hospital he perked up a bit (after the kind nurses supplied him with a box of Thomas the Trains, and the motrin kicked in). The final diagnosis was febrile seizure, as the EMT suspected. We were discharged after about 1 hour. Since I didn't have my car, I had to call my cousin who lives close by for a ride. The taxi would not take us without a booster seat for Batu (who knew?). My parents came up to help out since Ozan was flying back to Boston from Denver that night and planned to arrive around 1am.

Batu is doing a little better now, but still having sporadic fevers which our pediatrician said was a "virus.

thank you parents

It's been so long since I wrote, so I felt inspired tonight (thanks to George). Today was Ayla's baptism at St.John's church in Cambridge. My parents came up this morning to help out and will stay over tonight and watch the kids all day tomorrow while I work. How nice! It's so great to have a set of helping hands with the kids. Sometimes I forget how lucky I am to have great parents who live close by to help us out.