One Scary Night

Saturday night we were so excited to watch the Alabama/Virginia Tech game! Luke had been looking forward to the beginning of college football....well, probably since the last game last year. Our friends Cory and Linsy came over to watch and my sister had popped in for a minute. Harper was in typical Harper-mode. She had Cory and Linsy's shakers running around the living room. We were all eating hot dogs so she was going around to each of us so that we could give her bites of bread. She came up to me to get another bite of bread and she stiffened up and fell in the floor. Her falling down was nothing unusual but her eyes kept fluttering and I noticed that she had pooped in her diaper at the same time. I picked her up to go change her and her eyes kept fluttering. I called the pediatrician on-call but ended up calling 911 because she couldn't hold her head up. We all went outside to wait on the ambulance. Harper would cry, then her eyes would drift off to the side, then snap back to normal. I was absolutely terrified.
By the time the ambulance got there I noticed that she was burning up. They had no thermometer on the ambulance, had no motrin/tylenol, and couldn't start an IV. I happened to have some motrin in the diaper bag (thank you God) and gave her a dose on the ride to Children's Hospital. They also weren't concerned when Harper kept drifting to sleep which is TOTALLY unlike Harper.
When we arrived at the hospital her fever was 103.5 after the motrin. They gave her another dose of Tylenol, took a urine sample (through a catheter, mind you), and checked her over. The doctor told us that she had a febrile seizure. Supposedly these happen when a child gets a fever within a short time frame (like 60 seconds or so). They told us that it could happen again and that it wasn't a concern if the seizure only lasts 30-60 seconds. Easy for them to say! Any longer and we should call an ambulance like we had done.
I cannot believe that her fever shot up so quickly. She had NO symptoms--no runny nose, no fever, no ear infection. I am sooooooooooo very thankful that she is okay. I know God is in control and taking care of this precious child!

Audiology Appointment

Harper had an audiology appointment Friday afternoon. She had to have another hearing test, and we had planned on buying the hearing aids and FM system. The hearing tests take place in a soundproof booth with her sitting in a high chair and an audiologist sitting in front of her. This time I sat in there with them. There is another audiologist sitting behind a semi-one way window to conduct the test. They place microphones in Harper's ears and try to get her to turn toward the sound. She is then "rewarded" by a moving pig or moving duck. In true Harper style after three or four turns, she was bored with the rewards and wouldn't turn to look anymore. The few results that they did get were consistent with her past test, so that means that her hearing hasn't gotten worse. Yay!
However, the audiologist did not want to order the hearing aids or FM system at the appointment. Because of Harper's diagnosis of enlarged vestibular aqueducts, they would like her to use the loaner aids for six more months in case her hearing drops further. If that happens, she may need a different type of aid or only one aid in her better ear.
We also discussed with her our concerns about Harper's balance issues. She said that compared to some children with EVA Harper's case isn't nearly as severe. She said that some children have to wear a helmet because their balance is so poor. Any bump on the head for children with EVA can cause a drastic drop in hearing. We are so thankful that Harper is doing so well!