Well, lots has happened since the past time I wrote. I am officially on summer vacation, I have moved out of my classroom and into a new room for my new position next year, and had the scariest day of my life with John in the ER...
I will explain more about my work in a little bit, but I am taking part in a 2 year teacher leader program for my school which kicked off this past week with a retreat from Monday to Wednesday. My father-in-law was coming to stay with John while I was away, so we had a great weekend beforehand. We swam, went to a 2 year old birthday party, and just had fun playing outside. I was not excited to leave John for 2 nights, but I was looking forward to the retreat and seeing what is in store for me during the next few years professionally. Sunday morning John woke up around 7 and I went in to get him and immediately I could tell he was running a fever. He was super hot. His temperature was close to 103, which is definitely the highest it has been. He seemed really out of it and was just not himself, even when he is sick.
So we decided to call the doctor's after hours and they told us to just wait an hour for the Motrin to take effect and if the fever didn't go down, then take him in to the after hours clinic. It did go down to about 100, but he was still so lethargic and I was so worried since I was going to be leaving the next day. I told Brad I would just feel more comfortable taking him in anyways, especially since we had gone through the whole pneumonia scare back in March and he was mirroring some of the same behaviors.
Once we got him into the clinic (which is in the hospital), we were waiting for them to open and he actually started to liven up. He wanted to walk around, he was smiling, more of the John we know. A nurse even came out to check with us and looked at him and said she thought he was most likely fine, just a bug. Brad decided to run to the Starbucks to grab some coffee. No sooner than 2 minutes after he left, John started getting cranky and I was holding him against me. All of a sudden he started jerking his leg and began having a seizure. I panicked and started yelling and it was all a blur from there. They rushed him down to the ER, threw him on a table, ripped his clothes off and about 12 doctors and nurses were standing over him, hooking up wires and things. I was a wreck. The seizure lasted about 4 minutes, but it was the longest four minutes of my life. I later learned it is a febrile seizure, which is actually quite common, but due to a sudden change in body temperature. When they took his temp, it was almost 105. Luckily, they had found Brad and he was able to be with me.
I tell you, I am getting choked up as I write this. I felt so helpless in that moment and was so, so scared. I love him so much and in moments like these you pray to God for what you have and for Him to protect our loved ones. He started to come back around, and they began running tests and Cat Scans on him to make sure it was just a febrile seizure (apparently he was out of it after the seizure a little longer than normal). We moved to an ER room and he slept on me for most of the afternoon. After the chest XRays came back, it showed that he had pneumonia again, so luckily the seizure was just a febrile seizure. The drs said he might have them again, but I am praying this is a one time occurrence. I just am so grateful we were at the hospital when it happened.
We were released around 4 and John slept once we got home until around 6. When he woke up, it was like nothing ever happened. He was smiley, wanted to play, go outside, eat. It is amazing to me how fast babies and toddlers swing from one end of the spectrum to the complete other side in such a short amount of time. They had given him an IV of antibiotics at the hospital, so I am sure that helped a ton too.
I was so torn about leaving for the conference. These are the moments where I put so much guilt on myself for working. If it would have been an ordinary conference, I would not have hesitated and just not have gone. However, I was selected to attend this 2 year program with 4 others from my district, and it was a big honor to be asked and I know my district is spending a lot of money on it. If you don't attend the opening retreat, you are not able to complete the program. I decided to wait through the night and see how he was in the morning. The conference was only 2 hours away, so I ended up going and being "on call." Luckily, he was fine the entire time and acted like nothing at all ever happened (with the exception of waking up at night and giving his poor dad and grandpa some sleep deprived night...I think he just missed me... :) However, it was so hard to be away, and luckily the retreat was so worthwhile and engaging. I was so, so happy to get home yesterday to see him.
So now we are officially on summer vacation and hopefully can be HEALTHY and just enjoy our time together. We are actually heading back to the dr this afternoon for a follow up on some tests that came back from the hospital, but I am praying the worst is behind us and all will be well.
As for my job, there are some exciting changes ahead for me next year. I spent a lot of time this year observing some math programs at surrounding schools with my principal and have been working on a proposal for our building to have a Math Lab and a math interventionist at our building for struggling math students. You know how when you work on something, it sort of becomes your baby? Well, we were hoping for a 1/2 time position and offer one section for each grade level, but the board approved it and they are actually wanting us to offer two sections per grade level, which makes is a full time position. They offered it to me a few weeks ago and I am ecstatic about it. I am so excited for a change and a challenge, and I am hoping for a really positive learning experience for myself. I am also taking on being a co math department chair next year, so as nervous as I am about the responsibilities, it will be great to expand my own knowledge on deeper issues in our building and see a bigger picture. I am very honored to be offered these experiences professionally.
Well, I need to go wake John up for his dr appointment. Here are a few pictures from the weekend. The ones on my cell phone are pretty small, but I hope if you click on them they will show up bigger. Have a good week! Happy Summer!
My new picnic table
Playing on Easton's playscape
Yummy cupcakes!!
He is my kid!
Whoo hoo! Summer vacaction with Mommy!
Thanks for taking such good care of me Grandpa!!!! I love you!!!
I just took this picture of the monitor of him sleeping! Summer is wearing him out!
