Three Months & Five Terrifying Minutes
Where has the time gone? Kellen has been with us for three months now. He’s continuing to develop his own adorable, little personality. Since my last post, we’ve also experienced possibly the most terrifying five minutes of our lives.
Still Growing
Kellen now weighs 13-1/4 lbs., putting him in the 29th percentile, and measures 24 inches, about the 50th percentile, and was able to stick his toes through his smaller sleep-sacks. He’s been battling acid reflux for the past few weeks, and in the past week or so, hasn’t been eating as much as usual; otherwise, he’d probably weigh a bit more.
He’s becoming increasingly aware of his appendages and objects around him. He’s starting to identify things that he wants to touch, and he tries to reach for and grasp them.
He’s able to recognize us from across the room, and his little face lights up with an intoxicating smile when he sees us.
He’s also come to rather enjoy bath-time, right up until it comes time to wash his hair and face.
Spending Time With Family
My parents and sister love spending time with Kellen. Living only five minutes from our home, we’re able to see them frequently, and they’re available to babysit often.
He also recently met his Uncle Taylor, my brother, who lives in California, which I’m sure, was a treat for both of them.
Going To Daycare
With Aimee’s maternity leave coming to an end, it was time for Kellen to start daycare. There’s a great daycare in our neighborhood a mere five minutes from home. Their staff is caring and attentive, and they provide web-accessible cameras, so we can watch throughout the day.
For Kellen’s first day in daycare, I decided to take the day off work so Aimee and I could drop him off together. We planned to leave him there for four hours or so his first day in order to see how he’d take to it. After dropping him off, Aimee and I went out for breakfast and a movie - quite a treat for us. Afterward, it was time to pick up Kellen from daycare.
I’m happy to report that he did just fine his first day.
Back To Work For Mommy
After 12 weeks at home with Kellen, it was time for Aimee to go back to work. Naturally, she developed a tighter bond with Kellen during her time off than I could ever hope to during mine. Going back to work was not easy for her, but she’s handling it well, and we’re all adapting to our new routine.
Working From Home For Daddy
Both Aimee and I work nearly an hour away from home (and daycare). Full-time, Kellen will spend around 11 hours a day in daycare. We weren’t entirely comfortable with him spending that much time in daycare at only three months old, so I arranged with my employer to work from home for some time, allowing us to place him in daycare for six hours a day instead.
We know parents that have no other option than to put their child in daycare all day, even younger than three months, but this was the arrangement we were most comfortable with. Over the coming weeks, we’ll work up to a full-time daycare schedule.
Five Terrifying Minutes
ALTE - Apparent Life Threatening Event. That’s what our pediatrician called it, and it was possibly the most terrifying five minutes of our lives (so far).
At about 4:30 in the morning on July 22, Kellen awoke wanting to be fed. I woke up and fed him and burped him, just as I do most nights. Afterward, he sat in my arms and fell asleep. I continued holding him for another 10 minutes or so to allow his food to settle, then put him back in his bed. I stayed in the living room and continued to watch TV, just to make sure his sleep took.
Around 10 minutes later, I heard him stirring and starting to fuss, so I went into the bedroom to retrieve him and found him awake and alert. At this point, we’d normally sit him in his swing for a while to help him get back to sleep. Before doing so, I gently set him on the floor (on his back) to re-wrap his sleep-sack, at which point, he began behaving oddly. I called to Aimee in the bedroom for assistance. Wondering if he was experiencing some sort of discomfort from his sleep-sack, I lifted him up onto the couch and began removing it.
That’s when it happened.
The best way I can describe it is, he seemed to black out. His eyes were closed and his body completely limp. We were unable to determine whether he was breathing, and he was completely unresponsive to attempts to wake him. Some of his formula began to stream out of his nose, which also didn’t rouse him. I yelled to Aimee to call 911.
The 911 operator immediately directed EMS to our house. While Aimee spoke to the operator, I frantically continued to try to wake Kellen, but he wouldn’t respond. I was terrified. I honestly thought we were losing him.
The 911 operator began walking us through clearing Kellen’s airway and making sure nothing was lodged in his throat. She then began to prepare us to perform CPR. I couldn’t believe it. At that point, he gasped for air. He gasped again. Then, he broke into a full-on cry. We’d never been so happy to hear him cry. It was about this time, perhaps five minutes after the initial call, that EMS arrived from our local fire department.
The paramedics checked Kellen’s vitals, all of which checked out. His heart rate was good; his blood oxygenation was at 99%; he had no fever; there was no apparent trauma to his head; and he was responsive and alert. They gave us the option to have him taken to the ER but told us it would be best if our pediatrician saw him as soon as possible.
Later that morning, we took Kellen to see our pediatrician. Based on his recent acid reflux and the morning’s events, she thought he’d had an extreme bout of reflux, which may have triggered an apneic episode. Considering that he never seemed to change color (turn blue), he probably never stopped breathing, but his breathing may have been shallow enough to be difficult to detect. She suggested an increased dose of his reflux medication and a formula change.
She also suggested we have an EKG and EEG performed in order to rule out a heart condition or seizure, although she believed neither to be the case. She also recommended that we see a GI specialist. We were able to take care of the EKG immediately after our appointment with her, but we wouldn’t know the results for another day or two. The EEG and an appointment with a GI specialist would have to wait.
We decided that night that Aimee would take the next day off work, and we would not put Kellen in daycare for the day. We spent that night sleeping in shifts, so one of us could keep an eye on him throughout the night. Thankfully, he made it through the night without issue.
The next day, we heard back about his EKG. His heart was completely fine. We were also able to see the GI specialist that afternoon. He agreed with our pediatrician’s diagnosis and suggested one additional medication. He assured us that we should start to see some reduction of symptoms within in the next few days.
We’re so grateful for those from our local fire department. They arrived quickly; they spent plenty of time with us; and they were sympathetic. When they left, one of them - I wish I knew her name - placed her hand on Kellen as I held him and said aloud a prayer for his health and safety. It was touching, to say the least. The next day, she stopped by our home to see how he was doing. Amazing.
To her and the others that came to our aid, we say, thank you.
