Ever Heard of "Shuddering Episodes"? I Have.

This morning started our normal. Ava was up early, soon followed by her big brother. Bottles and milk all around along with some early morning cuddles and TV. Isaac had breakfast and Ava went back to bed for her first nap. She slept a lot longer for her first nap than normal, so I woke her up to eat before we were going to run some errands.

I put her in her seat, fed her her apple cinnamon oatmeal that she's had several times before, changed her diaper, then... it started.

Ava's hands and lips turned purple. Her arms and legs started trembling soon followed by her head. After a minute of this, her jaw started chattering off and on. She wasn't her smiley self and I could barely get her to focus on me for more than a second. This went on for a few minutes and I freaked out. I had the pediatrician's office on the phone in seconds. I explained what happened and the nurse suggested I come in to the office. I loaded the kids in the car and went. Luckily, my sister was over so she was helping keep Isaac entertained and me some what calm.

We get to the office and they call us back. Again, I explain what happened to the nurse and she types it all into the file. She takes a few of Ava's vitals and says the doctor will be in shortly. My doctor comes in, and again, I explain everything that happened. She looks Ava up and down - listens to her heart, checks ears and nose, and even tests her blood oxygen levels which are all normal. She wasn't sure but she said it was looking like a seizure and would probably need to refer me to a pediatric neurologist. I said that's fine, I just want what's best for my baby girl and I know that seizures at 8 months are not what's best.

So, my doctor asked me to hold on a minute while she called over to the neurology office at Mercy to talk with a neurologist and get their opinion. After being gone for a few minutes, she comes back and explains what the other doctor said. She was able to get ahold of the neurologist who specializes in seizures which was a huge plus. She explained the situation, what happened and that Ava is not a "high risk" baby - good weight, not premature, no other health issues, etc.

The neurologist said, that while no episode like that is "normal," they're not uncommon. Many babies have, what is called, "Shuddering Episodes" which are most common right after eating. Because of the shift in blood flow and things, babies bodies sometimes have a hard time keeping up. He said that this is nothing to worry about and he gives every baby one episode before worrying about anything. This was Ava's "grace" episode. He said to keep an eye on it and if it happens again, I should call the office and set up tests like an EEG to monitor for seizure like symptoms.

Hearing that Ava's episode is not "uncommon" was a little comforting, but of course I'm still worried about her... she's my 8 month old baby for goodness sake and what happened this morning was terrifying. So, I will continue to keep an eye on her and make sure that those symptoms don't happen again, or if they do, we can get things taken care of and figured out. At least I know that her pediatrician is aware of the situation and we have a reliable neurologist we can go to that specializes in this stuff. Let's just hope we never need to go see him.