The Scariest Night of My Life

I’ve only had to dial 911 twice in my life. The first time was our PCS to Missouri a couple of years back, when I watched from our hotel room as thieves broke into our vehicle and stole a good chunk of our partial DITY. The second time was last Thursday night, as I helplessly watch Veronica suffer from a seizure.

Right around 8:50pm last Thursday, John and I were hanging out in our room. He was sort of packing, but sort of done and I was testing out my new selfie stick. Next thing we know, there is a strange noise down the hall. We both pause for a second, before John gets up to check it out. That’s when I hear him call me, and I run to the room.

And there she was, my poor baby, unresponsive, with her entire body shaking. The noise we had heard was her breathing, which was more like gasping for air. Her eyes were wide open, but she may as well have been asleep.

I ripped my phone out of the selfie stick, and got to dialing. I hesitated for a second, because here on base, the emergency telephone system works a little differently. For instance, if I needed the police, it would be faster to dial them directly. Thankfully, the phone only rang for a couple of seconds, before someone answered.

By this point, I myself was having trouble catching my breath and speaking clearly. I forgot half of our address, and couldn’t remember the crossroads directly in front of my house. Remind me to print out one of these babysitter sheets for myself! I gave the dispatcher the info, she informed me of some precautions, and then she hung up. I freaked out a little, because I didn’t even hear sirens yet. We don’t live too far from the fire station, so we can normally hear the sirens with plenty of time to flock to the windows in front of the house and watch the trucks drive by.

It felt like a century of pacing back and forth through the house and leaving every single exterior door wide open, before I heard the sirens. When I realized they were driving to the back of the house, I ran back there to wait. At this time, I also saw the MPs speeding around the corner. I also realized that my good friend’s husband was the MP duty officer for the night, so there was an instant relief when I saw his truck coming.

By the time all of the first responders had arrived, the seizures had stopped, but V was still pretty out of it. The paramedics asked some basic questions related to the event, before taking her out to the ambulance and starting an IV and getting vitals. John rode in the back with her and I stayed back to collect my shoes, wallet, and a comfy blanket and jammies for V.

The duty officer stuck around until I was ready to go, and he escorted me to the hospital. I don’t think I would have made it there if it weren’t for following him! Once I arrived, V was already back in the ER and feeling perfectly fine.

Apparently, the seizure wasn’t a huge deal, and after some testing, the doctors aren’t too concerned. It was certainly a scary moment for mama though! It makes you realize just how quickly life can turn upside down and your little ones can be taken from you. I’ve made sure to squeeze Veronica a little tighter and be extra loving. Being the oldest, she usually gets the short end of the stick, but I’ll be working extra hard to make sure that doesn’t happen anymore.