A Mental Health Day

So I am declaring today a mental health day. I was really not in the mood to blog or do anything most of the day. Actually I scrubbed down my kitchen counters. It was quite therapeutic.

Thursday was not good day. I should have seen it coming when I went to Stop and Shop, made some purchases and then left said purchases at the store. Even though I knew it would be one of THOSE days I didn't see us ending up in the er-but one never does.

With that said. Eliza is fine. I am fine.

On Thursday around 4:00 I started cooking some brown rice and put my honey baked lentils into the oven. I gave Eliza her crayons and took a minute to look something up in one of my recipe books. I heard a small crash followed by crying. I saw that Eliza had fallen off of her little chair onto the kitchen floor. I had heard the fall, but I didn't see the fall. I wasn't sure what she hit or how she landed.

I scooped her up and tried to comfort her. She was worked up and did the cry where her mouth was open but no sound or air came out. You know the one- where you say or think breathe, breathe, breathe until your little one breathes and recovers. Well Eliza didn’t breathe. Instead her eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed onto my shoulder. I was already halfway out the door to my neighbors in case I had to call 911. However, as quick as she passed out she started to breathe again (natural reflex) and came through the episode. I brought her back into our condo and sat with her on the couch.

Since I hadn’t seen her fall I was scared she might have hit her head. She has held her breathe when hurt before but always was able to breath before passing out. I called my husband and he said to call the pediatrician. At that point she seemed OK and was crying a little but the pediatrician said I had to go to the er and get a CAT scan done because she had passed out.
Thankfully my MIL came and picked us up and we went to the er. The er doctor, seeing no lumps on her head or any sign of strange behavior, said she didn’t need a CAT scan. This is good because I most likely was going to deny the test anyway. Toddler brains + CAT scan = bad news. If I thought she really needed it I would have had it done, but it was pretty clear she was fine. I was sent home with instructions to monitor her behavior. However, they didn’t exactly explain what I had witnessed.

I was very upset when I got home because I finally had time to decompress and to replay the events in my mind. To say it was scary would be a grave understatement. I knew she was fine but that did not detract from when I had seen with my eyes and felt in my arms. I knew kids sometimes hold their breath and pass out. I have read about it numerous times regarding tantrums and behavior. What I learned after a little research is that in 0.5%-5% of kids this also happens when they are startled or hurt. It is called a breath holding spell.

According to Medline Plus
A breath holding spell is an involuntary pause in breathing, sometimes accompanied by loss of consciousness. It usually occurs in response to an upsetting or surprising situation.

So this is what happened to my little E. It is possible that it could happen again, although I hope it never does. It was very scary and I am glad tomorrow is another day.