Its been about a week now, so I feel less trembly sharing with you guys.
Waverly had another breath holding spell last week Wednesday.
*sigh*
I’ll link the post here where she had her first one, and I shared all of the information I learned. Having never heard of breath holding spells before, it was all completely new information to me, and as it seemed, many of you had never heard of them either!
This second spell was marginally less scary than the first, mostly because we had been there before, we knew what was happening, and we had done our research. I will say, though, it was not easier seeing her limp body and her eyes rolling back in her head. I think its worth sharing this experience, though, because information is power! We learned a lot the first go round, and this second spell felt like a test. So here’s what happened.
Waverly fell off of a chair. It was that simple. What kid hasn’t tipped out of a chair before? Ours all have, for sure. So, she fell out of a chair and landed on her back. I was upstairs and heard the thump. I heard her burst out crying. She cried out for so long, not taking a breath in, that her voice started to fade. At that point, I had stopped what I was doing and was listening for the second burst of wailing. But it got eerily quiet. I called to Brady “Is she ok?” And after a one second pause, he called back “No. No! She’s going to do the thing again!” I heard his footsteps pick up, bringing her unconscious little body up to me in a panic.
I called to him the only thing I remembered from our research that would be helpful in the moment. “Lay her on the floor! Put her down!”
So he did. We met right outside our bedroom door on the little carpeted landing. He had lay her on the floor and she had woken up immediately. She lay on the floor and looked at us quizzically. Then her eyes would roll back into her head, and we’d rub her chest and talk her back awake. We did that a few times before she furrowed her brow and finally started crying furiously!
Guys 😭 I kid you not, it was like waiting for the first cry of a newborn baby. Once she was crying, we knew she was back, that blood was where it belonged, and that we could lift her up and comfort her properly.
Now, from the last time this happened, we were told over and over again that breath holding spells are WAY scarier than they are dangerous. There would be risk if she fainted from a high place and fell, or situations like that, but the breath holding in general is not something to fear. Yet, everywhere acknowledges how scary they are for the parents, and forgive me language, but that feels like a “no shit, Sherlock” fact. They’re horrifying. I hoped we would NEVER experience a second one, yet here we are. But according to everyone we’ve spoken to about breath holding spells, because they are not dangerous, she doesn’t need to be seen after these spells. And that just felt INSANE to me!
So I called the Health Line. Because somehow it felt negligent not to. I spoke to a nurse and told her what had happened, that we’ve been here before and had her seen and diagnosed. I told her I was just hung up on the idea of NOT bringing her in afterwards. It seemed crazy, yet the logic was there, and I understood why. Maybe I just needed someone to talk to :/ I don’t know. She was really understanding and helpful, and told me that if I was actually worried and my gut told me to bring her in, I should. That’s ALWAYS true. But she read through everything on breath holding and also assessed her behaviour after her fall, and it was established that she didn’t need to be seen.
So we didn’t have her seen 🤷♀️ That felt BANANAS. Like, is this just going to be something she does now?? Is it our new normal? Ack! I am NOT a fan! But I’m learning. And this experience reiterated a couple of things to me about breath holding. Two things specifically.
Thing one is that, if it happens for a FIRST time, go in. Its a HUGE peace of mind to go in and learn about what happened. Breath holding is actually a like a built-in safety feature for some kids, and when you know what it is and why its happening, its a relief. Its good to have those pale lips and that limp body explained by a professional.
Thing two is that laying the kid down on the floor really does help. The blood reaches their brain a lot faster that way! The nurse I spoke to said some kids stop breathing for up to a whole minute 😳 Wavy stopped breathing for ten seconds MAX and it felt like an eternity. But lay that kid down, and it’ll rectify itself faster than if you’re holding the kid close in a snuggle, as much as you might rather do that. I think that really helped.
Bonus thing number three. Your kid might be really soft and squishy afterwards ❤️ At least ours is.
The small pro that comes along with injuries and sickness is the snuggles to follow.
Lucky for us, in this case, we kept Wavy up a little later than day and she was a complete peach, fully recovered very quickly. She was completely herself once again.
Aaaaanyway. Always learning. She is the sweetest little thing but she’s certainly always teaching us new stuff!
We’re SO glad you’re ok, Waverly Violet!