Greyson’s Law celebration and a bit of a scare last night!

Even though we have only known each other about 6 months or so, I really feel like I have connected with Nicole, Grey’s mom.  We met via blogs back then, and then we met in person last month.  She is more awesome in person than she is online!  

It was also a celebration of her a-bit-younger-than-I-am birthday.  When she was able to do a backflip on the trampoline — TWICE — I was just in awe!  I sure as heck can’t do that!

So when she invited us to celebrate the signing of Greyson’s Law (Texas Newborn Screening Law), we didn’t hesitate, even though it was a 3-1/2 hour drive!  It was great to see her again, and I got a chance to meet her husband and good friend, Misti (who “introduced us” online), who is just fantastic!   It was an honor to be there to celebrate this great occasion with their family and friends – such an important law for Texas children!

Hannah

Hannah was just not herself completely yesterday, though.   Usually she loves meeting new people and “hanging out,” but she just wasn’t in the mood this time.  I think it was a combination of the heat (it was over 100 degrees) plus the lack of afternoon nap (only 15 minutes) and being cooped up in a car for the long drive there.  Daddy kept bringing her inside the house in order to keep her cooled off.

However, on the way home last night, she just started getting really upset on the ride home, about 90 minutes in.  We aren’t sure what started it. Because she has dimished lung power when she gets excited, she started hyperventilating.  This was the first time this had ever happened with her.   Because we were on the freeway in the middle of nowhere, and it was dark, it took about 5 minutes before we found an exit with a lighted gas station.  Until we got there, I just reached over the chair and kept trying to keep her paci in her mouth, hold her hand, and stroke her face (though she couldn’t see mine).  It seemed to help only a little bit, but it did help some at least.

Once at the gas station, I pulled her out of the carseat and just cradled her, trying to calm her down.  She started bubbling a little bit from her mouth, and that freaked me out a bit.  Daddy and I handled all of this really calmly because we didn’t want Abigail and Ethan to freak out, but I was truly scared.  Yet, we knew we weren’t anywhere near any medical facility, so I just did my best to calm her down by holding her and stroking her face.  Finally, about 10 minutes later, she was calm enough that I could put her back in her carseat.  I ended up sitting next to her in the middle row (we have a minivan) and holding her hand the entire ride home.   She didn’t take her eyes off me nor did she take her hands off my hand or arm. 

Even though she was a bit calmer, she was taking quite a few shallow breaths, as if she still hadn’t completely been able to catch her breath yet.  This lasted about 30 minutes.  By the time we got into a major city, she was pretty much back to normal, thank goodness!!!  She finally fell asleep about 10 minutes after that.

So now we know… we have to make sure she takes her afternoon naps when we go out, keep her out of the heat more often than not, and take more breaks on long car rides.  The combination of the three is pretty dangerous for her, it seems.

This morning?  She is just fine and completely back to her normal self.