Attention Seeker Disorder

I really had planned on blogging about my trip as it happened, but that obviously didn't work. I have three cameras I have used while here, although I am not sure they have technically been used since I don't have a lot to show for our trip. This annoys me since we are supposed to leave tomorrow morning.

I think there is something in the medical field that has not been properly labeled. Attention Seeker Disorder is when you have a triplet that will go to the ends of the earth to find a way to get one-on-one time with a parent. When Noah was 6 months old (3 months adjusted) he turned blue on me. He was hospitalized for a total of 11 days. For 11 days he had one-on-one attention. He was my first to develop the Attention Seeker Disorder.

When Matthew was about 18 months old, he developed this disorder, but in a calmer fashion. I had to take him to the Shriner's Hospital in LA. I think he enjoyed this trip more than I could have imagined. For two days he had his mom all to himself. We went grocery shopping like a normal mom and son. We went out to eat and just had each other to keep company. It was nice, well, except for the poking and prodding at the hospital maybe.

Robert is the only one that hasn't developed this disorder fully. He's working on it though. He is the one that is the instigator in the fights. He loves to hit his brothers and sister, knock their toys down, etc. When you ask if he did it, he smiles and says yes. I guess that's his way of getting his attention- without feeling like crud.

In January, Noah and Matthew had to share this disorder and I don't think they appreciated the other for it. When they were both hospitalized for RSV, they started out in the same hospital room. Unfortunately, the hospital policy (and some pain in the ass) declared that they must be in separate rooms because they are licensed as a one patient per room facility. Most people would LOVE that about this hospital, but as a mother of two sick kids, I hated it!

Matthew decided to outdo himself this time. This past weekend we drove up to VA to spend some time with our friends. Crista called me on Tuesday to ask if my kids were throwing up. I should have taken that as a bad sign, but I proudly said no. A few hours later she told me that her daughter had a high fever. Later in the afternoon Matthew fell asleep on the floor while he was watching cartoons. This isn't too unusual because he hadn't slept in the car when we were out earlier. When he woke up, he was still a bit clingy. Then it happened- the fever started.

I got a little too confident this trip and left most of my medical stuff behind. I brought my nebulizer, but forgot the medicine to go in it. That proved to be a huge mistake, but that's a whole other story. I also walked off without any Motrin, Tylenol, thermometer, pulse oxometer, oxygen, etc. I have always brought all of this with me on our cross-country trips. It was too bad, as I had no idea what Matthew's temperature was. Thankfully, due to last weeks episode with Noah, I had bought some Motrin just in case. I gave Matthew some Motrin and he was back to his normal self within an hour. He was running around, acting silly, eating pizza, etc. Unfortunately, it was too soon to give him another dose before bedtime.

I think I headed for bed around midnight. Just as I was dozing off, I heard crying. I ran into their room and I had two sitting up and crying. Poor Robert wasn't even attended to. I ran straight for Matthew to feel his forehead. He was burning up. I immediately grabbed him out of there, in hopes the other two would go back to sleep, and took him into the living room. Unfortunately, the only thermometer my mom has was dead. I gave him another dose of Motrin and asked him what he wanted to do. Matthew wanted to watch Cars. So I sat him on my lap and we started the movie. Every time I wanted to switch positions, he let me know if it was okay or not. I was so tired that I finally talked him into letting my lie down on the couch and let him sit up on my stomach. He was okay with that.

I have no idea about time, since the clock isn't displayed while the DVD is playing, but about 1 hour and 45 minutes into the movie Matthew started shaking all over and his eyes rolled up to the left side. He was totally non-responsive. Considering we have dealt with oxygen issues since he was born, I was making sure he was keeping his color. His lips remained pink, but he looked horrible. I called for my mom and then she called 911. I couldn't get him to acknowledge that I was there. He was still looking up to the left and not a movement from him. Then he started grinding his teeth and it convulsing like he was possibly going to throw up (I almost wished he would).

If my parents were to ever have a medical emergency, they can kiss their lives goodbye. I swear it took about 30 minutes for the ambulance to reach us on their mountain, but that's a whole other story. They said that he had a Febrile Seizure from his high temperature. I opted to have them take him in any way. I wanted him checked out- I wasn't taking any chances. By the time we reached the hospital, he was starting to act his normal self again. I think handing him my cell phone was the moment I knew for sure (sorry to anyone he might have called at 3 a.m.).


At the hospital they gave him some Tylenol and did a strep test to rule that out (he was red and swollen in the back of his throat). That was negative and his ears were clear. They told me to just keep him on medicine for the next 24 hours to keep his temperature under 102. We arrived home at 6:30 a.m. and he went right to sleep on my bed. Unfortunately, Robert and Noah could have cared less that I hadn't slept yet. When they woke up, they had little mercy. I did talk them into making themselves comfortable on the couch and watching cartoons. It was cute, while it lasted.



Matthew woke up around 11:30 a.m. and he was good to go. He didn't have a fever, but I gave him some Motrin anyway. The entire day he was acting just like his normal self. When he was ready for bed, he still didn't have a fever. I gave him medicine anyway. Just when you think you are out of the woods, he woke up this morning with 100.8 fever. Here we go again. I wonder if the bug bites have anything to do with it.