Episode 1 of 2011

Jackson had another episode.  It ended without an ER visit and adenosine this time, so that was a nice change.  We got it to stop by taking a rectal temperature.

There are a few ways you can try and stop SVT without using adenosine (basically an IV version of getting shocked; it stops your heart for a split second).  It's harder in babies, because they can't try to bear down, which is a good way to try to stop it.  They always have us cover his face with ice (or frozen veggies) until he gasps and screams.  This is absolutely horrible because he turns bright red and looks at me like I'm torturing him, and it makes me cry everytime I have to do it.  I don't know how many times he'll forgive me for that.  If that doesn't work, you have to dangle them upside down with the ice on their face while pushing hard on their stomach.  If that doesn't work, you need adenosine, which has to be given IV in a hospital.

His doctors adjusted his meds yesterday, so they're hoping those will kick in at the higher dosage and stop the ectopic beats that are causing the episodes.  Apparently he was having 3 or so in a row about 10 times in 24 hours.  The good news is that it's highly unlikely to cause atrial fibrillation, which in WPW can lead to ventricular fibrillation and death.  They also drew blood to see how much more they can go up without the level getting toxic.

This time I discovered the episode because he pooped in the middle of the night, which he hasn't done since he was a newborn, and then didn't want to eat or to go back to sleep.  (Reason #1 we cosleep: I hear him so much sooner)  So I listened to his heart, and of course it was way faster than I could count.  I lost count at 11, but I would guess it was around 250.

I wasn't nearly as calm as I had been in his previous episodes during this episode.  I was almost expecting a 150 bpm episode after the nurse called yesterday, but it still caught me totally off guard to hear the rate so high. It reminded me a little too much of the first few episodes when we were so scared.

I just want him to be okay, to have a month with absolutely nothing wrong with his heart.  He can have an ablation once he's 20 lbs if he's having episodes still. He's about 15 now, and growing a pound every 3 weeks or so, so around the beginning of May?  I'm sure they'll try to convince us to wait until he's a year old.  We'll have to see how he does.