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| Big Sister Anna meeting Chase |
Our son, Chase Thomas Enright was born on September 7, 2012, a completely healthy little boy. We had some struggles the first several months of Chase’s life - projectile vomiting (all of the time!), recurring ear infections, and difficulty starting with solid foods- but overall he was just the sweetest, most laid back little guy even through it all. I was always worried about him though- he slept way too much and was just too quiet. I was always taking him to the doctor saying something just was not right, but they always sent me home feeling silly. Tom, my husband, did start sharing the concern that he was extremely quiet though, but we blamed that on his ears being full of fluid or him being the second child with an older sister that never stopped talking. He was just sick ALL of the time.
At around 5 months of age, we noticed Chase’s eyes would well up and huge crocodile tears would fall down his cheeks upon waking up- but he was not crying. He had still been projectile vomiting every few days but we had gotten used to that and attributed that to ear infections and feeling ill, although that did not really make sense to doctors. I expressed concern to the pediatrician again at his 6 month well check, but was told this could be a tear duct issue and it would be revisited at the next appointment. He was still falling asleep wherever he was, whatever he was doing. But it was also cute and we made many jokes about it.
At around 6-7 months of age when Chase could sit up on his own, the daycare would report that he kept slamming his head down to the ground (always to one side) repeatedly at times. He had 4 ear infections in a row during the previous few months, so we blamed it on dizziness from inner ear problems. Around 8-9 months, the daycare reported unusual head dropping episodes during the day, which took us almost 2 weeks to see at home. At first I thought Chase was ramming his head into me when I held him, but then realized he was having those head drops they had explained. I had never seen anything like it. Tom thought when it happened it looked like he had just been punched in the stomach. These episodes would happen mostly after he woke up in the morning or from naps, accompanied by his eyes kind of scrunching and tearing up and he would get very panicky and cry as if in pain. He seemed to be conscious but his eyes would dart around and afterwards he would fall asleep exhausted. They would happen in clusters- sometimes only 2 or 3 in a row, sometimes up to 12. After this happened a few weeks the daycare said “it is almost as if he is going to have a seizure.” This was the first time it occurred to us but of course we wanted to deny it. My mother has epilepsy – and the seizures are nothing like this.
