not to us

Burke has passed out three times today.  He did it first thing this morning while I was taking Ruby to the potty.  He was hungry and wanted to eat, and I made him wait five minutes.  Within the first minute of crying, he was out.  Then, he was fine for most of the rest of the day.  (Totally fine!  He didn't even barely fuss the entire day.)  At 4:45, I put him down to do dishes, and walked into the kitchen.  He started crying, and, by the time I got back into the living room, he had the frozen blue face.  Then, he passed out right after I got back in the room.  Once he woke back up, I moved him into his high-chair and brought him into the kitchen with me.  Around 5:20, Ruby got in his face and upset him.  By the time I could ask her to get out of his face, he was already blue, and he was on his way out.  He woke up a few seconds later.

So, he did this once at three months old.  Now, within the past week, he has done it five times.  Four of those times have been within the last 24 hours, and three of the spells have been within the last twelve hours.

There is a natural thing that affects about 5% of children where they are lacking a reflex that makes them inhale while crying.  It causes them to go longer than average without inhaling, thus the fainting.  In young children, it's truly involuntary.  They cannot control the relfex.  Older children often learn how to manipulate the reflex to get what they want.  It usually manifests between 6 months and 2 years of age, and children outgrow it by the age of 5.  As long as children get blue and start breathing again, it's generally harmless.  If they get white (instead of blue) or if they don't start breathing again, then there's trouble.  However, the spells don't usually happen more than once a week.

Because of the sudden frequency of these spells, Dr. Miller wants to see Burke tomorrow to make sure nothing more serious is going on in his little body.  Any prayers are appreciated.  I'm pretty sure it's nothing serious, but I also hope it's something temporary!  :)  Thanks everyone.