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Guardian Kids Co. invites families to share their detailed experiences to help us refine and improve our child safety technology. By sharing your journey, you help us build a safer future and provide invaluable support to other parents navigating similar challenges with hope and strength.
A Day I Will Never Forget
While at work, I received the call that no parent ever wants. Eric told me Sophia had woken up from her nap, started shaking minutes later, turned blue, and wasn’t breathing while my sister-in-law was babysitting.
I remember teaching and feeling like I was going to collapse.
July 10th, 2023
While at work, I received the call that no parent ever wants. Eric told me Sophia had woken up from her nap, started shaking minutes later, turned blue, and wasn’t breathing while my sister-in-law was babysitting.
I remember teaching and feeling like I was going to collapse. Two incredible gentlemen in my class helped me pull it together long enough to call my boss and say I was leaving immediately. They asked if I was okay to drive… I probably wasn’t. But somehow, I made it down the turnpike to the hospital.
Numb. Terrified. Crying. Wondering if my baby girl was going to survive.
A few hours later, we learned Sophia had experienced a complex febrile seizure—lasting 25 minutes and requiring multiple doses of medication to stop. Seeing her like that… completely out of it, unresponsive… almost lifeless… was one of the hardest moments of my life.
After being transferred to CHOP, she slowly started to wake up as they weaned her off the emergency meds. She was monitored closely, and after four days, we were given a diagnosis: febrile seizures, triggered by a fever she had developed.
We learned they are most common between 6 months and 6 years old—and that many children grow out of them.
But the journey didn’t stop there.
Sophia went on to have nine seizures total, each one coming within hours of a fever. Some she came out of on her own. Others required emergency medication we were trained and prepared to use if a seizure lasted more than three minutes.
After five seizures, we pursued genetic testing to rule out epilepsy, and thankfully, everything came back clear. While there is still a slightly increased risk, we held onto hope.
And by the grace of God, from that first day on—Eric and I were home together for every single seizure she experienced. Even still… it never got easier.
That phone call. That fear. That helplessness—it stays with you.
But today, I get to share something brighter.
Sophia is ONE YEAR seizure-free.
Even through the flu, fevers, and illnesses… she has stayed strong.
I will celebrate this milestone every single year, with hope in my heart that we never see another one again.
Grateful. Thankful. Blessed beyond words.
Jennifer DeGatis