The 'Scariest Day' Of One Mom's Life Reveals Why Trusting Our Intuition Is So Important
Listening to our instincts can be life-saving.
William Fortunato / Pexels Becoming a parent is a head-first, trial-by-fire experience, one full of many firsts. There are first steps, first words, first smiles. Not all firsts are celebratory, yet even the hardest ones show parents how to best care for their kids.
One mom revealed how the ‘scariest day’ of her life proved why trusting our intuition is so important.
The mother of a 10-month-old baby wrote to the r/parenting subreddit, as a way to bear witness to a harrowing experience. The title of her post read, “Scariest day of my life,” and she explained why in the first line she wrote.
“My baby had a seizure today,” the mom exclaimed. “He was acting a little off, so for seemingly no reason, I took him to the ER.”
Photo: Reddit
She didn’t know what specific concerns to tell the doctors, aside from the fact that her son didn’t want to eat anything. Still, the mom sensed that something was wrong. The doctors checked them in and left the room, and that’s when the mom’s worst fear was confirmed.
“His eyes shot open, he went limp, and he started seizing,” the mom stated.
She explained that her son’s initial seizure lasted for over 15 minutes. He later had a smaller seizure while doctors performed a CT scan. The mom reported that “he was passed out for a long time."
After her baby went through a harrowing health scare, the mom realized the value of ‘overreacting.’
He was diagnosed with Covid and what the doctors were “pretty sure was an abnormally long febrile seizure.” Her son was kept under observation until she reported that “he returned to his happy self and they sent us home.”
Photo: Karolina Grabowska / Pexels
After her son's health emergency, the mom was on high alert, yet she acknowledged feeling grateful that she acted on her intuition and took him to the hospital.
She described being “glued to the baby monitor, terrified and so, so relieved that I took him to the ER on a hunch.” She explained that she has extreme health anxiety, which results in her not knowing when she’s overreacting.
Because of her anxiety, she stated, “I’m not much of a ‘trust your mom gut’ person.”
Having anxiety around health is common, especially for new parents, even more so for parents in the last three years, as they navigate caretaking during a worldwide pandemic.
While the mom couldn’t express a specific concern, she knew that something wasn’t quite right with her son. She listened to the softest whispering of worry inside herself, an act that saved her son from severe harm.
“For once,” she concluded, “I’m so, so glad I ‘overreacted.’”
Her story is a solid lesson in paying attention to what our instincts tell us, even in times when our logical brains want to override what we’re feeling. While the mom expressed not trusting her gut often, she clearly trusts herself deeply enough to take action when it's truly necessary.
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers parenting issues, pop culture analysis and all things to do with the entertainment industry.