I didn’t feel like a dad until I almost wasn’t!

Some people feel like a dad the minute their kids are born, I didn’t feel like one until I almost wasn’t a dad anymore.

I remember the day my oldest son was born, it feels like it was yesterday. That moment was one of my proudest, I was 26 years old at the time and just started a great career in technology.

Everything was going perfect, I was having a child with the love of my life.

The beginning of #dadlife

Then that magical day happened, I held my wife’s hand for hours as she went through labor. I was about to become a dad!

Out popped out my Jaiden, full of hair and as beautiful as can be. #DadLife here I was, but even though that day was full of happiness, I still didn’t know what being a dad really felt like.

A whole year later, on Black Friday, I would learn what being a REAL DAD felt like.

Hard moments, make you the DAD that you are

My wife was off buying gifts while I slept in my big bed with my son. My son was whining and I didn’t think much of it. That was until I felt his body, it was scorching hot. In less than a second, he started to convulse.

His little perfect body started to shake, his eye rolled back and he was just shaking. He was having a seizure and I couldn’t do anything about it.

I thought I was losing my son and as the tears came down, I dialed 911.
It felt like an eternity as I waited for the ambulance. They came in less than 5 minutes but that scare would last a lifetime.

I was barefooted outside in the cold in my underwear’s as I guided the paramedics into my house. The paramedics quickly assessed the situation and told me what was going on. They tried their best to calm me down and even helped me get dressed.

I was a mess but I didn’t care, all I wanted was my son to be ok. That ride to the hospital was one I will never forget. I was scared shitless, I just had a great year of raising my son. What did I do wrong? Was I going to lose him?

Was God really testing my fathering capabilities like this?

Wake up call, you’re a DAD DAD!

The doctors told me my son was going to be fine and that he would need rest. That wasn’t enough for me. I asked a million questions. All they could tell me was that he suffered from a febrile seizure and that it could happen again!

Happen again? Nah man, I can’t deal with this, that’s all I kept thinking. I had to find out why he had it and what I could do to help him.

That day woke me UP! I thought I was ready to be a father before that and I was. However; this one scary day truly made me feel like a 1st-time father.

For the next year, until he had his next occurrence, I was on the hunt. I was looking for all the information I could. We paid for various exams and I’m sure my health insurance was tired of us.

They told me he would outgrow it, I didn’t believe it. Luckily for me, he did, I have never felt more like a dad since that day.

I am a Father, every day I feel it!

I wish I could say that seeing him born made me feel like a dad but it wasn’t. Seeing him convulse and knowing that I would do anything and everything in my power to save him made me feel like a DAD.

My father is my hero and I know he would have done anything to save me. That day made me feel like my dad, a real dad and a great one at that!

It was a horrible wake up call, but one that defines my actions now. I will always be a father to my kids before I am anything else.

There are 1000s of families whose kids suffer from febrile seizures. There are no cures and they tell everyone involved to wait it out.

We need to change that!

Those 1st few years were scary and no parent should go at it alone. Support the groups like the Epilepsy Foundation that are helping make it happen. Donate here!