Night Terrors

Sarah came home from school ill on Monday with a terrible headache. To be honest, I sent her to school with the headache (although it wasn't as bad in the morning when I sent her) - I know, I know, I shouldn't have sent her. She didn't have a fever, wasn't throwing up, in fact she had no other signs of being sick except for this headache, and I thought it would go away once she got to school.

Well, it didn't. In fact it got worse. She missed Tuesday and Wednesday because of this headache, and I could tell by looking at her and her behavior that she wasn't messing around. The headache seemed to come and go throughout the day. The intensity was/is anywhere from a dull ache to what I would describe as a migraine.

Every night since the headaches have started she has had what I would describe as a night terror or an extremely bad nightmare. The dream is the same, Sarah tells me. Each night when she goes to bed I can hear her crying in her sleep afraid of this dream. I have read it best to not wake a child in this state so each night I have let her complete her dream. She finally scares herself so badly that she will wake herself up and come into my room, snuggle with me, fall asleep, and the dream(s) will begin again. Most of the night she whimpers in this dream state, and I am constantly aware of what is going on in case she needs me (which means I am getting very little sleep).

Last night started out no differently. I put her to bed early b/c she needed to get her rest for school today.(She finally mentioned yesterday afternoon that she felt well enough to attend today. Sarah loves school, and I know she misses her teachers and classmates a lot.)  She fell asleep right away, around 8 pm, at 9:30ish I am lying in my bed, and I can hear her beginning one of those dreams except that this time she is beginning to yell, and then scream the most scared and terrified scream I have ever heard a child of mine yell. I run into her room, and find her sweating profusely, covering her head with both of her hands, curled up in a little ball underneath her covers. I instinctively wake her (WRONG thing to do) b/c she is so terrified and I want to let her know that it is alright. As she opens her eyes she lets out this blood curdling scream with a look of fear in her eyes - she thinks that I am the monster in her dream trying to get her. I quickly pull her into my arms and rock her back and forth telling her that everything will be okay while she sobs in her sleep. She then opens her eyes, and proceeds to ask my why I am in her dream. It is then that I realize that she is still dreaming.

She finally wakes up, but she is still sobbing. She tells me that her dream has scared her more than she has ever been scared in her whole life.She describes the dream to me, and it is indeed the same one that she had on both Monday and Tuesday nights.

By this time, the boys have come upstairs with their blankets in hand because they want to sleep on my floor. The commotion was so loud upstairs that it unnerved them as they lay in the downstairs bedrooms. I completely understood, and allowed them to sleep on my floor. They asked how Sarah was, and what exactly happened. After I assured them that she would be okay they settled into my room. Meanwhile, I carried Sarah into my bed (on the side next to the wall b/c she didn't want to sleep near the door) and snuggled with both her and Elizabeth (who was already in my bed sound asleep).

I listened for Sarah most of the night, and thought how scary a dream it must have been for her. She did have more dreams - I could hear her talking incoherently in her sleep - but none that seemed to be anywhere near her nightmare. I know that night terrors are common in kids, but I am still unnerved nonetheless.

I am hoping that when I wake her up for school in an hour that she will not remember the dream, but I am afraid that I am hoping in vain.