Tonight we went to Grandma and Grandpa Cluff's house to spend some time with Marty's parents and a couple of his brothers and their families. All was going well when I thought I heard Carolyn let out a little cry from the other room (she was in the toy room with most everyone else). As I walked in Marty was just walking out to throw away some pieces of paper that he had just fished out of her mouth, thinking he had gotten it all, and right then she started to gag and cough. She must have swallowed some of it and now it was stuck in her throat.
I picked her up and swooped my finger in the back of her throat and couldn't feel anything and started smacking her back trying to help her cough it up. My sister in law who used to be a nurse was there and she came running over and took over trying to help Carolyn get it out.
Carolyn was gagging and struggling and it was one of the scariest times of my entire life. We yelled for Marty to call 9-1-1 so he was on the phone with them while we were still working on her.
She finally let out a huge cry and started breathing again. We weren't sure how well she got the blockage through so we were about to rush out the door to a hospital when the ambulance pulled up. They checked her over and made sure her breathing was clear and that they couldn't hear anything in her lungs, and everything looked good. She was still crying and really upset and my heart was still beating in my throat, but at least we were out of the woods. They advised us to still take her in to make sure that nothing serious was still going on, but let us know that it was probably fine now.
We went back in the house and I nursed her. That helped her calm down and she didn't have any trouble nursing, so that was another good sign. Then Marty and I left Peter with Marty's parents and took Carolyn to urgent care. All of her stats were great, she was in good spirits again, and they didn't have any concerns. They told us what to watch for in the next couple of days but said that she should be just fine.
I can't describe the panic you feel when your child is struggling to breathe and you feel helpless to save her. Somewhere in that panic I was crying in my heart for God to protect my baby.
I know that I'm not the only parent who has uttered that prayer, and I don't know why not every baby gets saved, but I am so grateful that mine is safe.
We are all home now and Carolyn and Peter are sleeping soundly, but I'm going to be hugging my babies extra tight for a while.
Labels: Faith, Family, Motherhood