A typical day at the Jones house

Written to Lily, in her daily calendar that I keep for her.

 

April 24, 2012 -- This morning I was making you a bottle and Emily went into my room to give you a binki because you were crying. She started playing with a broken bracelet, had the beads, binki, yadda yadda, and I am pretty sure one ended up in your mouth.  I came in and picked you up, you were totally fine etc, but then all the sudden you swallowed, started coughing, threw your arms straight out, and got this look of panic on your face. I couldn't figure out what was wrong with you at first, but knew there was a problem, so I ran out to get my phone and called 911. You started turning blue so I looked in your mouth to see if anything was in it, but couldn't see anything. I turned you over my leg and did back blows on you, all while giving the dispatcher our address, names, phone number, etc.  The first round of back blows didn't help at all and you were just getting bluer and starting bubbling at the mouth, which is a classic sign of choking. So I turned you over my leg again and did another round of back blows and this time I got something dislodged because you let out a little tiny cry and started to try and cough.   I let you just try and get it out yourself since you were coughing on your own, and finally, after pretty much an eternity, (over 2 minutes)  you swallowed really hard and then let out a huge scream. It was music to my ears!

All this time the dispatcher had been talking in my ear, "What color is the child's face?" It's BLUE!!! "Ok, the child's face is blue. Is the child crying?" NO! The child is choking! Now, it seems a little weird and annoying, but at the time I could hardly complete a coherent thought or sentence, so he needed to ask those absolutely obvious questions to get a feel for what was going on. 

The paramedics and firefighters arrived 6 min and 43 sec after I placed the 911 call. Now I am impressed with how fast they got here, but waiting for them at the time seemed more like 30 minutes. The police got here first and as soon as I opened the door I pretty much lost it, started to ugly cry, and just handed you to the cop, all while saying over and over, "She's okay. She's okay."  I was feeling a little shocky and was trying to keep from fainting, and I am pretty sure the cops knew, because they said, "Ma'am, why don't you have a seat over here?" as they led me to the couch. Ha!

You had pinked up by this point and, bless his heart, the cop just held you, talked to you, got a little cry out of you to make sure you were okay, and pretty much held down the fort while the Mom was hysterical on the couch.  I would calm down and then someone would ask me a question about what happened and I would lose it all over again.  At one point I said to the officer, "I can't believe I hit my baby!!" (crying, hysterical, as I said it) He was so nice. He just kept saying, "You did not hit your baby. This is not abuse. You saved your baby's life today. You did good. You did exactly what you were supposed to do." All of that is true, but at the time I was having a hard time thinking that I really did pound on your back none too softly. Sorry, Little Girl. :(

The paramedics decided that you should go to the hospital because you now had a foreign body in you and they didn't know what or where it was.  I went back to being hysterical all over again when they said they were taking you in, but they were quick to reassure me that I could come with you. Duh, Mom. :)  Emily and Natalie went over to the neighbor's house, I got your carseat, and the firefighters took you to the ambulance. They strapped your carseat straight to the gurney, and off we went.

I called Daddy, but quickly realized he was in class, so I texted him, "Please leave class and call me." I have never done that before, so I knew he would be a little nervous.  Daddy called me right back and I told him you were okay, but that we were riding in an ambulance to the hospital and that he should come home. Great news, eh?

In the end they did an xray but couldn't find anything, so they just monitored you at the hospital for a few hours. You were breathing and acting fine, so finally we got to take you home. I watched your poop for several days, but never saw anything come out. So really, it's all just a guess that you swallowed a bead.  Whatever it was, the whole experience shaved a few years off your Mother's life and I'd really like it if you never did that to me again! Love you Lily, so glad you are okay.