On Monday evening, I was faced with one of my biggest fears as a Mother...... your child choking!
I was always nervous with both of my children when they started to eat real food that they would choke.....I was always cutting and breaking things up into the smallest pieces....in fact I find myself telling my Mom....that is too big for Sarah, break it up or make it smaller! I warn Nick about laying down when he eats.....especially when we are hanging out with a movie and popcorn......I am constantly saying.....Nick sit up when you eat please!
So I get home from work, Pat and Nick are outside watering the flowers and picking weeds....and Sarah and I start to get dinner ready. When things get a little dicey in the kitchen, it is not uncommon for me to put her in her high chair to either color or have a small snack. I was starving after working in Philadelphia all day, so as I was cooking, I brought out baked whole wheat pita chips and spicy hummus....one of my fav's!
As soon as Sarah saw what I was eating, she wanted some too! In normal fashion, I break them into tiny pieces, she eats them, and says more....so I gave her a few more. All of a sudden I hear her cough and immediately turn around and look at her.....I knew it was not just a cough...she was choking! Her eyes are watering and she is not breathing.....my heart stops and I yank her out of the chair and I am in total panic mode....I know what to do, but in the thick of it, I felt frozen with fear.....As I grab her, I start to hit her back between her shoulder blades and run for the front door to get Pat. By the time I got to the front door she coughed it up!
Let me tell you.....this was the scariest 30 seconds of my life! I was in tears and so was Sarah....she was so scared...all I could do was hug her and tell it she was OK now.
I could not stop thinking about this event all night......I urge everyone.......even if you think you know what to do if someone is choking....especially with a little one in the house........please visit THIS site for a refresher....I certainly did!
19 comments:
OMGoodness how scary. I am with you on that one. Anytime my kids cough, they have just gotten in the habit of yelling out, "I'm okay. just a cough".Because I am such a freak about it. I had that happen one time with our 18mo at the time, he is now `12, and boy was it scary.
Iam definitly going to that site for a refresher. And I am going to go over it with the kiddos too.
Glad she is okay!
:)
Amie
That is very scary! I am the same way! I always tend to panic! Glad she is okay and everything is fine!
That is one of my BIGGEST fears too!!! I'm so sorry that you had to go through that. I'm just so happy that she is okay. My two biggest fears are choking and drowning...yikes!!
By the way, I found your sight through Jodee Leaders blog. My name is Lisa and we have a bio 7 year old and a 4 year old daughter from China. I come by periodically to check out your blog but have never commented. When I saw this post I had to. My blog is private but if you would like to check it out I can send you an invite.
Oh my -- that is so scary. I swear my heart started beating faster as I read it! So glad that you were able to help her so quickly. Whew -- what a relief that she (and you) are ok.
Janet
Lisa -- That is soooo scary. I am so glad Sarah is okay. My husband's five year old cousin recently choked on a hot dog and died. It was such a tragedy, especially since he was an only child. I have always had a fear of one of my kids choking but now I really do.
P.S. You are right -- Jan, Shari and I all work together. We have worked together forever! We are now best blogging buddies too!
Oh my how scary! Glad she is okay! I will be checking out the site for a refresher.
Becky
My heart dropped just reading this. It can happen so fast and I have been in your situation as well. So, so scary... Glad she's okay.
That is literally my biggest fear! Choking scares me to death. Briana did something similar a few months ago. She started to choke a little on a small piece of chicken. I jumped up but she managed to cough it up on her own. She started to cry because she got scared. I am hitting that site right now!
Choking is very scary!!!! I am happy she is ok : ) the site you gave is wonderful thank you for posting it.
Wow...how scray is that! It too happened to us with Francesca, but before we could move into action, she got it up all by herself. I am going to definitly check out the site you listed.
I am so releived to hear that everything turned out OK.
That is so, so scary. This happened a lot with the Tongginator when we first arrived home (lots of oral-motor issues due to lack of stimulation). I'm so sorry this happened. And thank you for the link.
I actually popped over initially because I wanted to thank you so much for your words of encouragement today. They helped. :)
Oh how frightening! My worst fear too, I'm sure every mother's fear...awful awful awful! I'm so glad she's okay. I will definately check the site...thanks for posting it!
Both of my girls have choked on tortilla chips. I was so so so scared too. Not my girls though! As soon as my DH had managed to get the chip coughed up, they cried for more chips!!!
EEP! Scary! Good to hear that everyone is okay.
Keep smilin!
I'm glad Sarah is ok, very scary. Thank you for posting such a great survival link. I am a Paramedic and even though this is my line of work, when it comes to a child choking is very scary for all.
Love your blog, stumbled upon it tonight.
I know that fear well. My son choked on a jelly sandwich when he was about 2 years old. I had it cut into tiny bites too but he had crammed ALL of them in his mouth. I swooped his mouth and got it out thankfully.
Big hugs to you.
So scary! My son choked on a tootsie roll a few months back, it was the scariest moment in my life and equally as scary for him. Thanks for the site you linked to, refresher much appreciated!
This is my first time to your blog...it is beautiful as is your family!
Yikes! Thanks for the link, I went and read it all. Rose choked on melon recently and it scared the life out of me. She ended up coughing it up (all over Rod, in the middle of a party), but I swear I didn't breathe the entire time.
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