SCARIEST experience of my life:
Saturday night Toby got called in so I was eating dinner alone with Dallas. I usually have some sort of fruit and have gotten pretty relaxed about how big the chunks are. Well I gave him a half of a banana and he was eating it just fine.
I went to grab my phone in my room when I turned and looked at Dallas. He WASN'T BREATHING! He was CHOKING on the banana!!!!!! At first, I was waiting to see if he would just cough it up, like he usually does--but he wasn't even doing anything. He had this scared look on his face that I can't even describe. I FREAKED. Totally freaked out. I grabbed him as fast as I could and put one hand on his back and one under his rib cage and started the Heimlich. I pounded as hard as I could on his back and was ready to whisk him to the neighbors to have them call 911 when suddenly the banana flew out of his mouth and across the room. It was quite the big chunk. Long and fat.
He coughed, caught his breath and cried-I bawled.
I have never in my life felt more helpless and more scared than I did then. I know I did the right thing and acted fast and that he's okay, but all I could think about was the fact that he was choking, I was alone and that he was going to die. It all took place in probably a minute-but it seemed like eternity. I was so scared.
Toby went to high school with a girl who lost her daughter last year to a choking accident. She choked on bite sized apple piece at the age of 18 months at church. So sad. You can read about her story here-Molly and Lucy. Ever since, I have been terrified of losing my babies to some tragic accident. I know they can happen and at any time and I go to great lengths to try and keep him safe. Still.......you never know. I have found a few blogs about parents who have lost their children and I just sit and cry over their stories. How sad would my life be to lose Dallas. I love him so very much and am so grateful that he is okay and that that stupid banana came out.
Now I keep ALL of his food little.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Choking on Bananas
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7 comments:
I'm so sorry about that. It is so scary when you have a child in danger. It brings up emotions that you never knew were there. Emerson chocked on a gummy vitamin when he was about 18 months old and it was the same thing. I was so scared and then bauled my eyes out after doing the hymlic.
Oh, I linked over to Toby's friend's blog and read there blog for about an hour and just cried my eyes out. I loved reading about your strength and her journey over the past year. What an amazing person for just making it through a year.
Glad Dallas is okay . . .
How terribly scary! We are glad that everything turned out okay. Makes you glad that you know enough to help him out. We are sorry that that happened to you.
Nothing is more scary than having a child give you that indescribable look of terror. But somehow as parents we are able to jump into action and do the right thing, whether we really know how to or not, we just do. I am so glad that everything is all right and that Dallas has such an amazing mom who has saved him.
Thanks for sharing your expereince. Glad everything turned out ok! Your friend's blog is incredible. What a sad story. All of this got me thinking... Hope you don't mind that I mentioned your story in my post.
Oh Tammy, how freaky. I bet your blood just froze. I'm happy to know your mommy instincts were well oiled, but still, being there by yourself... makes you paranoid for quite awhile afterward, doesn't it?
I would freak out!! Having a child choke on something is one of my biggest scares and I don't even have kids. I am glad it turned out ok and you jumped in and knew what to do.
So scary! I'm glad that the banana came out and that everything is ok with Dallas.
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