Scary Night

Our little Jordan gave us a huge scare last night. HUGE.

It was just after midnight and I was heading up to bed for the night, but stopped to change Jordan's diaper and hand her over to Ian to be fed. She was very hungry and went at that bottle like she was starving. A couple of minutes later she started coughing and choking. Her little face went red and her eyes started watering. Ian immediately sat her up and started to pat her little back, but she still kept making choking noises and started gasping for air.

I asked him what was happening and he said he thought something might have been wrong with her bottle. After what felt like forever she still seemed to be struggling for air. He was patting her back harder but still nothing. Her little face looked so panicked. Finally I called 911.

I tried to stay as calm as possible on the phone with the 911 operator so I could accurately relay what was happening. My voice was shaking and I was trying not to cry. I did pretty well until he conferenced me with the fire department. He told me to keep silent until he came back on the line. I started to lose it when he relayed the wrong street and then said that he had a "2 1/2 year old female child". I had to speak up to correct him.

Several times he assured me that the paramedics had been dispatched and were on their way. It felt like forever for them to arrive. I cannot find the words to express what I was feeling at that moment. Believe me when I say it was the scariest night of my life.

While I was on the phone with 911 Jordan started breathing again. She was still coughing, but she was breathing. Ian told me she was coming around. Finally the paramedics arrived and Ian gave Jordan to me so he could let them in. I held her so tightly and the tears started to fall.

I was so glad to see them that I didn't even care that they wore their wet and muddy shoes on my freshly cleaned carpet!

Jordan greeted them with the biggest, most joyful smile you'd ever seen.

Brat.

The fire department and police arrived shortly after.

The entire episode lasted about 4 minutes, and she was without air for about 20 seconds. It felt so much longer than that. The paramedic attached a lead to her tiny toes to check the oxygen in her bloodstream and found she was at 98%. A quick listen to her heart followed. He said she appeared to be breathing fine and her colour was good, but he would take her to the hospital if we wanted. We declined and said we would take her to our family doctor in the morning.

We stayed up with her until almost 2am. I was still shaking but she was breathing fine and all appeared to be perfect once again.

She woke just after 4am and we both got up with her. She coughed and gagged a bit while Ian fed her, but nothing like a few hours before. She barely ate and settled back to sleep.

I started calling my doctor's office at 9am and finally got through at 9:20. I was told that my regular doctor would be out of the office until September due to a medical issue but they could fit her in at 3:10 with a different doctor.

I kept her as quiet as possible throughout the day and Ian took us to her appointment. I described the events from the night before and the doctor told me that in a nutshell, all that happened was that her formula "went down the wrong way".

Honestly. That's all??

He explained what happens when an adult swallows something that goes down the wrong way and how they will cough and choke and will not be able to breathe for a few seconds until the airway was cleared. Babies don't know enough to clear their throats or to signal for help. As a precaution he sent us downstairs for an xray just in case any liquid make it to her lungs.

The xray showed some shading on her lungs which was consistant with pneumonia. She said that pneumonia was a term for fluid on the lungs, and she had "inhaled pneumonia".

Back upstairs we go to see the doctor again. He gave her a prescription for the pneumonia and a new requisition for another xray to be done on Monday. I made a follow up appointment for her for the 26th. Hopefully all will be fine by then.

She has been sleeping fitfully all day and hasn't had a solid stretch of sleep. She is resting now and appears to be ok.

Please pray alongside us that her body will heal quickly. I can't tell you how much I would appreciate that.

~ Kate