We survived our first real-life emergency today.
Evie was sitting on my lap and I was reading to her from a parent's magazine. (Nothing I read means anything to her right now, so I was reading to myself, but adding funny voices and embellishment for her.) She kept trying to rip the pages, so I handed her the one of the paper subscription cards to play with while I read.
She was happily flapping the card wildly and tearing at it while I read when she suddenly started gagging. I flung the magazine to the side, and flipped her around to see that she had ripped a corner off the subscription card and had apparently decided to eat it. I laid her on her back (not very gently, I might add) and put my finger in her mouth to try to get the paper out, only to discover it was in fact lodged in her throat. At this point, she was turning read, tears streaming down her face and the gagging had turned to full-on choking.
I remembered the infant CPR class I took before I was pregnant, and immediately flipped her over on her stomach, and with two firm blows, I smacked her little back with the heel of my hand. I heard her exhale with a "grrumpph." She then started screaming.
I flipped her back over, and pried her mouth open, to find the wad of paper jammed in her cheeks like a chipmunk. With one hand I held open her mouth, while I reached in with the other hand and removed the offensive paper.
Once the paper was out, (and immediately thrown in the garbage, as well as all other subscription cards that were in the magazine,) I held her to my chest and we both sobbed together. I began to shake a little, as the severity of the situation came over me.
While choking is something many parents contend with at one point or another, it is still terrifying, and the realization of what could have happened is equally as horrific. Especially when I realized that it was me, the idiot mother, who handed the baby the piece of paper to play with in the first place. The paper she ripped and then choked on.
Parenting is so much fun.
2 comments:
Steph! You've had some rough days! I would never think about paper being a choking hazard, and I think I'm over-anal about keeping my kid from choking. Good job handling the situation!! You're a great mommy. Love you -
Nice job! Yes, many of us have had similar situations, so try not to be too hard on yourself as the supplier of the paper. If it's not that it's something else and living in fear or guilt is just no way to live. As a CPR instructor and EMT, I'm VERY proud of you! Now remember to keep your cert. current! =)
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