We are Blessed

Yesterday afternoon Sydney choked on a piece of paper. Really choked. I mean the turning blue, eyes bulging, no air getting in kind of choking. Scary stuff.

(I took these pictures of her yesterday, just a few hours before
all the commotion. In the top one, she was showing off
her new sitting skills...I think yesterday was her first day as
an official "sitter"! And in the other one, she had fallen asleep
while playing during Jacob's staff meeting)

I had just put her down on the floor after changing her. I walked into the kitchen (we have an open floor plan and the kitchen is right next to the living room...maybe 12-15 feet away) and heard a weird noise coming from her direction. I looked over and noticed that she seemed to be coughing and spitting up. Unusual because she rarely spits up.

So I started walking back over to her and then I noticed that she seemed to be having trouble...you could tell the coughing had a more frantic sound to it. I ran!

When I got over to her and picked her up, her face was bright red and her eyes were HUGE and she seemed to be getting no air in despite the fact she was desperately trying. I stuck my finger in her mouth, expecting to pull out one of Natalie's little dinosaurs or some other tiny toy. Even though I had just scanned the area for possible tiny objects when I had put her down!

I found nothing and began to panic because she wasn't breathing and her eyes were rolling back and she was closing them...I didn't know if she was in the process of passing out or WHAT was going on.

Two staff members from Jacob's therapy team were working with him in his room, and I remembered that one of them, Candace, had talked about her first aid/CPR training in the past. So I ran Sydney back to Jacob's room and asked them to help me. Well, I am sure I shouted it at them!

Candace took Sydney and I think she also tried to see if she could find anything in her mouth, while at the same time I think I was asking if she was breathing and also saying that we needed to call 911. Christine, the other IA here, got her cell phone out but then I realized I should call from our home phone because that would probably give the 911 operator better information - plus, I didn't think Christine would probably know our home address off the top of her head! Meanwhile Candace was giving Sydney some blows to the back...I think!

So I ran and got the phone while Candace had Sydney down on her side and was sticking her finger down Sydney's throat to get her to throw up. I dialed 911 and told them that my baby was choking, but then I was watching Candace and Sydney and I couldn't respond when the operator was asking me my address. She eventually was yelling (well, probably talking very loudly and firmly!) at me to tell her what my address was and I finally snapped to and gave it to her. I just couldn't tear myself away from what was going on with Sydney.

And then suddenly she was breathing. She must have thrown up whatever it was. I looked through what had come up and found a little blue piece of paper, about the size of my fingernail. I told the 911 operator that Sydney was okay and they verified that I was SURE and I didn't need anyone to come out.

Sydney was sitting up on Candace's lap now and looked up at me and made a few kind of sighing/throat clearing noises. Her eyes were red and watery and there were tears on her cheeks. I picked her up and she looked up at Candace and GRINNED at her. It was the sweetest thing. I don't remember her crying at all, just grinning up at us with this look of relief on her face!

So THANK YOU to Candace and Christine for helping Sydney & me out yesterday. :)

And what did Natalie say when I came back out into the living room? "Mom, I need some more yogurt."