Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Mom of the Year

I am pretty sure I have claimed this title a few times in the few years that I have been a mother.  Of course, when I do claim this title, its because I am FAR FAR FAR from being the mother of the year.  :)

Yesterday afternoon was another one of my not greatest moments as a mother.

We had gone out to Craig's office so that I could pass off the kids, and get to Edmond for a dinner with my high school friends that was long overdue.  When we got there, Craig was finishing up a meeting with one of his clients, so Jackson was exploring Craig's office and McKinley and I were following.  I gave Jackson a packet of fruit snacks, which McKinley tried to steal.  What I didnt really notice was that after Jackson had finished his snack, McKinley was playing with the empty wrapper.

I was gathering things to take out to Craig's car, and noticed McKinley was crawling to me. I did not think much of it, I thought she was just trying to leave, as well.  Well, then she quit crawling.. turned over on her back, with her mouth gaping and turning red (struggling to breathe). 

I must have said something because Craig was there quickly. I threw everything I had in my arms on the floor, and sat her up and started hitting her back.  Ok.  Side note.. before we could even bring McKinley home from the NICU, we (I) had to watch LOTS of videos.  I did not really pay alot of attention.. I mean really, I was a seasoned parent.  So with that being said, I kept thinking.. I did not pay attention to the video about what to do with choking.  I did what my instinct told me to do, hit her back.

She started throwing up, and out pops part of the plastic wrapper to the fruit snacks.

My baby was crawling towards me for help, and I just continued doing what I needed to do... BREAK MY HEART.

She is JUST fine.  When I was driving out to Edmond, I got a text from Craig saying "ummmm there is nothing blocking her airways now"  She was back to her normal LOUD self.  :)

From this experience, it is reiterated to me, how diligent we have to be with McKinley.  With Jackson, when he was just figuring out how to be mobile, it was relatively easy to make sure there were not things laying around that he could choke on.  It was just me and Craig.  Well, now that we have a 3 year old, with a little mobile baby.. there are ALOT more options of choking hazards. And you can believe that I am going to be storing those toys for a while.  :)

3 comments:

mgoff said...

SCARY!!!!!!!!!!! This is a big fear of mine. You would not believe how many items Chris has retrieved from kids throats, everyday it seems!!!! Way to go Dan with your instincts....so glad she is okay!

Nicole said...

HI! So nice to meet you!!! Thanks for the encouragement. I am the most even tempered non-confrontational I want to be everyones friend type of person so it is hard to get negative comments!!
You have a beautiful family!

jkbradford said...

Thanks for being willing to share this story Danielle. It helps me feel not so alone!!