Little known fact

So last night I was getting ready for bed and Brad and Emmy were sitting in the recliner, Emmy sleeping tummy to tummy. I came over and gave them goodnight kisses and Brad picked Emmy up to shift her. She started to cry and after a few seconds Brad called me over with some tension in his voice. I looked at my 13 day old baby and saw a frightened, red faced infant struggling for breath. She would scream and then would stop, arching her back, eyes bulging with panic until she would finally gasp and cry out again. I ran to get the bulb syringe and tried to clear her nose as it seemed she couldn't get air when she inhaled but got little to nothing out. When she did it again I franticly told Brad to call 911 and started pacing with her in my arms. About 10 minutes later, which seemed like an eternity, the rescue squad finally made it the 1.5 blocks from the fire hall to our house. Brad and I both stated how we could have easily walked there faster than it took them to get to our house. Emmy was still screaming and gasping, which I strongly encouraged her to keep doing since I knew if she was crying she was still getting oxygen. The rescue workers took her from me and started asking the questions that might help them figure out how to best help her. Her little 6 pound, 11 ounce body looked even smaller in the large gentle hands of the man who came to help. He was very calm and quickly gave her back to me to help her calm. They tried to take her vitals and listen to her lungs between squalls. She had basically stopped gasping and was starting to calm but seemed to startle herself often and start crying again. They gave her blow-by oxygen (I held the mask near her face to help increase what she was taking in) and tried to suck something out of her nose so she could breathe again. They asked if we wanted to take her to the hospital which we quickly agreed to and they said the ambulance was on the way. As we waited, Emmy and I on the couch and four rescue squad workers around us on the floor, we watched for any sign that she was struggling to take in breath. About 15 minutes later the ambulance got there and the paramedics came in. We started to put her in her car seat and instantly spit up some green gunky stuff out of her nose and mouth and started crying again. We tipped her forward and quickly took her out. The paramedic carried her to the ambulance and I followed. Our dear friends, Carla and Darrell heard the page, as Darrell is a fire fighter, and came over immediately offering to stay with Will. We recruited Carla to ride with Brad and I left with my baby girl in the back of an ambulance. They gave her the oxygen again and continued to monitor her respirations as we drove in. We got to Merit Care Hospital in about 40 minutes and were ushered right in. They laid her on a gurney and hooked up her toe to the blood oxygen monitor. She had slept all the way in the ambulance in my arms and continued to do so until they took her temperature rectally. Brad came in about two minutes after we got in the room and was very relieved to see his baby girl pink and calm. The nurses said her temperature was good and her respirations and oxygen levels were good so they thought we wouldn't be staying long. The doctor eventually came in to talk to us and listened to her lungs. He said they were clear and explained what he suspected had happened - something we had never heard even with Will - that babies don't know that they can breathe through their mouth. When their nose gets stuffed up they instinctively panic and don't think they can breathe. Fortunately they eventually will gasp and breathe through their mouth even though they don't know that is what they are doing. So, there you go. A little piece of information for those of you who have or will someday have newborn babies. I'm sure we still would have panicked if we had had this little tidbit of knowledge before it happened but it probably would have saved us some heartache and desperation wondering if our baby was going to be okay.

Today she is fine. She has been awake for a few hours and then slept for a few more. She is eating and pooping and crying and watching the world go by in a blur. We are very appreciative to the rescue squad for their calm presence and assistance with our little one. It is something I hope to never experience again, but if I do at least I know she will breathe again.