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Biggest Scare of My Life!!
- Jul 13, 2007 at 8:52 AM
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Good morning everyone!
I had the biggest scare of my life last night! I took the kids with me to the gym because my husband was out. I bribed them with candy from the gym to sit nicely while I went tanning after. Obviously, I am not above bribery! LOL
They each a lolipop and a hard candy. I told them they couldn't eat the hard candy while I was tanning, because always scared they will choke. So, finished tanning and we were on our way. My daughter asked if she could eat her hard candy on the way to Rita's (Rita's my second half of bribery!) and I told her yes. She said can I bite it? And I said yes - - so stupid!!! My son, also in the back, starts screaming for me and I turn around and my daughter, Anna, can't breathe. Her eyes are huge and she's petrified because the candy shot back into her throat and she was choking. I drove up onto the curb (thank goodness it was at an incline) and slammed the car into park. Never even touched by brakes. Threw my door open and ran to the back of the car. I yanked her out of her seat so freaking hard!! Because I yanked her so hard, she hit her stomach on the seat on the way out of the car. Because of that, the candy flew out. I just held her, kept kissing her face and I was crying, as was she. I could barely stand after that, I was shaking so hard. I look at my car, and I'm half in the road, half on curb, with my door hanging open. Everyone that drove by were so sweet. Most stopped to see if we were okay. And a lady had come running through the parking lot a bit away to see if we were okay. When I was yanking her out, I started to throw my cellphone to my son and tell him to call 911. Never had to though. The lady that came running told me I should sit for a few minutes before driving because I was shaking so hard I could barely stand, and I couldn't let go of Anna.
I have never been so scared in my life. Its amazing how you react and the adrenaline (sp ?) starts pumping. I swear from the time I saw her choking until I got to her was only a matter of seconds, but felt like slow motion. The entire time, in my head I was thinking OMG what if I can't save her. I know how to do the heimlich (no clue on the spelling!), but I've never had to do it, so I was unsure if I could.
Anyway, we still went to Rita's, which was good for her, because her throat was hurting her a lot and the snowball helped soothe it. I was so shakin all night. And both of my kids were still shakin too. She wouldn't go anywhere in the house without either me or her brother. I'm so proud of my son, Drew. When she was choking, he kept screaming things like "No Anna," "Mommy help her," and was bawling his eyes out Thats really when I started to cry. He loves his sister so much and, even though he picks at her, he's very protective over her. A few years ago, she started to run ahead of me in a parking lot and there was a car coming. Drew screamed "no" at her and started to cry. Thankfully, she hadn't gotten far enough away from me, I was able to grab her back.
So that was my exciting evening. And, please no one yell at me about giving my 5 year old daughter a hard piece of candy in the car, and then on top of that, telling her okay to bite it. One of the most stupidist things I've ever done. I know I should have never done that and beating myself up over that. I would have never ever forgiven myself if things hadn't turned out okay.
Comments:
I'm glad your daughter is okay! That must have been terrifying for you all.
I know how you feel. I had a different experience with my at the time, 21/2 year old son. We had just moved to a new apartment and were in need of some things to spruce it up a bit. My husband worked about 1 1/2 hours away at the time. My mother in law took Ryan and I to Home Depot to get some stuff for the apartment. Stupidly, we let Ryan in the back of the carriage and he stood up. He leaned over to reach for something on a shelf and fell out of the cart. He hit his head on the concrete floor and started bawling. We went to the bathroom to get a wet/cold cloth for his head and then left everything where it was and drove the 15 minutes to the hospital. But I'll tell you what, that was the longest drive of my life. Ryan wouldn't let go of me, not that I was about to let go of him, so he and I sat in the backseat. I know I should have buckled him in his car seat, but I was too upset. He sat in it and I was leaning over the seat so I could still hold him. Oh the way to the hospital, we called my husband at work, who left immediately, and called my dad and my father in law. Thank God he was fine, but we still took him to the hospital, just to be sure. We waited 3 hours before he was even seen. They didn't even give us an ice pack or some children's Tylenol or anything. Finally, my husband made a big stink and the doctor finally saw us. But I know what it's like to be scared that something horrible could happen to your child.
Oh girl, I have tears in my eyes. Especially aboutt he part of Drew loving his sister so much. I know that had to shake you up. Scarey. But don't beat yourself up about giving her the candy. If you would've known what was going to happen, you wouldn't have done it. I have done much more stupid things than that...I'm so glad everything turned out ok. I'm sure you'll always be her hero! 
Brendan is the candy biting king. If it's sweet and hard he's going to bite it. Thank God he's never broken a tooth...or choked! I know how scary that feeling is...that desperation.
When Brendan was about 18 months old I took him to the beach. There were some family friends there and we planned to spend the night (it was someones condo). Well, there wasn't a crib like we thought there was so I put him in the bed and made a giant pillow fortress so he wouldn't fall off or get hurt. Everyone was standing around outside talking or milling through the house. A boy (about 16) was in the next room...he was listening out for Brendan. Well, we were all up late and I finally went to check on him myself (even though this boy said he hadn't heard anything...mother's intuition I guess). The room was dark and I didn't want to turn the light on. I felt my way to the bed and patted the spot where I left him. Nothing. My eyes were adjusting to the darkness and I could see that he wasn't in the bed. I flipped the light on and stared at this empty mattress. I started stripping off the covers and throwing things around. I ran through the condo searching every room. I was screaming his name and asking if anyone had seen him (there were only a few people left by then). I had all these images of someone coming in the window and taking him. It was terrifying. I decided to check the bed again in case he was rolled up in the covers on the floor (not possible...I just needed to look). I also had my cell phone and was ready to call 911. I flipped up a side of the dust ruffle in my searching and I saw a foot sticking out from underneath the bed. My heart stopped because he wasn't moving. I patted his foot and got nothing. I slowly started to pull him out (he was really wedged in there). Once I got him out I started trying to wake him up. He gave me the nastiest look! He was passed out. It didn't even wake him up. Somehow he had turned himself around in the bed...scooted to the edge...fallen off...and wedged himself under the bed. All without waking up. I didn't leave his side from that moment on. We left as soon as the sun came up. It was one of the worst experiences of my life. I don't tell it that often because I feel like such a terrible mother...leaving him in there. I know that he was sleeping though and I did have someone listening out for him. It was only a few hours...still though...it makes my stomach turn just thinking about it.
You did everything right! It's not bad to give your kids candy. They're going to do it when they're away from you. It helps them learn how to be careful (although you can't always help choking). You acted quick and everything turned out alright!!
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