I was on Pinterest, and I clicked on a link to a blog. It hit very close to home.
Inhale... Exhale...
It was a Tuesday on Oct 10th, 2012. Almost 3 months ago. My sister Rebekah was in town and with all our kids together, we had a houseful of EIGHT! So much fun, and some not so much fun, but it was busy busy. I honestly can't remember what had happened earlier that morning. Something, ha ha. But my friend Farica had just had a baby a couple weeks after Finn was born, and she was still in the hospital for swelling. I remember it was 3pm, because I was getting ready to leave with my dear friend Karen to go and visit Farica. I texted Karen to tell her that I was ready to go. I sat down and my 17 month old, Marley, came up to me. She had picked up one of my sister's son's apple and was eating it. I picked her up and put her in my lap. After a few seconds, she started to cough and choke. I looked at her expecting her to cough it up, while patting her on the back, but she continued to cough and struggle. I swiped the back of her throat with my finger and got some small pieces of apple out, but she was now wheezing and struggling for air. I stood up and turned her kind of upside down, hoping some pounding and gravity would do the trick. I was starting to worry, but still thinking it should come out. I picked her back up and she was not breathing, just a straining noise coming from her. I sat down on the floor and tried to put my finger in her mouth to clear something, anything out of the way. But her jaw clenched up and I cut my finger on her teeth trying to pry her mouth open. I looked at her sweet face and realized that it was blue. Her body was limp and her eyes were staring up at the ceiling. They were glassy and unfocused. And at that moment I knew that she was dead. I also knew that I didn't want her to die. I wasn't going to let her die! I brought her face up to my mouth and I blew into her mouth, feeling her abdomen fill with air, and then I flipped her around and pushed the air out of her. I did this over and over, I don't know how many times but it wasn't very long. I knew I would have done it forever if I needed to. I felt her tiny muscles twitch and it gave me hope. And within a minute or two, she took a very ragged breath, but it was her own! She started breathing!! She was unconscious but breathing. My sister, who had been on the phone with 911 the whole time took her from me and I took a minute to pick up the pieces of what could have happened. And what still needed to be done. I called Karen and asked her to come to my home. Mom was on her way home from work. Adam was almost home too, thankfully!! He arrived shortly after the ambulance. The EMTs checked her out and were glad that she was responsive to pain- they poked her big toe with their fingernails. Adam and I rode with her in the ambulance to the hospital, while Karen, my mom, and my sister followed behind with Finn. She had an x-ray of her lungs performed at the hospital and they saw something in her lung- she had aspirated the piece of apple! (I guess I cleared her airway with my CPR, but pushed it into her lungs) They life flighted her to the Children's Hospital of Atlanta, and Adam got his first ride in a helicopter :) The next 4 days were a little brutal, what with not being able to hold her and having a newborn in the PICU ward. She had two bronchoscopies and lots of steroids and antibiotics. She was my little addict having withdrawal shakes really bad, but finally, we could go home! Adam couldn't wait to get one of her famous hugs where she just squeezes you tight! I was worried at first about any neurological damage, but we were blessed that that was not the case. She was fine! She had slight regression of motor skills for a couple days, which they informed us would happen, and pretty soon she was the same happy-go-lucky 17 month old, even more careless than before it seemed, but maybe that was just me. My sweet sisters, Rachel and Rebekah, were so much help and I know that my sister Sarah was an angel watching over us as well. It's been a couple months now, and apples are just now popping back onto the grocery list, but after listening to this father's story, it reminded me of how blessed we are that Heavenly Father allowed Marley to stay with our family. That these children of mine are really His and he's allowing me to raise them and to form family bonds with them that will last for eternity, if I want. And I do. I want that very much.
*Please look into the links in bold above :)
