Gotcha Mommy and Daddy

Jess and I learned a whole new level of fear this past weekend, thanks to our 2 month old bundle of joy (and occasional terror).

We were in Montrose PA for niece's (and now goddaughter's) baptism. For those that don't know, Montrose is a small town about 40 minutes NW of Scranton PA - small like one traffic light in the middle of town. We had only a short ride to the church on Sunday morning, so I piled daughter, wife, and mom-in-law in the back seat, and had grandma-in-law riding gun with me. Not 1 mile into our 3 mile trip, I am told in a panic to pull the car over. Sitting in her car seat, Lily had a blank stare on her face and wasn't responding to any stimuli (wife and mom-in-law pinching her cheeks and rubbing her head) and her lips started turning grayish blue!! If any of you are parents, and have had a similar incident with your child, you know I cannot find the words to describe the fear and anxiety you feel in those moments. Jess pulled her out of her seat and startled her - she snapped out of her daze and slowly started clearing her throat and crying. Whew! We waited a few minutes, at which point she smiled and started laughing! We thought perhaps she was just in an awkward position in the car seat, so Jess made some adjustments, put her back in the seat, and we went on our way.

About 3 minutes later, she did it again! Jess again pulled her out of the seat, and she again let out a few good screams (which is what you want to happen) and started smiling again. We changed her out of the little dress and tights she was wearing (remember, special occasion) and were totally freaked. That's when we decided it was time to visit a hospital. OK, where is the closest hospital, and how do we get there? It's 45 minutes away in Binghamton NY and we take curvy back roads through the mountains! White knuckles??

We got to the hospital, and went into the ER. They were very nice people, and extremely helpful from the get-go. For the duration of the ride, Lily was awake, alert, and making noise, so we had all calmed down a bit (a tiny bit) but one of the nurses told me she could see gray hairs growing on my head as we spoke! They did a full work up on her, and thankfully, everything looked fine. But they suggested we stay for 24-hour observation just to be sure. During this time, they did an EKG, chest x-ray, and apnea monitor (see Taber's for help) to be thorough, and again, everything looked good!

According to the doctors, there is a good chance that she had some reflux that got caught in her throat, and apparently an infant's instinctual response to that is to pause breathing. That would explain the lifeless daze and blue lips!

So 24 hours, and three hospital meals and a cot sleep later, we chalked it up to a fluke occurrence. Fine with us! But scariest 50 minutes of my life!

At least now I can get to Binghamton NY via back roads!