The One Where Trace Scares Me Half to Death.

Well, if you follow me on Twitter (@567k8) you know that yesterday was a very scary day in our lives. Second scariest day ever, Dave and I decided.

A little backstory...Trace has acid reflux. He has had it all his life and it's actually relatively common in newborns. Not a major health issue, just causes him some serious discomfort. He takes Zantac (a very small dose!) twice a day and it does the trick 99% of the time. Actually, until yesterday I would have said it 100% always did the trick...but apparently not. Other than that and a couple food allergies, he's a healthy 8 month old. Gaining weight, growing tall, cut his first tooth and finally sprouting some hair.

Yesterday, Dave was off work for his 4th of July vacation. We spent the morning shopping in a nearby town and then come home to relax before I had to go into work. Dave was upstairs with Trace and I was down in the basement office working while Rory played beside me. It's important to know that we have a 2 year old and an 8 month old. Our house is baby proof! We don't leave coins or other small things just lying about, clearly. (haha) There may be toys strewn from stem to stern in this house, but they are baby/toddler toys.



Dave brought Trace down to me and we were chatting then he took T back upstairs to change his diaper. And that's when all hell broke loose.

To the best of our knowledge, Trace must have stashed something (paper? a crumb?) in his cheek and when he was laid back to get changed, it slipped down in to his throat and he began choking.

CHOKING. Not just gagging and crying, choking. As in he couldn't make a sound and his color went from normal to bright red in a matter of miliseconds. Dave immediately flipped him upside down diagonally across his knee and did the baby heimlich. It dislodged whatever it was somewhat, enough for Trace to regain his breath. This happened three times.

We of course flew to the ER. I was screaming prayers at the top of my lungs, calling on every promise I remembered from the Bible and speaking health over my baby. Rory was crying because she had to leave the house without shoes on. (TYPICAL. :)) I was sobbing, Dave was completely stoic.

Thankfully, we live 2 mins from the hospital. We got there and Dave literally ran in with the baby. I called my Aunt and our former Pastor's wife and begged them both to hit their knees in prayer.

By the time I got in to the room, Trace was calmed down and breathing fine. The doctor determined his airway was clear and basically wrote us off as overly nervous parents. Told us to go home and relax, that Dave was worrying too much. (His EXACT words!!!!)

EXCUSE ME.

I told the staff that my baby has acid reflux. He's gagged and coughed through every bottle he's ever had. I know the difference between just gagging on something and actually CHOKING. He's 8 months old. He has no way to tell us what he swallowed. It could have been a coin, a magnet, anything! He's a total monkey and could have pulled a coin out of the couch cushions or something without us even realizing. Babies do stuff like this all the time. I was not satisfied with a two second check of his throat. That was not sufficient for me.

So I called our pediatrician and basically demanded an xray. The pediatrician whole heartedly agreed. Trace had an abdominal xray which we are told came back clear. Fine, okay. I can rest easy.

Until we got home and I tried to feed him. And he choked. ALL OVER AGAIN.

Back to the ER we went. I was furious. They tried to tell us again that it was just us overreacting.

No. Unacceptable. I'm explaining to the staff that my son has acid reflux and has been a spitter his entire life. I KNOW the difference. I have a two year old who's never been to the ER. Obviously Dave and I aren't trigger happy with heading to the ER. I spend time in the doctor's office every 3 weeks or so with Trace for his various issues. I'm not "that kind of mom" and even if I was, take it seriously. My son was exhausted, in pain and not wanting to eat. Something wasn't right and they did nothing to alleviate my fears.

I called my pediatrician's office back in tears. I was so confused and so scared for my son. Thank God I have an amazing pediatrician's office. Never once have I felt like an over anxious parent there. They have always taken the time to listen to our concerns and go the extra mile. They really have kids best interests at heart. One of the doctors was still in the office and he got us set up for an appointment today. We'll be discussing Trace's reflux and if we need to get this issue explored further. I'm going to be pushing for further testsing, more monitoring, allergy testing, whatever we can do to keep this from ever happening again.

If he did swallow something, well that's unfortunate but kids do that. My cousin stuck candy up her nose, a friend swallowed the nub of a pencil once...kids do that kind of stuff. They are crafty little buggers. :) He's a monkey, for real, and I am sure we will have lots more accidents no matter how safe our house is and how well we're prepared.

If it is his acid reflux...well then we're going to fix this.

Keep us in your prayers please. We could sure use it.