We just experienced the most scary moment we have ever had in the past 13 1/2 months.
To preface, Isaac has had a bit of a rough day. At church, he was a bear through Sunday School. We figured it was because he was so tired. (Which he was). We got home and he took a shorter than normal nap. Once he woke up he was ready for some food, so we fed him, etc. etc. etc...he was pretty whiny (entering a not-so-fun stage...I really can't wait for him to TELL me what he wants rather than "ehh ehh ehh" while pointing). Anyway, it was at this point that I keyed in on what was wrong....I felt his forehead and he was pretty warm. Click. He was cutting another tooth. His nose has been like a faucet all day, he has been irritable, and now the fever. Ding. Ding. Ding. He just cut a tooth, and it has typically been so long between each tooth that I wasn't expecting him to cut another one.
Ok, so now that you understand what type of mood Isaac was in....we were getting him ready for bed tonight and I gave him some Motrin. He really likes the taste of his medicine that it makes giving him medicine, very easy. However, he typically wants more than what we give him. So, tonight, once I had given him his medicine, he started crying when I walked away with the syringe. And it wasn't a whimper cry. It was a full-on, head back, stop all sounds and breathing type of cry.
At first, we thought nothing of it....at first, it wasn't anything we hadn't heard before, at first, it usually only lasts a second or two....but tonight was different.
I went in the kitchen to get his milk, and Taylor was holding Isaac. Well, the pause between when he let out the first cry to the second cry lasted much longer than a second or two....tonight...it lasted 6, 7, 8 or more seconds.... The typical "Isaac, it's ok" changed from a soothing to an urgent plea in a matter of seconds.
Isaac's lips were turning blue. Dark blue.
We started to panic. I started to clap while I said his name to get him to snap out of it, to start breathing. I was looking at him in unbelief, shock, horror... Taylor tried to get Isaac to breathe....
When he finally took a breath after who knows how long, it got really silent. I looked and as Taylor cradled Isaac in his arms, I heard Taylor say, "He passed out" My eyes got huge as I rushed over, but before I could finish "Is he breathing?!" Isaac opened his eyes.
Welcome scariest. moment. ever.
He blinked slowly once or twice and then continued to cry. At this point I brought him into the kitchen to see I was getting his milk so he would calm down. Color had returned to his lips, but not to mine or Taylor's!
He was completely fine after the whole incident, but I have never been so freaked out. When I told that to Taylor he said something like "And you didn't even see his face!" (As if to say, if you thought it was bad, you should have been the one holding him when it happened! Which is very true, I would have had a harder time with that).
Either way, I have gone in to check on him several times to make sure he is still breathing and even contemplated sleeping on his floor tonight!
Ahhh! Talk about heart-stopping.
Any tricks for calming a crying toddler before reaching this point again?! Someone please tell me they have had this happen to them and it was no big deal....!
This has never happened before, it came out of nowhere, and if it ever happens again....oh, well I don't want to think about that.....
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11 comments:
Oh Val!!! I am so sorry--I can only imagine how horrible that was for you! That has never happened to me...so I don't have much advice.
Let's just hope that it never happens again!!!
Can't wait to see you!!
Yes, that is definitely the scariest moment ever. I would've freaked. I wonder what happened and what made his lips blue. That's weird Val. Poor guy! Give us an update tomorrow.
We are SO sorry to hear that. That would be so freaky! I googled it a bit for you, maybe these will help, maybe not. Good luck. Good to see you the other night. Talk to you soon.
baby.families.com/blog/babys-crying-holding-breath-and-turning-blue
answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080113204814AAVclVn
how sad!! oh my!
yikes. totally freaky. You are such a great mother and I'm sure you dealt with the situation the very best! So, I'm coming to colorado tomorrow and will be there until saturday. we are also coming december 19-21 and then again after erin's wedding from december 29-january 11!!! I want to see you!
oh my goodness - how scary! my little brother had what his doctor called 'breath holding spells' all the time when he was little.... nothing ever came of them, but it was soooo scary watching them. :( sorry you guys had to go through that... let me know how he's doing.
It's the Housley in him. :)
Scary! No advice, sorry. :(
That is so scary!!! I'm so sorry! Tucker has cried hard enough sometimes that we thought he might pass out, but thankfully, he never has. (yet) What we've been told is to blow in his face when he starts crying that hard and not breathing much in between. I don't know if that is the end-all answer, but it's worked for us so far. Something about the air in his face makes him gasp for a breath before continuing on with his crying. Hopefully you won't have to worry about that again, but if you do, just try blowing in his face to see if that works. Good luck!!!
I am sooo sorry. My neice passes out and it is horrible. It started out when she got hurt and then she started doing it when she was just plain mad. Her eyes roll to the back of her head, her lips turn blue, and she starts convlusing. It is really awful. Anyway, my cousin (who is her pediatrician) says that they will eventually start breathing and to just hold them and blow in their face. Since she now does it so much, he now suggested that she can't give her any attention, so she has to put her in a place on the floor where she can't hurt herself. It is now to a point that when she starts crying she knows to go to that spot on the floor. I hope Isaac doesn't get this bad, but I guess some kids just do it. So sorry again.
Oh Valerie - that sounds like a nightmare! I'm so sorry. If it makes you feel any better, my nephew Talmage is a STUBBON little stinker sometimes, and if he doesn't get his way he'll get mad enough to hold his breath and completely pass out. He's done it 6 times or so and my sister just about loses it every time. It's terrifying. I'm not sure that I have any great advice, except that perhaps it will make you feel better to know that other kids do it too if they are upset enough.
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