just 45 seconds

I saved my baby's life tonight.



I was in the girls room doing a detail cleaning job.  Organizing the boxes, containers, and bags that India fills up with all sorts of things.

Skye was tickling Scarlett on the bed.  Scarlett was laughing, and then she started to cry/laugh, and Skye grabbed her around the waist and tried to put her on her lap.  But Scarlett was struggling to get away.

"Let her go, Skye."

Scarlett stood up and looked up at me.  I looked at the bed, there was a small piece of a green Jolly Rancher.  I thought that was why Scarlett was upset.  Because her candy fell out of her mouth.  But her cries turned to terror, and she did the long cry where you are thinking "Breathe! Breathe!"

Aaron came running into the room. Scarlett's face was frozen in a wail.  She never drew any breath in.  "She can't breathe!" Aaron said.

I grabbed her and flipped her upside down and pat her back 2-3 times.  Her whole body went slack.  I put my arm around her to feel in her throat.  Her mouth was clamped shut.  "I can't get her mouth open!" I forced my finger into her teeth and pulled her mouth apart.  Stuck my finger into the back of her throat and swept back and forth.  All I felt was her tonsils.  No foreign object.

I flipped her onto her back.  She was laying slack on the bed.  Her eyes were glassy, wide open.  Her mouth and lower cheeks a blue-ish color.  I could've sworn, I heard Aaron say, "We are losing her!"

I did two chest compressions. And she started to cry.

And cry.  The most glorious sound.

As I sat cuddling her on the bed, I realized the severity of what had just occurred.  From the time the tickling to the chest compressions was a matter of 45 seconds.  I began crying.  Aaron said that all he had said was "NO! NO! NO!" So either I thought "We are losing her" or this was whispered into my consciousness so that I would take action.

As we talked about what happened, the only thing we can figure is that she had found another Jolly Rancher and had it in her mouth, along with the green one that fell out of her mouth onto the bed, and while being tickled it got lodged in her throat.

India, sidled up to me and said, "You need to call Grandma."

"What? Did you say I need to call Grandma?"

"Yes.  You need to call Grandma.  Your mom.  And tell her what happened."

This sweet angel of a girl is only five years old.  And my one year old Scarlett lives tonight to see another day.

To say I am humbled and grateful do not fully encompass how I feel tonight.

My baby is alive.