Parenthood

Today was a lesson.

I think there are moments throughout life that offer reality checks, and, you know, put things in perspective.  Today was definitely one of those days for our family.

We had plans for a relatively lazy Saturday.  Bernie was off to the groomer first thing this morning.  We were due to have visitors around lunchtime.  Then planned to watch football play off games this afternoon.

Around 9:15am, Natalie gave us a scare that I hope no parent ever has to feel.  She woke up from a sound sleep vomiting, and suddenly could not breathe.  Immediately her lips and hands were purple.  We sat her upright and tried to encourage whatever was blocking her airway to get out.  When our initial attempts failed and her condition appeared to be worsening rapidly (she became very red, eyes were bloodshot and watering profusely, and mucous poured out of her nose), Eric dialed 911.  We tensely waited for the (volunteer) ambulance to arrive.  Minutes passed, Natalie continued to deteriorate, managing only very shallow gasps and still not crying or coughing.  Mom arrived to help us keep her breathing, and after several more minutes, and still no ambulance, we rushed her to the hospital ourselves.  Eric and I continued to encourage her to cough while suctioning her mouth, throat, and nose, while Mom drove 100mph (literally) to the hospital.

The emergency room staff quickly assessed her, and once she was stripped to her diaper and into the hands of the nurse, she immediately cried and her color started to return.  A chest x-ray and initial lab work all revealed that perhaps the problem was just a normal response to fluid having come in contact with her vocal cords.  The doctor explained that in newborns this has a "freezing" effect on the baby where they are temporarily unable to breathe or cry or cough.  Not reassuring.  You mean this could happen again?

After about an hour of monitoring, the hospital staff was convinced that she was fine and that she could go home under our watchful eyes.

Back to the lesson.

The reality of having a huge responsibility for such a tiny, dependent person hit pretty quickly after she was born.  Today's events put life into perspective.  So what if money's tight or the laundry isn't caught up.  Who cares if I don't get to the dishes tonight.  Big deal if we have to miss out on something we'd really like to do.  All that matters in this whole world is the life that we are responsible for, and nothing made that more apparent than feeling like we almost lost her today.