The Scariest 5 Minutes

WARNING: Long and rambling story ahead:

I went to gym this morning. When I went to pick up the kids, Emily was crying. As soon as they handed her to me, she just went limp and was crying really funny. I signed the other kids out and patted Emily's back, but her head wasn't staying up on my shoulder. I was looking at her nose to nose while Ben and Annie got there shoes on. She would hold her breathe for about 10 seconds, I would blow on her face, and then she would breathe again. I knew there was something wrong, and one of the girls that works there came over to check on her and asked if everything was all right. I said I didn't think so. Then Em's eyes rolled back and she couldn't keep them open. By now her face was white and lips were blue, so I "asked" them to call 911.

Not knowing much about medicine, I had no idea what to do! She still didn't have much muscle tone, wouldn't open her eyes, and then stopped breathing. It was only about 15-20 seconds, but it was terrifying! By then I was talking to the dispatcher and answering her questions when Em started whimpering and broke into a sweat. I hung up with her when the paramedics came in and they checked her out. By the time we sat on a bench outside the kids' club Emily was breathing fine, holding up her head and focusing with her eyes. Whew! They took her heartbeat, blood pressure and blood sugar level. While one paramedic did that, another was handing little stuffed animals to Emily and Annie (who wouldn't leave my side), and another was asking questions and filling out paperwork. She asked if Em was normally that white. But within a few minutes her cheeks were getting some color and she returned to acting like Em. Ben came out and started crying while they did the heel prick for the blood sugar test, but that was quickly over with.

Whew! What a morning, and not something that I want to repeat. However, I am very glad the fire station is so close and they come so fast. I declined a ride to the hospital because she was acting just like normal. They said without being there, they can't tell what happened. So, I have a call into the doctor asking if we need to get any more testing done. I was a little bit worried about over-reacting (though I really don't tend to do that when my kids get hurt), so I went in and thanked the workers in the Kids' Club. One of them said that maybe Emily was just crying so hard she had a hard time catching her breath (which I don't think was the case because she hasn't reacted like that before when crying for a long time, which does happen occasionally!), but the girl that was helping me just shook her head and said, "No, her lips were blue and she wasn't breathing." Alas, all is back to normal, other than a very protective Mama Bear!