Seems the bigger my little guy gets, the more busy he becomes. If there is anything I have learned over the past couple months since he started walking is that we cannot let him out of our eyesight for a second. Jack is THE most accident prone little guy I have ever seen! We try to keep him confined to the living room area so that he is at least safe, but I’m sure being stuck there is getting a little old- he wants to EXPLORE! Seriously, he has fallen on his face so many times, we’ve wiped up so many bloody mouths. It scares me so much when it happens! I know I can’t constantly be there to cushion his fall and he has to learn, but it is excruciating. Not only does he always seem to fall on his face, but the other night he fell face first into his toybox as he went in to reach for a toy. Scared the hell out of me.
We’ve had two very scary events take place recently. The first was a choking incident that lasted far longer then we would’ve liked. Jack loves to shove his face with food and about a week ago, he was eating some fruit from a fruit cup and started choking. My husband and I got him out of his highchair quickly and ended up doing the heimlich on him. It got scary and was about to dial 911 when I heard the best sound in the world- his cry. Poor baby was just terrified (as were mommy and daddy). Jack is fine, but I thank god every day that my husband and I knew how to react in that situation.
The second scary event is that Jack came down with H1N1. While he is an overall healthy boy and it really amounted to nothing more than a very long 2 weeks of fever and illness, one night we got scared. Jack woke up crying- not unusual for him to get up at least once a night in search of nuks or mommy and daddy. The crying went on for awhile though and as I turned to ask my husband what we should do (we are a CIO house) his breathing became labored. He was grunting and I ran to him to see what was the problem. He we grunting and shaking and twitching from head to toe- he was very feverish. As he continued to struggle, he vomited all over me. We immediately headed to the ER. He shaked and struggled the entire ride there. They gave him a Tylenol suppository and as we waited to see the doctor, Jack calmed and was basically just tired by the time we actually saw a doctor. Of course, the doctor ribbed us for overreacting. I just kept thinking… you didn’t SEE him. This type of reaction to illness is so out of the ordinary and he’s had MUCH higher fevers with his ear infections in the past (up to 104), so 102.5 shouldn’t have been causing this type of reaction. I will NEVER doubt that we did the right thing and I will put up with a condescending ER doctor to make sure that my little boy is okay. It was a scary moment and a scary night. Jack was sick for a grand total of 2 weeks with the flu and we are still nervous that he hasn’t shaken it entirely.
I guess even though we have these scary moments, I know that we are blessed and lucky. I have been reading the stories of my online friends- near death accidents with their children that have changed their lives forever. Children who were born with special needs. These moms are my freaking heroes. I can’t imagine all that they have to do and fight for on a daily basis whether it is just their sanity or the healthcare system. I am amazed. I think my point is that accidents happen and everything can change in an instant. I worry that one of these little Jack accidents will be the last and it scares me. There is not a day that goes by that I do not thank God for giving me such a happy, healthy and brilliant little boy. I know I am lucky and I do not take that for granted. Not even for a moment.