When a minute feels like an eternity

Have you ever have those experiences when just a few short minutes feels like FOREVER?! Well, we had a few of those minutes last night.

We put little Tay down after eating at about midnight and she was struggling a little bit for about an hour, just periodically gagging and coughing a bit. But she seemed like she was ok if we gave her a pat on the back and sat her up. I couldn't sleep due to her every noise -- still getting familiar with HER noises. I was just starting to tell myself to stop being such a worry wart and get some sleep when I heard a tiny little gag noise from Taylor, not much different from the other sounds she had been making all night. For some reason, that I now know was a total prompting, I happened to sit up and look over into her bassinett. All I could see in the dark was her back totally arched, head back as far as it could go. I jumped out of bed to grab her, yelled at Chris to turn on the lights, and when he did, we saw that Tay was completely blue and not breathing at all. Scariest, saddest thing I think I have ever seen. So, Chris grabbed her and started trying to do everything to clear her airways and get her breathing again, but nothing was working. I got on the phone with 9-1-1 and got them on their way over, still trying to get Tay breathing. Finally, as the first responder knocked on the door, we heard the most welcomed sound in the world -- Tay's cry. She took some big gulps of air and just started wailing, which is exactly what we wanted to hear. Her color started to return and then she just became so lethargic, probably from all the energy she was trying to use getting her breath, that as they poked her and prodded her, she almost fell asleep. Poor, poor thing. They monitored her for a few minutes and everything checked out totally fine, thank goodness. We were able to clear a bunch of mucus out of her nose while she was not breathing, so we are assuming that was what the problem was. Still, the paramedics told us we should take her into the E.R. and get a chest x-ray and get checked further to make sure she was really ok. So, at 2:30 in the morning, we packed up our little family, everyone in their pj's, and headed to the hospital. I watched little Tay like a hawk in the backseat, I was so freaked out. She checked out just fine and we all got home at about 5 a.m., feeling exhausted but soooo thankful that our little girl was ok. It is something that I NEVER want to see again. There is no worse feeling than seeing your 3-day-old baby blue, not breathing and completely unresponsive.

I just have to express gratitude that we were so watched over last night. The Lord truly was taking care of our girl. From the fact that I hadn't fallen asleep yet (because I probably would not have heard Tay gag that last time before she lost her breath) and was prompted to look over into her bassinett, to the most important fact that Tay was able to get her air back, we were totally being blessed. In those LONGEST few minutes that she wasn't breathing, and as I frantically talked to the 9-1-1 dispatcher on the phone, I saw Chris saying a prayer over Tay as he worked desperately to get her to breath. I'm so grateful that in those moments, he had the thought to say a prayer and I know that the Lord heard him and sent the needed help to Tay. And as I'm sitting here watching little Tay sleeping away, safe and sound, I KNOW that the Lord loves her and He loves our family and that we can always rely on His help. I'm sooo thankful for that today!

Let's hope there are no more scary nights like last night for a VERY long time. Whew.