Gabriella's acid reflux was under control for about 6 weeks. This foolish mommy thought we were past that stage. I was wrong. In the last week and a half she had a few episodes - screaming out (it's a different scream than any other sound she makes), arching, white sour smelling acid coming out of her nose and mouth, red face... I called her pediatrician last week, they adjusted her zantac and prilosec, and said if there wasn't much improvement to call this week and bring her in.
This morning I woke up with Benjamin around 6:30, fed him, put him back to sleep, pumped, and then was messing around on the computer for a few minutes. Gabriella screamed. I ran.
She was deep red, head bent back, arching, white acid streaming from her nose and mouth. I scooped up her rigid little body and firmly patted her back. Her eyes went wide open, glazed over, and breathing stopped.
I started back blows for a few seconds and then felt the need to call 911. While I was on the line with the call center - after about 10 or 12 seconds - Gabriella started breathing again. The paramedics still came out to assess her (she was her normal self and smiling when they arrived) and decided she needed to be checked to make sure she didn't aspirate any fluid into her lungs, which could lead to pneumonia.
I called my mom; she left school to stay with Benjamin. Jamie left work to meet us at the hospital. I got her loaded up in her car seat, which was strapped onto the stretcher, and off we went... lights, sirens, the whole she-bang.
After not even an hour at the hospital, we were discharged. Her body did what is considered normal while choking. Breathing stops to protect itself from aspiration. While I won't have an itchy trigger finger with the medics, I also won't hesitate if I think a reflux episode is escalating quickly. One of the paramedics said "time is tissue", meaning the longer one goes without oxygen the more tissue can be damaged.
We have insurance. Anything that's not covered we can be billed for. Just put it on my tab!
Gabriella spent a lot of the day sleeping. I think all of the excitement really drained her. She's doing great now. We follow up with her pediatrician tomorrow, which also happens to be Benjamin's weight check since we started him on his calorie boosted food. Who would have thoguht that he'd be our "easy" baby? It's always something over here.
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