Mid-April of 2006, I'm in bed feeding my beautiful, happy 4 month old baby boy his bottle. Suddenly, his body stiffens like a board and his head jerks back violently as if his neck would surely break! I struggle to keep him secure in my arms. It immediately happens again. I quickly lay him on the bed. My heart is about leap from my chest.
Then he just laid there. Motionless, eyes fixated on the ceiling. He was breathing. I was so confused and scared. I remember thinking, "Did this just happen? Did I see what I think I just saw?" I was panicked and I knew I had to get myself together.
He moved his eyes toward me and reached out his arms. I quickly scooped him up and held on to him for dear life softly saying, "Everything is okay! Mommy's here! Mommy loves you!" I just kept pacing the floor and repeating that mantra a hundred times until he whimpered the sound of hunger. I gave him his bottle. This time I held him more upright. Maybe his feeding position had something to do with what just happened.
The feeding ended. He burped and then he giggled. I was cautiously relieved...a little. I knew I had to calm down because he was so tuned into to my emotional ups and downs.
I called our pediatrician and left a message for him to call back. When he returned the call he said it sounded like a severe reflux reaction. I was advised to call the office first thing Monday for an appointment.
I did not put my son down all that afternoon or evening. I did not take my eyes off of him all night…except to blink. We never made the appointment on Monday.
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