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Sam's Upped the Ante -- March 16, 2003

Sam started crying the other day and I could tell pretty quickly that this was going to progress into a "blue baby" episode. So I picked him up out of his bouncy seat and stimulated him to try to get him to take a breath. No breath. No problem yet.

Once these episodes begin Sam will usually tense up, take one gasping breath, relax and begin breathing again. I just needed to be there with the oxygen near his face to help him recover more quickly. I put Sam down on the couch and turned on the oxygen while continuing to stimulate him. He tensed up. I had the oxygen mask by his face. There was no gasping breath. He relaxed. Still no breath. He went completely limp. More stimulation. No response. I gave him 2 rescue breaths and stimulated some more. Nothing. Another rescue breath and then I went for the phone. I called 911 and put the phone on the couch so I could talk with the operator while I continued to help Sam. After much too long Sam took a breath on his own. And then he started crying. The paramedics and the firefighters arrived at our house and, because Sam was having frequent and prolonged apnea while they were there, we took Sam to the ER. They did some lab work, another CT scan and observed him for 24 hours then sent us on our merry way. Poor Jackson was there through the entire ordeal and did amazingly well. We're home now and Sam has been a very happy baby since returning home, but there's just a bit more anxiety in our house now.

Posted by Mindy at 10:50 AM | Comments (1)
if i didn't know better

had i not crested each wave of labor to your glorious
emergence
had i not been there for your debut
i would have thought you were dropped from heaven
your body damaged in the fall
but your spirit whole — big, beautiful and pure

never imagining my love to be so complete and selfless
not expecting my fierce desire to make your little body able
and perfect
or my fear to change anything
lest my meddling somehow diminish your beauty

You have captivated me
my sweet, imperfect angel

-Mindy