Infant Heimlich just saved my baby's life

Good Grief, Crisis-Mode-Overload.

Really, God. What next? I'm ready.

My favorite girlfriend called this morning to take our babies to the library for infant nursery rhyme time. 10 minutes before needing to leave, Atlas had a blow out. I took off his shoes and socks and darted with him back to the changing table, ripped off the fluffy cover and set him down. I handed him his changing table finger puppet. It is big enough to play with, but not when he is by himself... I feel like I can watch him closely while changing him. I get his onesie and pants off and then his diaper. I am starting to wipe him when his mouth becomes this open cave and he starts gasping.

He has done this before and I generally sit him up and watch him eye-to-eye to reassure him. It generally calms him and he takes a breath or swallows or does what he needs to do to to catch his breath. Poopie butt and all he is sitting and he is NOT breathing. I lean him forward and not even with my dominant arm I pound on his back 3 times hard. He starts crying. Whew! Right? no. I stand him up and hug his naked poopie self and then realize it isn't over. I sat him back down and looked into his mouth and saw something square and white. I reached my finger back to grab it and I think I pushed it down because he took a breath and I heard it flap. Mommy-instinct took over without my conscious help. I flipped him over my arm that I had used to pound on him the first time and used my dominant hand to thrust against his bare back. He immediately began throwing up. He didn't throw up much, but it was enough to dislodge and expel a small piece of packaging tape.

Earlier I had opened a package of Christmas gifts I had been waiting on. I had no idea anything had fallen off. He wasn't even near the box!

I took a babysitting class when I was a teen, I have taken CPR classes throughout my life. Never expecting to use it and even a little unsure that I would even remember what to do. And honestly, I'm not sure I remembered what to do. It just happened. Praise God! Nothing in my life has ever scared me as bad as seeing that look on my precious baby's face.

Needless to say, we needed more than a baby wipe after all that. So we went and played in the bath tub while we called daddy... and canceled library story time. Mommy is in no place to drive right now. 

Infant Heimlich techniques