Breath Holding

Yesterday was by far one of the scariest days of my life.

I stood as my husband held our son - still, unresponsive, no breath leaving his blue lips, eyes rolled back in his head - and I cried and I panicked because I had no idea what to do.

I just wanted my baby, my perfect baby, my everything, to be okay.

We had went on a little adventure in hopes to take some family photos, my sister-in-law and her two kids in tow, when Henry slipped on some wet leaves, fell forward, and bumped his head. Being the tough guy he is, he got up and started my way. I picked him up and was trying to soothe him, never imagining that anything else was wrong, when Jeremy noticed that he had gone unusually still.

At closer look he was completely unresponsive and not breathing, his lips started to turn blue and his eyes were rolling in the back of his head. Jeremy immediately took him from me and tried to rouse him. Eventually he gave him several chest compressions, more in his stomach than his chest to try and push air through his system, and a couple of rescue breathes. In the meantime, my sister-in-law had called 911.

It seemed like forever (it was probably less than a minute in reality), but he eventually came to returned completely to himself almost immediately after. He wouldn't even let me carry him out of the woods to the ambulance but instead insisted on walking himself. Jeremy and I were borderline hysterical and my poor niece and nephew were scared to death.

After arriving at the hospital and being checked over, we were told that Henry simply had a 'breath holding spell' and that it was fairly common among kids his age. Essentially they get so upset that they don't take time to catch their breath and can easily pass out. The amount of time that they're out can vary, but until their body 'resets' and the brain tells them to breath again, they will remain in an unresponsive state.

Even with the reassurance that Henry was completely fine and not in any danger, it scared us to death. We held him extra tight last night knowing that he was okay and said more than one prayer in thankfulness. It is every parent's worst fear that something will happen to their child, but the reality is that we can't protect them from everything. Jeremy and I both discussed last night how it would be easy to blame ourselves, to keep him indoors when it's wet out so he doesn't slip, or to not let him run and play. But the honest truth is that our boy was just being a boy and there was nothing we could have done to prevent it from happening. At least now if it ever happens again, we'll be a little more educated in what is happening and how to react.