last night's scary episode

[Snugglebugsmom]

I went to bed last night as usual, with Zoe right beside me. She had nursed on both sides, and went right to sleep, as did I. Shortly after midnight, I woke up to see her vomit all the milk she must have still had in her tummy. I gently turned her on her side so she could finish vomitting, and reached for a cloth diaper to soak up the curdled milk, thinking I would change the sheets in the morning and go back to sleep for now. But then I noticed that Zoe wasn't breathing, at all. She wasn't making any noises, her chest was not moving, and she was wide-eyed. I yelled for dh (he had fallen asleep in front of the TV), and jiggled Zoe. She took one breath, but then went back to not breathing. This repeated a few more times. It was sooo scary, and I kept screaming for dh and jiggling Zoe to get her breathing regularly on her own. I think what happened was when she was vomitting, the milk had backed up into her sinuses, and she wasn't really able to clear her sinuses and coordinate that with breathing. It was SO scary. When I thought she was better I took her into the kitchen, and yelled at dh to wake up. He hadn't heard me before. He jumped up, knocked his glasses off his face and the remote control off his chest, but by that time Zoe was nearly back to normal. Phew.
Has something like this ever happened to anybody else? The rest of the night was peaceful, thankfully.

[RainRaven]

wow that is really scary, I would call her Doc ASAP

[JennaW]

That would have scared the crap out of me. I hate when I call for my DH and he can't hear me. It's never because of something scary though but the thought always crosses my mind...

I hope it was a fluke and never happens again

[FiberLover]

That sounds terrifying!

I would also probably call the Dr. today and ask.

[Gypsy.Momma]

Scary!!! My littler guy has reflux and he throws up so bad it comes outy of his nose and he can't breathe either from it. A nose sucker is my new best friend. I hope it doesn't happen again!

[madiesmommy]

Oh my how scary!! I cannot imagine. Thank goodness for co-sleeping

[Materfamilias]

OMG! You must have been so scared! I would check with the dr too just to make sure ...

[Snugglebugsmom]

Maybe I've become jaded with too many doctor visits after having three kids already, but I know that there really isn't anything a Dr. will be able to do. They'd just insist that I come in (believe me, getting 4 kids ready and then sitting in a waiting area is not fun), and they'd listen to her lungs, check her weight (yet again), and possibly criticize me for co-sleeping. In the end, the visit will have been for nothing. I feel very confident that Zoe is in excellent physical health, just maybe still a bit immature.
I've been keeping a very close eye on her ever since she was born (I do that with all of my babies, and still check in on even the oldest every night to check for breathing, lol), and will definitely continue to do so.
Thanks for all the support and the hugs!

[tabitha]

i agree with your view of the pointlessness of a dr. visit. bringing a newborn to the doctor is rarely a good idea. once that ball is rolling it is hard to stop it, as they feel they have to cover all the bases and so on.

a similar thing,minus the vomiting, happened with my dd who is now 4. she was just a very tiny newborn, cosleeping with me. i woke in the night like i did so much early on and watched her. then suddenly i realized she was not breathing. out of some instinctual urge, i actually took her in my hands and shook her- not really shaking like you might think, but i raised and lowered her body swiftly while holding her firmly. it was weird, i felt half asleep myself. she took in a quick deep breath and started breathing again.

i know that irregular breathing is common and i cannot say what might have happened if i had not been cosleeping or had not woken up. but i was so thankful for cosleeping that night!

i hope it never happens to you guys again. they are so tiny and there is so much room for worry. you deserve some peaceful weeks.

[Linzie2]

Originally Posted by madiesmommy

Thank goodness for co-sleeping

When my Ds has spit up a few times, it's like it catches in his throat and takes him a second to clear it so he can breath. He's never been breathless as long as it seems that you explained, but I can understand your concern. This certainly never happened with DD and I wish it would stop with him!

[veronicalynne]

Yeah....I would phone the doctor as pp have advised too. I am so glad she is ok

[prairieo]

I can say that, as a mom to two very premature babies, I have seen apnea spells more times than I care to, which is common with preemies, of course, and they are hooked up to the monitors. But when the monitors go off, all the nurses just sort of look that way to see if the baby is going to self stimulate and breathe on their own. They will not just jump in and move the baby to get a breath, and I think wait for up to 10 seconds or more. My earliest son, Austin went home with an apnea monitor. The guy who set me up with it told me, "I bet this ends up at the bottom of your closet!" I didn't know what he meant then, but I found out quickly. It went off all the time, whether he was having apnea or not, and I just couldn't stand it. Yes, my son did still occassionally have an episode, but he pretty much always stimulated himself. I know there were times that I missed it, when I was not awake. It's part of the reality of bringing a preemie baby home, and hospital staff have reasonable faith in the babies to fix things on their own....they have a very strong will to live. I know your situation is different, but I wouldn't freak out too much. It probably happens to babies a lot more than we think.

[KerriAZ]

Oh that is scary! That happened once to me with my DS - although he started breathing sooner than Zoe did, but either way, it is VERY freightening when they don't breathe! I'm glad that everything is okay! And I agree. There would be no point in takign her to the doctor's office! I say just bust out the nose sucker and make sure her nose is all cleaned out after it and THANK GOODNESS for co-sleeping!!!!!!!

[jbmill2]

yes that happened to me with my first son. it was terrifying. I swear, if we werent a co-sleeping family he would not be here today. (((hugs)))

[Snugglebugsmom]

I was wondering if she would start breathing again on her own, but didn't want to just sit there and do nothing. I'm sure you're right about babies having a strong will to live and self-stimulating and all that.
While Zoe was not born premature, I'm thinking she was most likely born earlier than people thought. I think the Dr. and the midwives thought she was born at 38 weeks, but I think it's closer to 37 weeks. Her weight is about the same as two of my other children who were born at 37 weeks, plus she still has hair on her ears and the rest of her body, which my son also had. I think the hair is not really there when a baby is born completely at term. Zoe also had trouble regulating her temperature when she was first born and didn't cry so we had nurses from the NICU checking her over before I was allowed to hold her. These are all reasons that make me thing she's more immature still, physically.
I'm happy we're co-sleeping and that I'm so alert even when I'm alseep, lol.

Originally Posted by prairieo

I can say that, as a mom to two very premature babies, I have seen apnea spells more times than I care to, which is common with preemies, of course, and they are hooked up to the monitors. But when the monitors go off, all the nurses just sort of look that way to see if the baby is going to self stimulate and breathe on their own. They will not just jump in and move the baby to get a breath, and I think wait for up to 10 seconds or more. My earliest son, Austin went home with an apnea monitor. The guy who set me up with it told me, "I bet this ends up at the bottom of your closet!" I didn't know what he meant then, but I found out quickly. It went off all the time, whether he was having apnea or not, and I just couldn't stand it. Yes, my son did still occassionally have an episode, but he pretty much always stimulated himself. I know there were times that I missed it, when I was not awake. It's part of the reality of bringing a preemie baby home, and hospital staff have reasonable faith in the babies to fix things on their own....they have a very strong will to live. I know your situation is different, but I wouldn't freak out too much. It probably happens to babies a lot more than we think.

[firespiritmelody]

[nubianamy]

Oh, gosh, how scary -- you are a brave mama!

[Khourtniey]

I think you shouldnt do anything. If it happens again perhaps talk to your doctor about getting an apnea monitor for her but as you said there isnt really anything the doc can do for you.