We Know It

When a child aspirates, you know it! This morning at Sloane's favorite breakfast spot, there was no mistaking that she had aspirated sips of her morning juice. Did she aspirate because she cant handle her 7 oz. to one packet consistency safely? I don't think so. I think she aspirated either because the juice was thinner than 7 ounces (the blind eye measuring may have been off) or she took too big of a sip (the diameter of the straw was wider than she is used to so the intake volume may have been too much for her).

Whatever the reason, she did aspirate. There was the look of panic in her eyes because she is trying to breathe, there was the coughing and gasping, her eyes turned red and then the flushiness spread to her face. We used to panic but now the cup is tugged away, there is an "arms up" command, and then a bang on the back. Usually in my head I am thinking, WTF, I just let some foreign junk enter into her lungs, sit there and ?????. In the past, I would go "off the reservation" with these thoughts meaning they would become a bit irrational in regards to the jump from one aspiration to pneumonia. These days, I am a bit more rational about one aspiration. When our child aspirates, we know it!!

We are starting the renovation to our home soon. We are both going into the 8 to 10 weeks of complete uprooting and destruction with optimistic approaches. I think the circle of trust thinks we are nuts. The way I see it is if my hubby and I can survive a crash c-section, our infant turning dusky on day 3 of life, 7 weeks in the NICU, surgery being done on our 1 month old, feeding our child through a feeding tube and living in complete emotional and physical survival mode for the first 6 months of Sloane's life then shame on us if we cant survive an 8 to 10 week renovation! Our experience with Sloane and her laryngeal cleft has truly changed our outlook on all aspects of life and we know it.