Choking

EDIT: This post was started on November 11, 2011.  I noticed I never finished and posted the draft. It looks like it didn't backdate, but I'll see if I can fix that.

Shane scared the crap out of me today.


Lately, the boy has been making lots of noises. Some of the noises sound almost like gagging or coughing, but it's just him experimenting with what noises he can and can't make. My mom warned me not to ever freak out and make a big deal about any strange noises in case it teaches Shane that "It's fun to make that noise because Mommy and Daddy will panic!" (My mom learned to swallow her spit wrong as a baby because it sent Jama into a tizzy)

Today, I sat down to feed Shane as he was making some of those noises. He would make the noise for a little bit, my heart would stop and I'd pause, and then the boy would continue to breathe normally. I figured he was just doing his normal bit. I picked him up to feed him and I noticed he was already opening his mouth like he was hungry. That wasn't typical. Shane likes to struggle when you first sit down with him. Plus, there was a ton of slimy spit as if he'd been chewing on something. When we sat down, he took the bottle at first, but then started coughing and acting like he'd swallowed wrong. Daddy paranoia was already creeping in, so I looked in his mouth to see if I could see anything.

Nothing.

Shane wasn't exactly being cooperative with the check and was crying, so I stopped to give him another shot at the bottle.  Again, he took it easily but the coughing and sputtering started again. Daddy paranoia was no longer creeping. It was dinging. Loudly.

I laid Shane down on the floor and knelt over him so I could get a better look in his mouth. The boy freaked. He was crying, balling, turning, and writhing to prevent me from opening his mouth. I managed to get a finger in and started looking around.

Nothing.

Wait! There was a quick flash of white under the tongue. It wasn't much, but I swore I saw something. At this point, I was full-on scared. I didn't want anything to happen to my boy. It took an effort to keep myself in fix-it-mode instead of worry-mode.  Shane kept on fighting.  He didn't know why I was doing what I was, but he had other things he wanted to do. I kept at it. The fear that my boy was in danger had my heart racing.

There! There was a dime-sized piece of plastic wrapping! Shane must've gotten it from somewhere and shoved it in his mouth (in typical baby fashion). I pulled it out and then appeased the crying baby with his bottle, my mind racing the whole time. Where had it come from? How had he gotten it without me seeing?  I thought I'd been so careful!

After feeding, I started rummaging around. I couldn't find anything downstairs that could've been the culprit.  Could Ranger have brought it in the room? The dumb cat is horrible about dragging bits of paper and things around the house. He's left tidbits around in Shane's play areas before. It wasn't until Carrie got home that she noticed there was a piece of plastic missing from the bottom of one of Shane's puff containers upstairs! Shane had eaten the plastic before we started walking! That's scary. Very scary.