When not to listen to your instincts.

Question: When shouldn't you listen to your instincts?
Answer: When your child is choking.

Yesterday while visiting my Grandma I overlooked her giving Danny a small peanut butter pretzel sandwich (I should have listened to my instinct when I wanted to say "no!"). About two minutes later Danny tripped and fell, began to cry and as I picked him up to console him I realized he was choking. Really choking. His face was white and he couldn't breath, just a pathetic attempt to cough it out. My first instinct was to pry his mouth open and do a quick finger swipe-then my knowledge kicked in and I remembered what I learned in the CPR/First Aid class that my husband and I took when I was pregnant.

A little back story.

My husband was stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma (Yuma, Arizona) while I was pregnant with our son. One of the benefits of being a poor enlisted couple is the opportunity to take tons of pre-baby prep classes. When I was 36 1/2 weeks pregnant we took an Adult/Child CPR/First Aid class.

Just for fun imagine this with an additional four weeks attached giving CPR to dummies and pretend Heimliching my husband:

It wasn't pretty. Anyway, the class, taught by two wonderful firefighters/emts from the MCAS Yuma firehouse taught me the proper way to save a choking baby. Five pounds on the back, flip, five compressions on the check repeat as necessary. The class was about six hours long, but probably one of the best things I've ever done because I knew exactly what to do in a scary situation thanks to the awesome teachers (and thanks to LINKS for offering the class for free).

So, I Heimliched Danny. I was lucky enough to only have to do the five back pounds (probably not the proper term) before he started to breath again. He was hysterical (probably thinking why the !@#$ is Mommy hitting my back when I am choking), it took about five minutes to calm him down, but he is ok. Thank God.

There are so many classes, books and stories that claim to help prepare you for parenthood. None of them do, they might, if they're really good make you feel a little less scared, but you'll still be terrified when the hospital discharges you and you and your partner realize that "they're letting you take the baby home-by yourselves" like my husband and I thought. The CPR/First Aid classes can prepare you to handle a scary situation and save your child's life. If you do nothing else to prepare for parenthood, this is what you HAVE to do.

If you already have children and haven't taken the class, it isn't too late. It is never too late to learn how to save your child. Take the class with your baby sitter, aunts, uncles and grandparents. Make sure anyone who might be left alone with your child is prepared for a common, yet dangerous situation.

If nothing else, at least check out these links and share them with your friends.

Quick INFANT CPR instructions

An illustrated guide to infant CPR and Heimlich

Find out where you can take a from the American Red Cross