Chip emergency

Sticky Baby choked on a potato chip yesterday. No really, choked.

I was pool-side with a bunch of my lady friends and their rug rats enjoying the gentle afternoon sun and the chlorine fumes.

Snacks were being passed around and Sticky Baby, always one to enjoy a nibble, made big puppy dog eyes at the giant red bag of crisps.

Now, I’m not one for feeding my tiny boy junk. In fact, the majority of what he ingests is home-made, honest to goodness food.

But what’s a pool party life without a few indulgences? So I let him have some chips.

Cough. splutter. Dry retch... I can deal with that. He does that a lot, being a baby and all.

Red eyes, no noise, tongue sticking out, struggling, not breathing...that I cannot deal with. For the love of Britney Spears, I CANNOT DEAL WITH THAT!

In that instant, I whipped out my super-mama cape (I keep it tucked away in my string bikinis) and took action!

I remained remarkably calm and remembered my sister-in-law’s instructions (she’s a gifted ambulance office):

Put baby over knee and administer sharp blows between shoulder blades.

My version was a little different, seeing I was waist-deep in water and Sticky Baby was sitting on the edge of the pool. I simply grabbed him, slung him over my shoulder and whacked him on the back multiple times.

Worked a treat. Soggy chip on my shoulder. Baby breathing and happy again. Whew. Good Lord, this parenting stuff can be stressful. I don’t think I took a real breath during the whole chip incident. 

Sticky Baby, you gave me my first heart-attack.

And what do we say when we narrowly escape choking accidents?

Thank you ambo sister-in-law!