This morning, after breakfast, my two older kids were still hungry. So we decided to have some clementines, or baby oranges as they call them, or satsumas as I called them as a kid. Whatever they are, we were eating them and my three year old started to cough and gag. He coughed up the piece of orange and said he was okay. A minute of two later he coughed, and then it turned to a quiet almost gasping sound that I knew right away meant that he was fully choking! I firmly patted his back to try to loosen it up, but it was in there too tight and he was turning a disturbing dark red color, so I did the Heimlich maneuver. In case you're wondering, with small children you only use one hand because two could hurt them. It took about three thrusts before the orange piece came loose and he threw up a little bit. He felt kind of yucky for a while after that so I gave him a hug and let him puddle up in a blanket and watch a movie. I realized after the fact that I had scattered my own orange peels when rushing to him, and a few minutes ago I realized that I had been telling my daughter a story and never finished it. I'm so thankful my little man is okay!
I thought about it later on and wonder what would I have done if I didn't know that basics of first aid? A lot of things about being a mother I have learned as I go and as needed, but this wasn't one of those times! I had to know not only what to do but what modifications to make for a small child. I'm so thankful that I had so much first aid training growing up and that I really got to practice the child and infant modifications on practice dummies in firefighter school. I don't want to think about what would have happened is I hadn't known what to do or if I had panicked and not done anything despite my knowledge. So, if you're wanting to add a homemaking skill or start somewhere, first aid, especially the Heimlich maneuver may be the best place to start!
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