When Adam Choked On His Apple

Hey all,
As promised, here is one of the expanded versions of an 'adventure' mentioned in my 'Most $hit' Blog. It was originally sent as an email to family and friends back in 2002. Adam was around 2yrs old.

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Just wanted to share a little experience we had last night, if nothing else, to remind you to keep your first aid skills up to date :-) After supper, Adam was eating an apple. He was just strolling around the kitchen and taking a bite now and then, holding it more so than eating it. Normally I cut it up in little slices and he eats those, but last night was just one of those nights when I thought "ah, he's been eating everything really well lately, he'll be fine". He has pretty well a full mouth of teeth, so I guess that sometimes gives me a false sense of security.

I was standing at the stove and Adam was next to me at the fridge when I heard him gag. I looked at him and thought "is he choking?", and I watched as he tried to get the apple piece out of this throat, then was thinking "don't panic, he'll get it". All of a sudden he started turning red and was not breathing, then it kicked in, "my God he IS choking!". I knelt down right away, scooped his mouth with my little finger and couldn't feel anything. When I had knelt down, I had placed my other hand on his back just out of habit, when I took my finger out of his mouth, I slid my hand down along his chest and had my fingers resting just at the bottom of his ribcage. I yelled for Paul who was downstairs, but without even thinking about what I was doing next, I braced him with my hand on his back, and pushed 2-3 fingers (don't even remember how many for sure) into his stomache... and out popped the apple. One push was all it took and it popped right out into my hand.

Adam started breathing, coughing and crying all at the same time. I think he was more scared than anything. His color returned right away and a few mins later it was like nothing had happened. I on the other hand became more stressed the more I thought about it. Man, that could have had an entirely different ending. I never thought I'd be able to do a Heimlich type manoever on Adam... or even Alec for that matter, but I guess when the situation presents itself, you don't think... you just do.

Anyway, he's fine, I'm fine, just wanted to share another mom moment from the PAAK Shack.
Kim