There is nothing worse...

...absolutely no worse feeling in the world, than watching your child being loaded into the back of an ambulance.

Baby Jane is just fine now---it was more of a scare than anything else, nothing seriously wrong.

But I can honestly say that I've never felt as scared or as totally helpless as I did then, and I hope to never, ever, ever experience that again as long as I live.

Tags

More like this

Major depressive disorder (hereafter referred to as "depression") is a prevalent and disabling illness. According to the National Institute of Mental Health: Major Depressive Disorder is the leading cause of disability in the U.S. for ages 15-44...[and]...affects approximately 14.8 million…
It is very reasonable for a parent to worry about vaccines. For one thing, most of them involve sticking the baby or child with a sharp object, thus making the little one cry, and it would be abnormal to not have an automatic reaction to that. For another thing, they are drugs, in a sense. When…
About a year ago, a month before our wedding, I was walking with my wife (wife-to-be, I guess) and some friends through New York City. It was a hot, sunny summer day, so she was in a sun dress. We walked through parks, we met various friends throughout the city, and generally had a good time. That…
Last year, I recounted my personal experience on September 11, 2001, and I offered some commentary about what that day--and the events of the ensuing year--meant to me and to American politics in general. I've reposted my 9/11 story again this year, below. (11 September 2006) When I was a freshman…

Ugh. Best wishes from a stay at home dad whose near all time worst nightmare you just lived thru.

Oh, what an awful feeling! Glad it all turned out alright.

By slightlyfleury (not verified) on 12 Aug 2008 #permalink

Oh, Jane! It is such a terrible feeling indeed. Mine stopped breathing at age one week and likewise got a trip in an ambulance. I wouldn't wish that experience on my worst enemy!

Oh my goodness! I'm glad she's OK now and I hope your heart rate eventually returns to normal.

...
Been there, done that ...years ago.

Your brief story brought those memories rushing back; scary indeed.

Trust all continues well...

...tom...

Thanks for the kind words, everyone! Baby Jane continues to do well, and I think my heart rate is finally back to normal. :)

It's weird, because I was completely calm while this was all happening, which I would not have expected. I was the one who found her in a state of distress (I don't feel comfortable sharing the specific details here), and I realized fairly quickly what was happening. Then I sort of went into automatic pilot---I (semi-)calmly told Mr. Jane to call 911, then took the phone from him to speak w/ the operator when he started floundering to describe what was happening. I remember telling someone nearby to go wait for the ambulance and having the presence of mind to grab the diaper bag and my purse when the ambulance arrived. And I was calm and lucid enough to ask intelligible questions of the emergency room doctors and nurses once they figured out what was going on. The only time I lost it was when the first responders got there---the police and an EMT arrived before the ambulance did---then I broke down for a couple of minutes (even though by then the immediate crisis had passed and Baby Jane was no longer in danger), and Mr. Jane had to fill the first responders in on what had happened. It was not how I would have expected to react---I would not have expected myself to be so detached at that moment and to have the presence of mind that I did.

Oh my gosh! Jane! Baby Jane! How terrible! I'm so glad that Baby Jane is going to be okay. That must have been terrifying for all of you.

*hugs*

I was calm and lucid enough to ask intelligible questions of the emergency room doctors and nurses once they figured out what was going on.

I remember telling someone nearby to go wait for the ambulance and having the presence of mind to grab the diaper bag and my purse when the ambulance arrived.