Too close for comfort

I have had some things happen over the last couple of months that have been a little scary. First was Norah. I was in her room with her and Meika and was changing Meika's diaper. We don't have closets in Germany, so we have to use wardrobes instead. Norah was playing inside the wardrobe right next to me. While she was in the wardrobe, she had grabbed two strings from one of her dresses that was hanging and must have twirled around until it was wrapped around her neck. She then walked off the front of the wardrobe, which has about a 8 inch drop from the ground. I heard her making a weird sound and turned to look at her and she had hung herself. Luckily I was about a foot away from her and was able to pick her up to relieve her neck from being strangled and unwrap the strings. I don't even like to think about what would have happened if I was not in the room with her.

Then comes Adeline. Last Saturday, Abe was coaching a wrestling tournament and the girls and I were home. I had been an emotional wreck all morning from the Connecticut shootings, but was trying to get some sort of a grip. We were up in my office and Adeline was really excited because she found a quarter. We talked about her putting it in her piggy bank. I ran downstairs to prepare Meika a bottle and within a minute Adeline bursted into the dining room frantically looking like she was going to throw up. I asked her if she needed to throw up and she couldn't speak or breathe and was starting to panic even more. She started trying to reach her fingers down her throat and that's when I knew she was choking. I set Meika on the ground (however I don't remember... it must have been quick) and grabbed Adeline and started hitting her back. As I was doing this and it wasn't working, I was trying to figure out in my head who I was going to call to come and help. I didn't even know the emergency number here! ( I have memorized it now!) When I realized that hitting her back wasn't doing anything I reached my arms around her to do the Heimlich. On my first "pump", a quarter flew out of her mouth and hit the wall. Oh.my.gosh. Adeline and I sat on the floor and hugged and cried for who knows how long. I am so thankful that she came running to me for help. Adeline is 5. She KNOWS not to put things in her mouth. She does have an oral fixation though and sometimes she puts things in there when she is fidgeting and doesn't even realize it. I am so grateful that she is ok.

The other night, I was talking to my dad and Abe told me I had to get off the phone because something was wrong with Chloe. Chloe was a little delirious and wasn't "all there". She was trying to walk, but it looked like her body was giving up and that she was going to fall over. Abe held her while I called the emergency vet to get her in. Not too long after, Chloe started acting more normal and alert in Abe's arms. He put her down and asked her if she wanted a treat. She completely perked up and started running around. Hmmm.... I thought she was going to die for a second there. We still don't know what is wrong with Chloe. I am going to go get some blood work on her. My friend says that when she watched her, she thinks she may have had a seizure. I guess that would explain the way she had been acting the other night.

These 3 events scared me half to death. Abe said that he was worried before Chloe had her episode that something was going to happen to Meika since bad things come in 3's. I guess we don't have to worry about Meika now :) But on a more serious note, this all has me thinking about how precious life is. I want to savor every moment with my girls.