infant CPR

As part of his job requirement, Abe is a certified CPR instructor. So we decided to use our Family Home Evening (it's a Mormon thing: http://lds.org/family/home-evening?lang=eng) to learn infant CPR together. After praying that we'd never actually need the skills we were about to learn, Abe set up the DVD and I settled back into a comfy position on the couch. I don't know what I expected--maybe I thought we'd absorb the information osmosis style while cuddling on the couch--but I was wrong.

The first thing Abe did after setting up the DVD was dig out one of my dolls from the closet. He then set up a little practice station for us to hone our resuscitation skills on. I was already comfortable and therefore declined his initial invitations to join him in practice. Instead, I took these pictures:

 

 

After a while, Abe's diligent example guilted me into joining him. I took a casual approach to the exercise and jumped right into the act of resuscitating my unfortunate doll.

"Ummm..." Abe interrupted apologetically, "I'm so sorry, but since I'm a stickler for sequence, you might want to try again. You forgot to check to make sure the scene was safe." I looked at him in disbelief. Seriously?  But he was in full-on instructor mode, and that meant we were tackling this CPR session like a real class. Okey dokey.

One and a half hours later, I was pooped. We had role played, practiced, and honed our resuscitation skills to perfection. If Lydia or any other baby in the vicinity so much as coughs, we know what to do.

1. Check to make sure the scene is safe
2. Tap the baby's foot while asking loudly, "Are you OK? Are you OK?" (Obviously, the baby can't talk back, but if the infant is conscious, you should get some type of physical response.)
3. Order someone to call 911, or call yourself if the phone is close. If the phone is not close, do 5 sets of compressions and breaths, and then call.
4. Tilt the baby's head back slightly, hold in place, and begin compressions. For a baby, you draw an invisible line with your fingers between the nipples and then place two fingers directly below the center of that line. Press down hard. You should aim for pressing down to half the depth of the chest. Release and repeat 30 times.
5. Cover the infants nose and mouth with your mouth and give two breaths. Draw your head away from the infant's head in between breaths.
6.Repeat steps 4-5 until help arrives.

I hope we never have to use these skills, but I'm glad I learned them. And I'm glad to be married to someone who cares enough to force me off the couch and practice for the sake and safety of our daughter.

I hope she gets here soon! To pass the time until then, I made these:

Remember the rolls Elise made for the Hyde Park baby shower? She was kind enough to give me the recipe link. I have been searching for a good roll recipe for years, and nothing I have tried even comes close to these. If you need rolls in your life, you MUST try this recipe. It is amazing! http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/03/rolls-and-orange-rolls.html (Also, the rolls in the picture are shiny because they were hot when I rubbed butter all over them. After they cool, they look appropriately matte.)