Nearly lost Morgan

We were swimming this afternoon, and it seems she decided that she could do it on her own, and went off quietly to another area of the pool… I saw her in the middle of the pool, and she looked funny, kind of bobbing below the surface but staying on one spot. It took over a minute to realise that her face was below the surface, and another minute for Martin (closest) to get to her. She was blue when we pulled her out, gasping and shaking, Martin tried to stand her on the side of the pool and she collapsed onto me and just lay there, tear-less, saying, “I want to go home.“

She must have been under for nearly three minutes. I can’t believe I didn’t lose her today, it’s just such a miracle I spotted her at all.

On another note I’m trying not to be angry with the pool. There was no lifeguard on duty, we had to go and find one a few minutes later to check her over. I know she’s my responsibility and therefore this is me avoiding being angry with myself, but illogically I feel like if someone had been there we would have got to her sooner.

We’re all anxious, stressed, and exhausted here. :(

Added later: NHS direct has been fantastic, really helpful. We rang as soon as we got home and they had someone speak to us right away and I’ve had two further calls from the specialist children’s nurses. They’ve really ruled out anything serious, and been very thorough and above all kind about the whole thing. When one asked “where is she right now” and I replied that she was breastfeeding, there wasn’t a beat skipped - in fact she was so nice about it I thought she’d misheard, but later she said, “her stomach is probably fine if she can find room for mummy milk!“ smile

We have to keep her close over the next few hours, and someone will co-sleep with her tonight (their advice!) and then we’ll need to see a doctor next week in case she develops a chest infection. But it sounds like she didn’t breathe any water at all, something the nurse had never seen in a child of this age. When her face broke the surface, she gasped rather than spluttering, just like you’d expect from a baby. It looks like somehow, Morgan has kept her dive reflex (or enough of it to have saved her life on this occasion). How amazing.

And how thin the line is that we tread between everything being fine, and serious harm coming to them. It still makes my heart stop to think about it.