Alarming experience

The second night we were home went smoother...until the alarm sounded.

It was horrible.

Baby monitors have come a long way. Like many new parents, we are terrified of SIDS. Garrett found a special monitor that tracks baby's movement.

Anyway, our baby monitor is super sensitive and requires a board that fits under the mattress. It beeps once if it detects no movement in 10 seconds. In 20 seconds it beeps readily. We're soooo high tech, ya know. It took several times for him to teach me the bells and whistles and it's really not that complicated. I've set it off several times accidentally.

On our second night home, though, we were awakened to the strong and steady alarm. I jumped out of bed--I guess I still have some abdominal muscles after all--and rushed to Max. He wasn't moving. I know I kept repeating his name and he still didn't move. I remember feeling his chest to see if it was warm and Garrett pulling him out of my arms where I was jostling him trying to get him awake. In the back of my mind I was telling myself to gently jostle or he'd have Shaken Baby Syndrome--if he ever woke up. He eventually started crying, and I joined him.

Since he was born with all that liquid and they worked over him for hours, I thought maybe it had something to do with that. Our pediatrician's office has an open call hour in the morning, so I was on the phone as soon as they were available.

The doctor's advice?

"Box up the monitor and take it back to wherever you got it and trade it in for diapers. Otherwise you'll never get any sleep."

Um, no. But at least I feel better.