Before we came home from the NICU, we spent a lot of time researching and weighing our options between baby monitors. We decided the Owlet Smart Sock was what we were looking for, so we ordered it. I always put it on her during night sleeps, but was hit or miss with it during nap times.
Friday after I laid my baby, AJ, down for a nap, her brother asked where the Owlet Base Station was which reminded me I hadn't put the Smart Sock on her. So he and I went in, strapped it on her foot and connected it to the base. An hour later, the base started making a loud sound and was flashing red. I ran in and found our sweet baby unresponsive, blue, limp, and not breathing. My spouse called an ambulance while I started chest compressions on my tiny girl. I was able to get her back in less than a minute and within 5 minutes her color had mostly come back, around the same time the emergency vehicles arrived. We were then taken to a farm on the side of the highway where LifeFlight landed to take us to Nashville. AJ has been stable ever since, and we're told it's probably the worst-case scenario of a GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) episode where she refluxed but couldn't clear her airway. They've made some changes to her feeding to see if that prevents another episode, and we're getting close to possibly discharging.
I share all of this to raise awareness and allow parents to learn from our experience. If I can offer any piece of advice to new parents or parents of little ones, it's this: KNOW CPR, and BUY (as well as USE) an OWLET Smart Sock. It gave us information that we used to save our baby girl (with the help of her big brother ♥️). I don't care what any doctor or healthcare professional says about those devices. It's allowed us to keep something so irreplaceable.
- Ashley M.
