Helpless

Today I had my scariest mommy moment thus far with Brooklynn.  Well, besides the day we were told she would need surgery on her head.  This was a different kind of panic.  After lunch today, we headed over to Kroger to get some things that were on sale this week.  When we were parking, I noticed a firetruck parked out front and the firemen walking inside.  They were actually talking in the produce department when we got inside and I had to kind of maneuver around them to grab some cilantro.  We did our shopping, which was a fairly quick trip, and headed back out to the car.  I loaded the groceries in the trunk and then put Brooklynn in her carseat.  I usually set my diaper bag in the passenger seat before I buckle her, just because it's big and can be a nuisance, but there was a cart next to the door so I just flung it on my shoulder.  She was fighting me on getting buckled and was making the noise she makes when she wants something and was grabbing at the keys.  She loves to hold them.  So, I handed her the keys so I could get her buckled without a fight.  I closed her door and by the time I got around to my side of the car I heard "click".  Oh no, my heart sank!  She had locked the doors!!! I have given her the keys before, and this scenario had played through my head.  To get into my car, I don't have to pull my keys out, as long as my keys are in my pocket or purse I can just walk up to the door and push a button and it unlocks.  I figured that's what I would do if I were ever in this situation.  Well, when I pushed the button on the door it didn't work!  Turns out I didn't realize the keys needed to be outside of the car for that to work!  My heart sank to the pit of my stomach!  I ran around to look at Brooklynn and she still had the keys in her hand and her fingers were on the unlock button.  I started saying "Brooklynn, push the button, push the button!"  and she just looked at me and smiled and did nothing!  It was probably about 85 degrees or more outside- it was pretty toasty! All of the sudden this video that I had watched online about a mother leaving her little boy in the car in the summer while she did her grocery shopping flashed through my mind! It showed the little boy starting to sweat, then becoming drenched in sweat, crying, to eventually lifeless.  I started to get very anxious!  For a second I thought what do I do?!  Then I immediately grabbed my phone and dialed 911. I didn't have any time to waste!   I am SOOOO glad that I hadn't put my diaper bag in the car, because that is where I keep my phone.  I was connected to Pearland Dispatch and told the kind woman that my baby was locked in the car.  I answered questions like "Is the car on?  How long has she been inside, is she in distress, is she sweating, where was I and where was I parked?"  No the car was not on, Brooklynn had just been inside for a couple minutes at this point and wasn't sweating yet.  I stayed on the line while she radioed for an officer.  I was parked close to the store, and had glanced at the fire truck earlier.  I told her there was a firetruck there and didn't know if the firemen could do anything. She didn't respond to my question because she was busy trying to get me help.  By this time Brooklynn was starting to sweat and I was becoming even more anxious and scared.  When I told the woman she was sweating now, she said she was calling an ambulance to be on site to check her out after they got her out.  I glanced back at the firetruck, and my heart leaped with joy when I saw one of the firemen outside next to the truck smoking.  I told her there was a fireman and took off running towards him.  I hollered " Excuse me, my baby is locked in the car can you help me!?"  He immediately came running.  Luckily at that second, the other firemen were coming out of the store and he yelled to one of them to grab the lock kit.  I ran back to the car to check on Brooklynn and found a man standing there saying a baby was locked in the car.  I'm so thankful he cared to stop and try to do something.  I told him it was my baby and I had run to get the fireman.  I just stood next to the window and Brooklynn was still just looking at me smiling.  "Push the button!!" I said over and over again.  One of the firemen was trying to unlock the door by sticking a wire type thing down inside the window and pushing the unlock button.  By this time the policeman had showed up and there was a swarm of people around my car.  I just kept watching Brooklynn, and was growing more and more anxious by the second.  She was still doing well, just some beads of sweat on her forehead, and nose, and her face was a little bit red. I felt so helpless, just staring at her!  The Cop was next to me looking through the passenger window at the guy trying to unlock the driver's side door.  He told him "You're going to have to hit it dead on."  Great, I thought, this is going to take forever!!  "Push the Button" I just kept saying, to no avail!  Finally, I heard CLICK and all the doors unlocked, the alarm was going off, and I yanked the door open as fast as I could and grabbed Brooklynn and the keys! The fireman had been able to hit the unlock button dead on!  Brooklynn was fine, just a little sweaty!  I felt this huge sense of relief rush over me, and the deepest feeling of gratitude for these men who had been right there when I needed them, and had saved my baby.  I just kept saying "thank you" over and over again and I held her and cried.  They called off the ambulance since she was visibly ok.

The entire fiasco lasted about 10 minutes, and luckily Brooklynn never reached an extremely dangerous stage physically.  I was shaken up a bit afterwards and just felt like crying out of gratitude.  The officer told me to get her some water, and she'd be just fine.  I hadn't brought her water bottle so I started heading back into the store to buy one for her, and the officer asked if I had my keys.  I replied that I did, and he said my driver side door was wide open still from the fireman opening the car.  I hadn't even noticed!  All I could think about was Brooklynn and getting her some water.  He was so kind and said he would close it, which he did, and then drove away.  Just like that, the swarm of people that had been there to save the day, were gone!  How thankful I was for them!  I felt like I needed to repay them somehow!  All I could do was thank Heavenly Father that everything turned out ok.  And I learned my lesson the hard way.  I will never let Brooklynn hold the keys when I'm not in the car again!