A BATHTIME SCARE: Every Father, Mother or Future Parent Needs to Read THIS

A week and a half ago when I was still at work doing one of my monthly 12 hour days....baby was taking his nightly bath and Dan was holding his arm when he went after a toy head first, with his mouth open (to grab it with his mouth of course). Dan grabbed him up right away but he was just in a staring spell, not breathing. He ran with him to look at the first aid chart that I got one day in the mail and decided to put up in our pantry. He gave him 5 back blows and it did nothing, he still wasn't breathing, considered calling 911 but wasn't giving up so he gave him chest compressions and snot and flem came up and eventually, water, then a breath.
When I got home Dan told me all about it and of course I was a wreck. The baby was already asleep and I just wanted to see him so badly that I couldn't wait until he woke up and wanted to get in our bed (which we are trying to break his habit of but not that night). I waited to hear his little cry and grew more and more anxious thinking about what could have happened so I took a shower and bawled my eyes out for 20 minutes. An hour later I snatched him out of bed and laid down with him and of course didn't sleep all night. I was so glad to have my little baby safe and sound.

WHAT WE DIDN'T DO THAT WE SHOULD HAVE........(This is the part you HAVE to read)

I thought that we were just lucky and that it was a scare but that everything was fine. It was. BUT...did you know that you are supposed to keep a VERY close watch on a child that had lung trauma like an "almost" drowning episode? They can still drown within 24 hours of the trauma from water that stayed trapped in the lungs. You are to immediately get chest x-rays and an exam to be sure that your child isn't susceptible to "dry drown." I heard this a week later and obviously it didn't happen to C but I had no idea that it could have. When I took him to the doctor for an ear infection yesterday, I told her what happened and that I didn't know that I was supposed to do anything about it, she gave me a very serious look with eyebrows raised and confirmed that we should have gone to the ER. She also said, "Dan did the right thing and acted quickly, that saved his life."
This wasn't something I was going to blog about because it is so personal but I felt like I should share it to educate parents and caretakers on...
A: Just how quickly something bad really can happen in the bath even when you are right there so you should NEVER EVER leave for "just a second"
B: Knowing about the close monitoring after lung trauma
C: It's so important to take safety classes for children. Dan and I are looking to get certified right away.

PS, I took this picture while my mom was sitting right next to the bath!