My second nephew was born in the fall of 2004. I didn’t have much opportunity to watch him the first year of his life, so when my brother and his partner asked me to look after him for their company Christmas party the following year, I was excited to welcome him (and my older nephew) into my home. After all, I’m Super Aunty C! Sayer of Yes, giver of great toys, stocker of the best snacks, and endless energy to do all the things.

We were to have both boys over night – no problem! I had a playpen ‘for the baby’, and our spare room was all made up fresh for my older nephew. Snacks, movies, cuddles. Check, check, check! Yes, Baby G was a bit warm and his cheeks were flushed – he was teething, my brother told me. Nothing to worry about! I’d worked as a nanny, and I was a great aunt. Sick kids weren’t a big deal.

The evening went on, and at one point, Baby G seemed a little odd, but I passed it off as just a twitch. I felt him. Still warm. I wished I had some children’s Tylenol. I checked the diaper bag – nothing. I washed his face with a cloth as I changed him for bed and put on a clean diaper as we all prepared for bed.

This is where I lose track of what happened next. It happened in a flash.

He was laying on our bed… I think. He was warm and out of sorts. Sort of stiff and just odd. I said to my husband ‘Call Health Link and ask them what to do for a teething baby or a baby with a fever.’ Though I’m not sure of my exact wording because in retrospect, that seems so simple. I know what to do for both those things. But since I have had a baby since this happened, maybe I didn’t know back then.

Then it all broke loose.

Baby G started having a seizure. His entire body went rigid. His eyes rolled to the back of head. His mouth opened.

And he stopped breathing.

He stopped breathing.

He stopped breathing.

And I could only think… My brother finally let me watch his son and I killed him

He still wasn’t breathing.

“CALL 911! He’s not BREATHING!” I screamed. I remembered I had to make him breathe.

I have to tell my brother his son is dead.

He still isn’t breathing.

I remembered I knew how to do resuscitative breathing. Maybe I could do chest compressions. But I knew how to blow air into his lungs properly. I did all the steps I had been taught. I followed them to the letter. I checked. Not breathing. Repeat.

Voices are asking me questions. I didn’t know how long. A minute? Maybe two.

Baby G drew in a breath and opened his eyes.

Undress him. Cool him off, we were told by the 911 operator. Ambulance was on the way. Put the dog out. My older nephew was crying. Lock up the cat. The baby was crying. I was crying.

My nephew was breathing.

Do we want to go to the hospital, I am asked, as they check him over. He seems fine.

Uhm. Yes. He stopped breathing on my watch. I’m taking no risks. March us on down there, thank you. Why do healthy babies stop breathing?

Febrile seizures, we learned, were caused by a sudden spike in body temperature. They can be quite common in some toddlers. He was teething but also likely had a viral infection. He would be fine, but had an 80% chance of having another one at a later date. It was normal for breathing to be temporarily arrested.

This predates everyone carrying a cell phone, so my husband was tasked with tracking down his parents. I had only basic information (birthdate, parents names). My husband got a hold of our parents, who ended up going to the party venue to retrieve my brother and his partner to come to the hospital. While they all had cell phones, this was back in 2005, before we were all attached to them at the hip!

By 4am or so, everyone was reunited! My nephew is now nearly 20 and probably is shocked to read this. I’m not sure I’ve ever told him this story. When my son was born four years later, my work place offered first aid training, which I took. I was a full fledged first-aider – with defibrillator certification. If anything ever happened, I wanted to know what to do without thinking!