NanaKim

Back in my former life in working in preschool, I have taken many CPR/First Aid classes to keep up my certification and to meet state licensing standards. Depending on where you live, this needs to be renewed annually or every two years. I am well aware of the importance of this life saving training.

My sons took CPR/First Aid with the scouts and it has served them well and provided them with a good foundation for dealing with injuries in life.

As a grandparent, I wanted to take the certification again because I hadn’t done it in a while and I have noticed that practices change over the years. I definitely want to be up to date with the latest understanding of what keeps people alive, especially infants and toddlers at this early and vulnerable age.

Although the hospital where my granddaughter was born made these classes available to family members, when I tried to sign up earlier on in the pregnancy, no classes were available so I ended up enrolling in a class only 3 weeks ahead of the due date. I thought that was fine of course but as it turned out, that class was only the day after my granddaughter was born! She was still in the hospital and I haven’t even had the opportunity to hold her for the first time.

Nevertheless, as someone who would be caring for her a lot going forward, I wanted to keep my appointment for the class. The class was well attended by parents and grandparents. The content did not result in any certification, it was at a lower level than industry standards. I was disappointed in that because I want to know how to handle EVERY situation that it’s possible to discuss in a training. However, the opportunity to practice infant CPR and how to stop a baby from choking was very welcome.

There are usually lots of sources of CPR/First Aid classes offered in any community and I highly recommend this training to everyone. I took the American Heart Association Family & Friends CPR training. You will be very glad not to need to use CPR of course, but you will be even more pleased to have some idea of what to do if the situation arises.

I was very excited to leave the training at lunchtime and head over to the hospital where Grandpa and Uncle were already visiting the new baby. Since only two visitors were allowed, I switched out with my son and headed upstairs.

The new parents had a much more comfortable room for recovering from the birth. My son-in-law had a decent sleeping surface and my daughter was strongly encouraging him to get as much rest as possible since he would be driving the family home the following day. Nobody had slept much for most of the week!

My granddaughter was awake enough for me to hold her while sitting on the couch. She was wrapped in her brushed cotton hospital blanket and was wearing her little cap for warmth. I had chosen a song that I would only sing to her. I had rewritten some of the words to make more sense for a grandmother and granddaughter relationship. I started singing to her, “You’re just too good to be true, Can’t take my eyes off you, You are like heaven to touch, I want to hold you so much.” She opened her eyes and stared into my face. That’s when I really fell in love and became “NanaKim.”