Is this familiar to anyone? by SM, a new dad

My baby daughter is crying. No, not merely crying; she is howling, as loud and hard as her little lungs will allow. She had just started crying, seemingly for no reason, and it rapidly spiraled into a fit. How do I help her? I don’t know what’s wrong! Mommy isn’t here, and she doesn’t want the bottle. I’ve changed her diaper. Her temperature is okay, she isn’t overheated – though she's clammy from crying so hard for so long. (It’s only been a short while, but at the moment, I can’t remember a time when she wasn’t crying.) Is she in pain? If so, where, and what's causing it?

She screams, her face red, then purple. Her cry stretches out, finally grinding into silence as her breath fails - and still her little body is wracked with spasms, limbs rigid, as she struggles to continue the scream. Dread clutches my stomach and panic rises. If she doesn’t inhale, could she go into respiratory arrest? Could her heart stop? A lifetime in the medical field assures me that isn’t really possible, but that’s my rational mind, and it is drowning in irrational fear.

She stares up at me, her eyes swimming with tears, begging me to do... something. Anything. My daughter needs me, and I have no idea how to help her! I've promised her I will protect her, that I will always be here for her, and I am failing her. I am impotent, helpless; I feel sick.

At last she gasps, then inhales, and I breathe again, too. A long, long few minutes later, her crying subsides, and she settles down. Looking up at me, she smiles beatifically. The terror unravels from around my heart, relief blooms into joy, and I laugh through my tears. She’s okay! I still don't know what the problem was, but for now she’s okay, and all is well.

Until the next time it happens...

Thanks!