If I had a nickel for every time....

When it rains, it pours. Sunday we missed church. I just couldn't get all four ready in time since I hadn't laid out their clothes and packed the diaper bags and pre-made breakfast the night before. We were annoyed with each other, even arguing. We had friends coming over to hang out for Scott's birthday. We decided it was really dumb to fight over not making it to church (of all things!) and resolved our conflict. Then I rushed off to the store to grab some chicken and veggies to make for dinner. While I was there I got a call from Scott. He was changing one of the littles when he heard Arielle gagging. He ran over but she was no longer gagging - just crying and saying she had swallowed a coin. He showed Nathanael some coins and asked him which one she swallowed. Nathanael chose the nickel. I told Scott I'd call the advice nurse. The nurse advised that since the coin had been swallowed that we should just wait for it to pass through her. That didn't sit right with me. I rushed home, yes, I drove a bit on the fast side. When I opened the front door there was my usually calm and easy-going little girl grabbing her throat and crying hysterically that she had a coin in her. She had thrown up - but no coin. I heard an odd sound come out of her mouth and Scott and I decided she was going in...period. We said goodbye to our friends who had just arrived. We grabbed the kids and got into the car. Arielle threw up again - again, no coin. I got out of the car and got her out, took off her puked on dress and ran her into the urgent care. It was 3:15pm. I explained my fear that a coin was stuck in her and could, at any moment, block her airway. They calmly told me that they can't guarantee she'd be seen before 5:30pm. What? I told them NO WAY and explained again that she was throwing up and it could come up or get turned in a way that blocked her airway - hello??? So they found a pediatric appointment for 4:15pm down the hall. I hadn't had lunch yet and we were SUPER early for that appointment so I grabbed a muffin from their cafe (took 1 minute - I felt guilty but I was shaking and needed something). We sat in the waiting room, my shirtless Arielle on my lap, me ravishing away the muffin. Another mom walked in with her son - she probably thought I was nuts from the look on her face. To my surprise they called us in right away. The pediatrician couldn't see anything and didn't hear anything unusual in her breathing. Just to be safe she had already ordered an x-ray when she saw what we were coming in for. I told Arielle she was going to get a "big picture" taken of her tummy. She was a little nervous once on the x-ray table but I told her to just look at the camera and I stood behind the glass - also where the monitor was that showed the x-ray picture - and I GASPED, I almost screamed when I saw this:

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I tried to stay calm so she would not be frightened. But I knew what I had seen. By this time Scott had learned from our older son what happened: He told Arielle to close her eyes, lay down and open her mouth - then he dropped a coin in. They came in and told me they'd have to put her to sleep and have a special ENT (ears, nose, throat) doctor come get it out. Scott took the three kids to his mom's nearby and despite nothing being packed, planned or ready she took them for the evening. Scott came back and joined me with Arielle. She had been happily playing with my hair for quite some time - I had a lovely puff ball for hair! She had begun having drool and other common symptoms. Scott took a turn holding her. She gagged a bit - nothing came out. The nurses were all concerned - telling us if she seems like she can't get air to tell us right away as it would require emergency surgery. Thankfully, she remained able to breath and fell asleep in daddy's arms for her very late nap. Hours passed. The team was assembled, the operating room reserved. They decided not to give her an IV for fear she'd cry and the coin would turn and block her airway. Instead they chose to use gas to put her under. One of the anesthesiologists said his little girl had the same birthday, a couple years earlier. They gave her a teddy with a matching hat. She wasn't impressed. She wanted the monitors off of her, the cap off, the covers off, the bear gone and she wanted down. I told her she had to have the doctor take out the coin.

They rolled her out to the operating room and I can't explain the emotions that ran through me. We waited. Apparently we waited in the wrong waiting room because it was taking longer than we expected (we started to worry) and they were wondering where her parents "went". They found us and called us at the same time. We rushed to her side where she was crying. She felt terrible. She's always a bit cranky after a nap - but this was probably the worst she's felt waking up. They wanted to give her a sedative to calm her down. Instead I held her and she was comforted. She kept asking for the IV (they put it in while she was out) and other things to be off her. I told her the Dr. would take them off soon. She did so well. She was amazing.
She rested a little longer then they took all the "stuff" off and bundled her up and took her HOME. I am so, so, SO very thankful to God for letting us keep our little Arielle. I'm thankful for family to help with our kids and I'm thankful for doctors who were loving, patient, kind and skilled. One more thing to be thankful for this up-coming Thanksgiving. Oh - and it WAS a nickel. Let's just say coins are now banned from our house and a certain big-brother had a nice talk with mommy and daddy about the seriousness of putting things like coins in people's mouths.