Saturday morning as I was getting off the phone Peter started choking, gagging and turning red. I picked him up and gave a few thumps on his back and he started breathing normal and seemed fine so I didn't think much more of it. Throughout the day though he kept coughing and drooling like crazy. His nose was dripping snot and he didn't seem to want to eat or drink anything and he kept gnawing on his hands. I wasn't sure if he had swallowed something, if it was a problem with teething, or if he was just getting sick.
We put Peter to bed around 8pm and every once in a while still heard coughing. I went in to check on him at 10pm and he was fast asleep but his sheets were covered in vomit. I freaked out, woke John up and he held Peter and started cleaning him up while I stripped the bed and started the laundry going. After everything was cleaned Peter seemed fine and ready to go back to bed so we laid him down again, grabbed the baby monitor and headed to bed. Less than 10 minutes later I heard gagging and went back and he'd vomited again...
I ended up holding Peter all night as he slept...then spontaneously threw up...went back to sleep.... I changed sheets, did about 4 laundry loads, and just tried to help my poor baby. By the time the sun was coming up it seemed to be slowing down. I sat down to nurse him for breakfast and 10 minute later it started all over again.
I was done, this was not normal. I called the doctor, who said "Go the to ER". Then packed the diaper bag, 3 fresh onesies, a handful of blankets and drove to the closest hospital that I know has the shortest wait time in Tucson.
Of course by the time we got there Peter was fine. He had low energy but was still smiley and wanted to hold the nurses stethoscopes. He threw up all over my shirt in the waiting room but by the time we got to the back all signs of gagging and choking were gone. They looked at me like a worried mommy whose baby was sick for the first time and I was overreacting. They gave me Pedialyte and told me to just feed him slowly.
But I was still worried. I told them "He's been choking and gagging and I really think he swallowed something...can you atleast look?!" So we waited and waited...eventually they took us to the xray room. While in there I started thinking "Maybe I am overreacting...this is just gonna be a huge bill to use this xray machine just to find out he's fine..."
But less than 5 minutes later the doctor was back in our room telling me how there was a quarter in his esophagus and she was gonna have to get an ambulance to transfer him to another hospital to get it removed. Then she showed me the photos. (PS. There are 3 round things that were the buttons on his onesie. Pay no attention to those.)
It was going to be about 4 hours before they could get an ambulance but the other hospital had an immediate opening in their operating room so they actually released Peter to me to drive him over to the other hospital. We raced to UMC, the same hospital where Peter was born. It felt nice to be back somewhere that I kinda knew.
They took Peter right away and within probably 30 minutes of arriving he was heading into the operating room. He was still all smiles as the nurse carried him into the operating room letting him play with her security name tag. The wait was horrible. John was still at work and all I could do was text him to let him know what was going on. I'm sure he hated not being able to get there fast enough. He did arrive while Peter was in the operating room.
They had to put Peter under with anesthesia and put a breathing tube in. They sent a scope with a camera down his throat and once they found the coin they were able to grab it with pinchers and bring it back up. Turned out to be a penny. (Yes, we saved it for his baby book.)
The surgeon said that his esophagus was kinda cut up and raw and they needed to keep him overnight to make sure he didn't get an infection and to keep him from getting dehydrated After Peter was done and the anesthesia still had him out John and I headed to the cafeteria. It was about 4pm and I hadn't eaten yet. My shirt was covered in vomit from the terrible night before. I was just dead to the world. It felt good to finally get some food though.
We headed to our room and they brought Peter back. John ran home quick to walk the dog and pick up a new shirt for me. I was very happy to get a few things! John was a good husband and tried to make things as easy for us as he could.
They gave Peter a terrible bed. It worked as long as he was asleep but as he woke up and got energy he was able to climb right out of it. I couldn't bring myself to risk putting him in there. I ended up holding him all night. I didn't get much sleep in those hospital chairs as my baby dripping with wires rested on my chest. I hate that you share rooms too. The other mommy wouldn't turn her light off until around 11pm. Poor Peter had a hard time trying to hide from the glaring florescents.
What really broke my heart though was when Peter was hungry and clawing at my shirt and trying to climb into my bra and they wouldn't let me feed him. It was hard on both of us.
I was glad when morning came around. Peter seemed a little better. I begged the staff to find out if I could nurse Peter yet and soon was told I could. He seemed to have more energy and they unhooked him from the monitors and the IV. We were a little bored in our room so headed out on a tour of the hospital floor and found a playroom. We played in there for about half an hour. Peter figured out how to climb a little slide. They also had books and a stack of rings that we took back to our room.
The rest of the day we traded between sleeping and going to the playroom. The doctors cleared him to go home but it always takes a while for that decision to get written up and filter down through their system until you can actually leave. We finally got out around 4pm.
I can't tell you how happy we were to be home. All of us hit the bed and crashed. Now, its time to finally get myself a shower as Peter takes his morning nap. His throat is still sore and scratchy and we're gonna keep him on liquids for a few day. He gets little bursts of playtime energy but mostly he's just cuddley and clingy. He's been through quite alot these past few days!
I keep telling John this is only the beginning! I have a feeling our adventurous little boy will keep us on our toes! He's an explorer and wants to find out about everything in this world. And right now he finds out about things by eating them!!
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