4 months before I started this blog it was September 2005. We had to rush Hannah to the ER because her fever was crazy high and she had no other symptoms. We ended up spending 3 days and 2 very long nights in the hospital ruling out so many things before her sickness was diagnosed as some crazy virus and we were allowed to go home. After holding her down for blood work and an IV and any time a doctor came in the room I left that place saying that I never EVER wanted to go through something like that again. I never wanted to watch my baby suffer and hear her scream and see her so utterly scared and helpless. I deemed those days the worst days of my life.

When Livie’s cough didn’t improve over the weekend as it should have I started to worry. Her doctor told us that if her cough wasn’t gone by the weekend she would want to do a chest Xray on her to be sure it wasn’t pneumonia. Saturday evening Livie had come to us crying and pointing to her mouth so we checked to make sure she wasn’t bleeding and soon after she started violently throwing up massive amounts of mucous. I knew right then that we’d be going for an Xray on Monday and I was almost positive she had pneumonia and we’d be admitted at the hospital. I spent the rest of the weekend sick to my stomach because I just knew what was coming and I didn’t want any of us to relive that experience nor did I want my baby girl to suffer. She continued to get worse over the weekend…barely eating, barely drinking, coughing up a lot of mucous. Monday morning I made her a doctor’s appointment and off we went.

When we got there her doctor listened to her cough and decided she’d have her do an Xray to make sure she didn’t have pneumonia but by listening to her she was pretty sure it wasn’t. I was so relieved. I thought ok, we’ll do this Xray, get different antibiotics to help clear up her lungs better, and we’ll go home to rest this sickness off. The Xray lab is just across the hall and after having to hold my screaming baby down for this Xray I stood there thinking man, I pray this isn’t pneumonia because she’s already so upset with just this and this is so NOT invasive. I was confident though that it wasn’t and we walked back to our doctor’s office to wait for the results.

I’ve never seen a doctor come back so quickly with results. She said her Xray tech told her to look at the results ASAP and that when she asked her if it’s pneumonia she said no. Immediately I began to panic thinking what else could be wrong that was so urgent?? She pulled up the Xray and this is what we both saw.

There was a coin lodged in her throat. She said she would guess it’s a quarter and I said that thing looked massive and I would be shocked if it was JUST a quarter. I began to panic and she attempted to calm me down but stressed to me that we had to hurry to Texas Children’s ER. She would tell them we are coming. She told me most likely my baby would need surgery but that it’d be fairly easy because they can probably just get it out with a scope. All I focused on was surgery and the thought of Livie being put under was just not sitting well with me. I’ve only been put under once but I remember how awful it was waking up and how nauseous and sick I was…besides the thought of another baby going through the trauma of being in the hospital and the IV and OMG. I wanted to vomit all over. I called The Man and his mom and told them what was up and we all rushed to the ER.

When we got there Livie was asleep and I wanted to cry. I dreaded waking her up to the madness that was going to happen. I was so sick to my stomach thinking about how awful this was going to be for us. I kept telling myself that the actual procedure would be easy and once the coin was out she’d be able to go home. I knew the risks were low and at least this time we knew what was wrong and it wasn’t something so severe as pneumonia or days of not knowing what was wrong like with Hannah. None of those things comforted me though. Everyone all over Facebook , Twitter, and Instagram were sending such awesome messages to me and it was so nice to know people everywhere were praying for my baby.

Well as I knew, Livie was horrified of every and anything that happened to her. The IV was awful. Anytime anyone came in to check her it was awful. The 2 Xrays she got between the overnight stay was awful. The OR was so booked up that it took 24 hours to get her into surgery (all they had to do was use the scope and pull it out from her mouth)  from when we got there. I didn’t bring my camera but I tried to take pictures when I could to just document it all for her when she got bigger. I knew we’d tell her all about this just like we tell Hannah about her time in the hospital. With each picture I took I’d just stare at it after and want to cry thinking that yes this is tied for the worst days in our lives…but every time I saw a child wheel by with no hair I’d look at Livie and my heart would break. I just wanted my baby home but I knew once we got out of there she was going to be ok. I know not every parent can say that. I was so torn with relief emotions and being sick over what was happening to MY baby. I made an Instagram collage of our time there. This about sums it up.

The bottom left picture? That’s us walking Livie out and her holding the coin in a cup. Turns out it wasn’t a quarter but a PENNY. I couldn’t believe it. As we waited in recovery for her to wake up we held the jar with that penny and kept saying how we couldn’t believe how giant it looked on the Xray and how skinny is her throat that it could get lodged in there like that?

Once she woke up and got passed her grogginess and drank a little water they let us go home. I was so relieved. I thought she would sleep all night and most of today and just kind of be chill. But I know that this child has never been a chill kid and the past week of her being sick was a major exception so it shouldn’t have shocked me when she was up and playing when she got home and asked to take a shower. She also ate a whole meal and drank her weight in milk and juice. I was so relieved that she wasn’t like me and wasn’t so sick after all the anesthesia.

And today? She’s back to her normal self. Turns out a lot of her excessive coughing all weekend was due to that coin being lodged in her throat and her body trying to expel it. The penny was also to blame for her not wanting to eat or drink like normal. The penny was the cause of her coming to us crying Saturday and when we thought she had bumped her mouth… well it turns out that’s probably when she swallowed it and she probably choked a little and came running to us. I don’t think she quite knew how to tell us she did that and then the vomiting started and it was all downhill from there. All the things that happened after she swallowed that penny til it came out were all because of that damn penny. Who knew a little penny could cause so many problems?!

She’s back to being happy. She’s back to eating all day long. She’s back to watching Mickey mouse all day and playing with her toys. She’s back to herself and for this I am so grateful. While it could have been  a lot worse, it was definitely NOT easy. Any time I think about wishing we could have more kids I think about my kids being sick and how I can’t handle it with a third. It completely kills me. And now to think we are 2 for 2 with kids being admitted in the hospital and 1 of them needed surgery? No thanks. I have my hands full as it is.

Instagram holla from before and after this whole ordeal:

Livie is telling me she wants me to sit with her on the couch which means she’s ready for a nap I’m sure. So am I.

We are so happy we’re home.