Adventures!

So last night I left Chad at about 7pm so I could swim and then at 8 I had a baby shower to go to. He was able to spend lots of time with the kids and ran around and played with them outside. I came home from the shower about 10 and no sooner had I walked in the door, Mason started to cough and choke on something. I rushed over and patted his back and swiped my finger through his mouth and felt nothing, but he was still kind of coughing and sputtering so I went over to where Chad was and angled him down, patting his back while Chad swiped his mouth and as far down his throat that his finger could get but still felt nothing. Mason finally calmed down and I took him upstairs to try and put him to sleep, but as I was doing this he still was restless and could not quite get himself to sleep, which is not normal. I took him back downstairs and we decided to head to the ER because I was pretty sure that whatever he had swallowed was still in there, and if it was having a hard time going down the throat it probably would not do well in his intestines either! When I got the the ER I had to retell my story at least 7 times to 7 different people, but since it was a throat thing they were quick to get things moving. Within a half an hour they had decided to get full body x-ray's to see what was in his throat! He was still gagging a lot and had thrown up a lot of frothy saliva, so I think the ER doc. thought that he might have the flu, just by the persistent questions about him showing signs of being sick or not. We soon got our diagnosis though....they had found what looked to be a quarter at the end of his esophagus, so the surgeon was called and the IV was then attempted to be put in! :) The first one they tried blew out so we had to hold Mason still for a second time, which took 5 people in all....two to get the IV in and blood drawn, and three of us to hold his body arm and legs :), yes he is a bit of a fighter! Once that was over with he was pretty calm just because he had worn himself out trying to fight with us, and the fact that it was now 11:45. Soon we were taken down to the surgery room at the other end of the hospital and that is where I had to leave him. They stuck a tube down his throat to knock him out and then the surgeon took an arthroscopic camera with a pincher thing and put that down his throat so he could see where it was and grab it and pulled it out! The object ended up being a penny instead of the quarter we all thought it was (I guess the x-ray machine tends to magnify things a little :)) and 10 minutes later I was able to go in and see Mason, and 10 minutes after that we went home! He slept from then until 7am, and then he needed food, before he slept until 9:30am. He is doing just fine now. Sometimes he gets a little cough, or whines a little because of the raw spot where the penny sat, but other than that no noticeable side effects, and we got to keep the penny, and are hoping to get a copy of the x-ray for the baby book. I am afraid though that this is just one of many occurrences that I will be taking at the ER room the way my kids play!!! The nurses told me not to say that, but I was like, "Yea, but you don't know my children! :)" I agree with the nurse....I just have a feeling about the next 18 years! We thank God that it was not more serious and that he came through anesthesia without incident.