"Oh Maya!"

This last Thursday, both Stewart and I woke up sick with the terrible "stomach bug." Luckily for us, my mom came over late morning to watch and entertain the girls. Stewart and I headed upstairs to bed where we spent almost the entire day. By the afternoon, we were no better. My mom generously offered for her and my dad to take both girls to their house so we could have a quiet night. We accepted the offer and packed the girls up. When the girls left, we went back to bed. A few hours later, we tried calling mom and dad to find out if the girls were alright. They didn't answer and we just thought they were busy putting the girls to bed. A few minutes later, my dad calls me on my cell and tells me that there has been a little incident with Maya.

Here was the phone conversation:

Me: "Oh no, what did Maya do?"

Dad: "She told us that she swallowed a dime."

Me: "What? You have got to be kidding."

Dad: "No, that is her crying in the background. We called the hospital and they told us that if she was breathing ok and had good color, that we really shouldn't need 911 and just to bring her in to get checked out."

Me: "Oh shit! Oh my g-d. "

Dad: "She has good color and she is breathing ok. She says that it is stuck in her throat and that her throat hurts."

Me: "Oh crap! I will call you right back. Call 911 if you need too. I am going to talk to Stewart. I will call you back."

I crawled downstairs trying not to vomit and told Stewart what happened. After a few "not too kind words" from him, we got dressed and drove like crazy people across town to pick her up. On the way out the door, I called dad back.

Me: "We just left. Is she in her pj's? Grab her binky and her blanket. Put her shoes on, we will be there in 15 minutes!"

Dad: "She is in her pj's and I will get her shoes on. She has her binky and blanket with her."

Of course, there was an accident on the freeway and so we had to make a little detour. We finally made it and I jumped out of the car and into the house. I grabbed Maya and ran back out to the car. As I buckled her up, I yelled back to dad "keep Brooklyn and we will get her in the morning. We will call you soon from the ER." I jumped into the backseat and sat next to Maya on the way to the hospital. The look in her eyes was scary. She was wheezing and so sleepy. She didn't want to talk. She just wanted to hold my hand. Ten minutes later, we arrived. Stewart let Maya and I out at the door and he went to park. I checked her in and went to the waiting room. A couple of minutes later, Stewart arrived and the triage nurse called us in. She took her vitals and history and sent us back to the waiting room. She fell asleep in Stewart's arms. Stewart and I just looked at each other and shook our heads. The nurse called us back about 20 minutes later. Stewart carried her back and set her down on the gurney in the room. It wasn't even a minute later when Maya said, "mommy, I am going to throw up." The nurse opened the cupboard and handed me a basin. I just got it under her chin, when she threw up A LOT and I heard a "ping" sound. I looked at the nurse and said, "I think she just threw up the dime." "Really?" the nurse said. "That was quick." She took the basin out of my hand and went to the nurses station where she needed to "drain" it. A couple of minutes later, she came back in and said, "she didn't swallow a dime, she swallowed a quarter." "A quarter, WOW." The nurse told us that the doctor would be in quickly, so we could be on our way. About two minutes later, the doctor came in. He took one look at Maya and said, "wow, you are one lucky girl. How do you feel?" Maya looked at him and said, "better, can I go back to grammy and papa's now?" He giggled and smiled and said, "I want to take a quick look at you and then give you a popsicle to make sure you can swallow ok." Maya agreed and then asked for a grape one. When the doctor examined her, he noticed that she had a laceration above her tonsils that probably happened when she vomited the quarter up. The doctor looked at me and said, "did you get the quarter back?" I am sure that I made a funny face and said, "um, no. Do I want it back?" He said, "you might want it for her baby book." "If you can get it, sure?" We heard him at the nurses station, say, "does anyone have the quarter that 5 threw up?" The nurse said, "It is in the biohazard bag along with her vomit." "I am going to fish it out for her, which bin is it in?" A few minutes later, he arrived with the quarter she swallowed. "As good as new," he said. "I washed it off and sanitized it."

Well, Just as promised, we were out the door within a few minutes. Stewart walked to get the car and I carried Maya out. When we were in the car, leaving the hospital, Maya said, "can I now go back to grammy and papa's house to spend the night? I promise that I won't swallow anymore coins." Stewart and I looked at each other, smiled and together said no. We made it home and it wasn't long until we were all asleep.

Leaving the hospital. I guess we forgot to wipe the grape popsicle off her face before we left.

One VERY tired girl. It took her all she had to give us a thumbs up that she was feeling better.

"Mommy look! It is the quarter that I swallowed!"

THE clean and sanitized quarter that now lies in her memory box!

Hopefully Miss Maya has learned her lesson, that only food goes in the mouth. We are VERY lucky that she was able to throw it up and it didn't get stuck in her lungs. The doctor even told us that if it was about another inch further down, she probably would not have been able to get it back up. The chances of her then having surgery would have been extremely high. Never a dull moment around here!

Sorry this post is late. It actually happened Thursday December 9th, 2010. On the 12th, I started writing this post and the following night (Monday the 13th), I slipped off our bottom step and broke my leg. Yes, you heard me right. I broke my fibula right in half. No surgery but in a cast. It has been one tough month around here. It has taken me a LONG time to get back on to our blog, but now I am back. I have many more posts, so check back soon.