Saturday, March 14, 2009

yet another wake-up call...

Eliza got this nasty respiratory bug that we all have. The dr. said to be sure to watch her cause it could easily turn into RSV (bronchiolitis) in her. Well, i've been fearing that since the morning Grace first had a fever last Friday. And i've been praying and praying that it wouldn't. And all of my prayers were heard! It's just been a nasty cold for her! But that doesn't mean we didn't have a scare with her...

(warning: this story is less than pleasant, so don't read if you're the queasy type)
Tuesday night I was at a ladies' activity at our church, enjoying my away time immensely, when my phone rang. It was Reid, in a panic, telling me that Eliza was dry heaving and that he was really worried and I needed to come right now. Now, i've seen my share of sick kids, but i've NEVER had a kid with both a terrible cold AND the pukies! I rushed home to see a very swollen-eyed Eliza, and a panicked Reid. Eliza hadn't actually thrown anything up, but had "wretched" (reid's words, here) for like 10 minutes. He said she'd gotten a little bit of paper in her mouth and thought that maybe that was what was causing this.

So, she stayed up with us until 10 or so, and then i fed her and put her down. When midnight rolled around and she hadn't puked i figured we were good. Then at 2:30am she did it again. It was the saddest, scariest thing ever. I don't know how to explain it, but it was awful. again, nothing was coming up, but for like 20 seconds at a time she'd "dry heave"--turning bright red, and then scream and the end of it. It was awful. But once it was over she was fine. so weird. by 3:30am i was delirious and figured i should just put her down and stop freaking out over this.
The next morning she seemed fine, apart from this cold, so i was hoping we were over it. But then it happened AGAIN!! This time was the worst. Each "heave" was lasting for soooo long, and she was in so much pain, and I had no idea what in the world was going on. And for a minute there I was so sure that i was loosing her--a feeling i'd been fighting all night, that had kept me up praying so much of the night.

But with the last little gag, I looked in her mouth and found this: (not the lens, just the wrapper on it)

I spent hours and hours that day in shock, on my knees, in tears--thinking over and over how amazing it is that she is alive. I don't know that much about the human esophagus or wind pipe--but the fact that this thing was wedged in one, and didn't go down the other for 14 straight hours seems like nothing short of a miracle.
And that day it was me who wanted to hold her all day.

15 comments:

Marci said...

Emily... Are you telling me that your camera lens cap AND the wrapper were in her mouth??? BOTH??? Or just the wrapper? Either would be scary, but I just can't imagine that you wouldn't see the lens cap! How scary! Glad it was just a scare... and nothing serious or RSV!!!

MariLouise said...

Oh my WORD!! That is so scary! I just called Brian and told him and we totally vowed to study up on infant CPR next FHE. (Not that you don't know it yourself--or even that it would have helped...that was just so bizarro.) I guess it's the only thing we could think of to make ourselves feel better! I'm so grateful she's okay!

Karen said...

I'm so glad everything is ok. Wow, that's scary!

emilyaaa said...

it was just the wrapper. i put it on the lens for a little perspective--sorry for the confusion!!

Shirlee said...

You don't tell new hormonally-charged mothers stories like this! I'm sitting here on the couch bawling.

I'm so glad everything is okay.

Stephanie B said...

My goodness, I'm glad she is alright - that would have been freaky. Lauren had bronchilitis when she was 10 months old - it was a nice 3 day stay in the hospital, luckily we didn't have any other kids and Trav was already home -on leave - from Iraq. Oh, the blessings.

Amy said...

Jaren says, "Well, it's Laffy-taffy. I don't think I could have choked that down, either." But it's been making me sniffle all day! I'm glad she's okay. Poor baby. And poor mommy. Isn't it amazing that our kids live through their childhoods?

dkeaquinto said...

Oh my gosh!! I'm so glad that Eliza is okay! She is definately a blessed little girl.

Pink Caboose said...

wow Emily! how scary for you. I have to say though that I was suprised that she could have found a Laffy Taffy wrapper in your house!! I'm really glad that she is ok. She's a doll too!

turleybenson said...

I read this post last night and I can't stop thinking about it--specifically trying to imagine how it must have felt to have that thing stuck in her throat. Ugh so scary and so sad. But of course, a happy ending, thank goodness!

merathon said...

this story truly freaked me out. i've always been very crazy about making sure the older girls don't leave anything on the floor that the baby could get in her mouth and now i'm going to be even MORE freaky about it!

Adrie Peterson said...

Emily, this is a very lucky story. "Blessed" is a better description of it. I'm so glad she's o.k. So scary, I can't take it!

Liz said...

Ashworth (that's a throw back for you) this story is unbelievable! What a miracle she didn't choke on that wrapper!! Talk about your prayers being heard and answered. Bless you little Eliza!!

The Busby Family said...

HOlY Cow I can't believe that! How scary! I'm so glad it's out and she is fine! Wow, you guys have had a hard time lately. I need to call you. I'm glad your ankle is feeling better.

Candace said...

That is crazy and so amazing that she is okay! I'm glad that someone was listening to your prayers. I hope that you all get feeling better!