A Visit to the Emergency Room

Today was one of those days that turned out nothing like I had planned it, but in the end, I still found myself grateful... I had signed-up to take a class to get points to renew my teaching license, so had arranged for a lady in the ward to watch the kids until Laron could watch them.  But only an hour or two after my class had started (an hour away!), I got a phone call from the babysitter saying that Bailey had swallowed some little plastic yellow toy & was now wheezing and having a hard time breathing & what should she do?  After my heart sank at the seriousness of the situation & after feeling pretty helpless being so far away from my suffering little girl (but BEFORE my good hard cry & fervent prayer of desperation to Heavenly Father), we decided that she should take Bailey to our pediatrician & see what they thought we should do...

Long story short, she ended up at Primary Children's Hospital at about 12:30.  I only got a couple hours of my class in & Laron only got 3 1/2 hours of sleep before meeting me at the hospital with Bailey.  After lots of X-Rays & multiple doctors listening to her chest, they determined that the piece she had swallowed had gone down her breathing tube (her trachea) & over into the opening for her left lung.  We then said our good-byes & watched as she was walked into the operating room, hoping that they would take good care of our little Bailey.  They then put her to sleep with anesthesia, put a hollow tube down her throat, then sent down a scope with a camera on it (plus a tube to breath through) to make sure exactly where the piece was at.  They said depending on the size of the object & how wedged in it was, the procedure could anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour, plus recovery time.  But sooner than we'd anticipated, the Doctor was out showing us the culprit of all this trouble... Apparently what she'd swallowed was a tiny little Polly Pocket shoe!  But apparently it was a really easy to remove & not too wedged in there & not as far into the lung as they had thought at first, so things went as well as they could have. 

When they finally said that I could go back & join Bailey in recovery, my heart broke as I saw her all hooked up to IV's & oxygen monitors, frantically crying & with tears running down her cheeks.  I felt so privileged to be able to hold her & love her & thought I might never let go of her!  But then they switched us rooms, let Laron come back with us & gave us a bottle to feed her (her 1st in over 9 hours!), which Bailey readily ate up.  Her poor voice sounded even worse then before & was all terrible & raspy, almost like a croup-sounding wheeziness.  They said because of the tube going down her throat & irritating things, she could sound like that for up to a week... Poor girl!  After we were discharged, at about 6 pm, Laron left straight for work & I went home to round up the rest of our kids. 

But wow, what a good girl she was through it all, especially considering all she'd gone through that day!  Just about EVERY nurse or doctor we met commented on how happy she was & how cute she was!  Maybe they don't receive very many babies there, or maybe they could feel of her special spirit like we can...  Either way, we're just glad to have her safe & sound & to have been blessed to be able to take her home with us! 

Here Skyler & Kimberly are holding the tiny, little Polly Pocket shoe!  It must be only about a 1/2 inch long is all, but it sure caused a lot of problems today (and it's going to COST us a lot too!).  When we got home that night, Skyler started crying & said, "But how's Bailey going to eat now Mom?"  I explained that she was fine now & would be able to eat again like she always did.  "But you said there's a tube down her throat!," he responded pretty anxiously.  Apparently he'd been listening more than I'd realized.  It took a little explaining & I think he mostly understands, but he can't understand how Bailey could be all better if she still sounds so bad still.  Me too I guess.

But what a blessing it is that you are in our lives Bailey & that you're OKAY!!!  Life is so fragile!   It's so easy to forget what a blessing it is to have these little ones in our homes until something goes wrong & you're forced to put your trust in God & realize that we're not in as much control as we often think we are. I don't know what we would do without your smiles Bailey?!  You brighten up our lives & remind us that there is still good in the world.  And we thank you for that. :)