I don't know how she got hold of a a penny! I thought she'd die.
Okay that was corny but I couldn't help it. No joke, I was one panicked mom yesterday. I brought the babies home just after the sacrament on Sunday, our sacraent meeting is last and they start losing it just in time for that meeting to start. We got home, I played with the babies for a minute in Lucy's room then went into the kitchen to make the girls' lunch. Joyce followed shortly and then started choking. It took me a second to realize she couldn't be choking on food because she didn't have access to any, so I started sweeping out her mouth hoping to grab whatever it was. I couldn't feel a thing. She was able to get some air, so she'd gasp a bit then choke. It got worse and I threw her over my arm and started pounding her back hoping it would come out. Somehow she swallowed it. Those were terrifying moments-it felt like she was she choking forever. I found a penny in her other hand and assume it was a penny she swallowed. She instantly started screaming hysteriicaly. I assume it hurt going down her espohogus and at the time I was just so relieved she was breathing that we relaxed for a minute.
I checked on Lydia in Lucy's room and she had pennies in both her little fists too. She had managed to climbing up onto Lucy's chair and grab Lucy's piggy bank off her desk (Lyd is quite the little climber these days). Lucy had replaced the plastic bottom of the piggy with three pieces of tape, heaven knows why, and the babies had easily been able to rip off the tape so the pennies came flowing out.
I googled what to do when your kid swallows a penny because nothing like this has ever happened to me before. Lucy never was very interested in putting things in her mouth and the babies have come close, but I've always managed to catch them. After reading about it, it sounded like the penny would just pass through her system in a few days and she'd be no worse off. Unfortunately she cried and cried the rest of the day. She ate and drank a bit so i wasn't worried that the penny had obstructed anything but it did make me worried that she was so upset. Long story short, we contemplated going to the ER to see where the penny was and if they could give her anything for her obvious discomfort but eventually decided against it. My awesome Dr. gave me his cell phone number in case of emergency and I finally decided to use it and he made me feel better too. That documents a little event that ruined my day.
So sad and so scary. It's my worst nightmare that something will happen to my child and I will be alone and not able to do anything to help them. My brother swallowed a penny when he was little (although he was older, like 7 maybe?) and I remember my mom fishing through his poop daily to see if it had passed, haha. It eventually did!
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