facing inward: One of those 24 hours in the life of a mommy...

So, in our constant endeavors to pass on the knowledge of what sleep is to The Daughter we try various things for periods of time. Our current strategy is that everytime The Daughter goes to sleep we bring "Night Night Minnie" along. Night Night Minnie is essentially a life-sized (for The Daughter) stuffed Minnie Mouse. We are now in our bed with Minnie and The Husband sleeping in The Daughter's room. For 2 nights this worked and she slept wonderfully. Last night we were woken to The Son screaming out... unable to get up, I could only listen from my bed as The Husband attended to him. As soon as I was able to disengage myself, I discovered that The Son had thrown up in bed. So we stayed in the house all day which, with my two children, can sometimes be challenging. We decorated our Yule tree, colored, watched TV, read... and then at 4pm I went upstairs to check my work email while The Husband took over for a few minutes... I hear the following as The Husband was changing The Daughter's diaper...

The Daughter, did you swallow that? Um, honey, I think we might have a problem. Come to find out The Daughter had a nickle in her mouth and when The Husband was changing her, she swallowed it. I nurse her. She's breathing and nursing fine. We call the pediatrician to ask what we should do, if anything. They assure us this happens all the time and that since she is nursing and breathing, the object should pass out of her system within 3 days. We ask if there is anything to look for as signs of problems. They tell us to watch for inconsolable high pitched screaming, vomiting or choking signs.

So, for about 30 minutes, I struggle with The Daughter. Nursing her, comforting her but she's crying the entire time and indicating that her belly hurts. It isn't a high pitched crying...just an uncomfortable crying. I finally decide I have to take her somewhere so I put her in the car and go a mile up the road to our other pediatrician. The tell me that there isn't anything they can do, an xray is needed. The Daughter is getting more and more upset.

I drive home upset. Can't get hold of my mother to come watch The Son. Where am I going to leave him? I need The Husband to drive the car so I can sit in the back with The Daughter... we will have to drive through rush hour traffic to get to the hospital. Get home... finally reach my mom and as I'm talking to her, The Daughter pukes. I get a neighbor to come over... my mom on her way and then we notice that The Daughter is now fine. She's her normal self. Playing, happy, jumping, laughing.... Mhmmmmmmm....

So, The Husband's theory is that she has The Son's stomach bug and that it was coincidence that it hit right at the same time as the nickle. Frankly, that's a little too coincidental for me. But she seems fine. My nerves are fried. My stress level is through the roof but... health seems to be in order... at least until the nickle has to come out the other end right? *sigh*