Bumps in mommy's road

Well, it's been awhile since I have posted, several reasons, mostly because I keep forgetting. This has been a month from mommy h..e..double hockey sticks :) We started off with 3 kids having the flu. Charlie lasted longer and longer with high fever and diarrhea, so we took him in to find out he had a severe bladder infection from his recircumsion surgery in late January. So for several weeks now we have been fighting the crud, we seem to pass it around. That is minor compared to last weekend. Actually, the worst days of my life with children started last Thursday! We all had done a family shopping trip to Target on Wednesday evening. Needless to say some of the bags were still on the kitchen table in the morning, the Charter man came to fix our cable AGAIN! I noticed the kids had gotten a mirror I had bought out of the bag. I finished showing the cable man where the outlet thingy was, then went and fetched the mirror, I was afraid they were going to break it, I should of been afraid for something bigger than that. Tony got to it first, he then turned to me and said "where's the other battery?" My response was "what batteries?" as I didn't know the stupid compact mirror held 2 watch batteries in it, I had no clue. Well, this turned in to a frantic search of the downstairs, everyone helped including the cable man. I called the doctor and she told me to bring all 3 kids to the ER ASAP! So in short the three of them were thrown in the car and mommy hauled them down to Children's (daddy had to go to work). Mommy pulled up hauled them out and gave the keys to security as the nurses were waiting for us and started grabbing the kids to get xrays. At this point, I realized how serious it was, mommy went into silent panic mode. Charlie was first, due to age. They cleared him and then asked me which one of the girls I suspected, I pointed to Amelia. They xrayed her and came out with her and said "we have found the culprit". Yes, my daughter swallowed a watch battery. My heart sank. I was scared for her life!!! Swallowing a battery can kill a child! Amelia luckily had it in her stomach, it passed the esophagus! If caught in the throat, the child has 2 hours to remove it or it becomes fatal, we live 45 minutes away from the hospital and we searched for 30 minutes. The doctors told me that she would pass the battery out in her stool. I was not happy about this, I wanted it out, they must of needed someone to convince me as my kid's pediatrician called on my phone to assure me it would be fine. I reluctantly went home. I watched Amelia all night, praying she would poop and it would be there. She slept next to me, I didn't sleep a wink. The next morning, I got up and was in the bathroom when Amelia came in crying. She started coughing really hard and then spit up, to my horror she had a blood clot in her spit. Off to the ER! They took an xray of her tummy and said the battery was currently in the colon and should pass soon. However, they needed to do an endoscopy to see what damage it did and where, we prayed it wasn't her throat or burned a hole in her stomach. So, we had to wait for the OR to be free. I think every possible thought entered my mind and that 7 hour wait was killing me. She was taken finally in at 2:45! At 3:00, I found out she had some damage in her stomach but nothing major that wouldn't heal on it's own. But the darn thing was still in her when we were sent home. She hadn't pooped since. I gave her miralax on Saturday.

Tangent: On Saturday evening, right after dinner, I was following the kids up the stairs for baths. Amelia was up already but Baylee and Charlie were still on the stairs. I was a good 6-7 stairs behind carrying some crap. Charlie reached up to pull on Baylee's favorite blanket, well Baylee didn't appreciate it, she pushed him. I watched in slow motion as Charlie fell head over heels down the stairs hitting his head against the wall. I picked him up and he was bleeding and a huge bump was already there. A call to Auntie Julie and we all went to the ER, yes Again, three times in three days! Charlie had a cat scan and he was just fine. They at first thought one stitch or liquid stitches but it healed over before they got to that! UGH! I was ready to turn in my mommy card at this point.

Back to the battery: Amelia pooped 3 times before Monday, but we didn't find the battery. We brought her in to the doctor's office for a follow up xray! They said it was clear. What? I didn't find a battery, and let's just say to all that know me, I searched the poop 3 times and then made Tony do it twice!! I hadn't sleep in 4 days. I watched her for any signs something was wrong. I know some would say I was over doing it, but this small thing could of killed my daughter! I wanted it gone and her cleared of harm. She went another 2 days, pooping a lot, the miralax kicked in, and she had her final xray and there was no sign of the battery! She is battery free!!! I still wished I would of found the thing, just for my own peace of mind!

I feel like a terrible parent for bringing an item in to our home that was so easy to open and get batteries out of. I didn't even know the thing had batteries, I just tossed it in the cart, I didn't even read it. I have thrown out anything that has those kind of batteries in it and have sealed all our battery toys with duct tape!!! I don't ever want to go through this again! What I have learned is this: if you suspect at all that your child has swallowed a battery do not hesitate take them immediately to the ER, minutes are precious to the health of your child if they did swallow it!!!

Now, back to get my kids to sleep! I wasn't going to post this but maybe it will help one person in the future and that is worth the embarrassment that I was a terrible parent on that dreadful Thursday, not paying attention to what was going on!

Baylee at the Rainforest Cafe!



















Amelia getting her color on!























Look at that smile because this is the only time he smiled. He did not like the thunderstorms at the restaurant! He spent most of the time whining to go out, he pointed to the door several times. Poor guy, the girls were the same way when they were younger. We celebrated Valentine's Day with Daddy on the 15th because he had to work on the 14th. We spent the 14th at Auntie Janice's Daycare exchanging valentines and having a little party with the kids. The kids really liked opening up all the cards and REALLY enjoyed the candy!! Amelia, Baylee and Charlie bought Grandma I some flowers and chocolates, they were soooo excited to give them to her. They hung out the door waiting for her to walk to Janice's. It was super cute! We are getting quite the snowstorm today so I finally was able to update our blog!