Let me start out by saying, we (Kayla, Alysa & I) were a bit traumatized today, but my girls are OK!

Alysa had her 9 month check-up today. So I packed up the 3 of us today (all sleep-deprived girls and went on our way. Kayla is getting over a cold and was up from 10:30pm to midnight last night with congestion. I too have a cold (and I was up with Kayla of course) and Alysa would not nap this morning. So we were all groggy and miserable. Well, Alysa’s check-up went well – both girls were amazingly cooperative and well behaved. Alysa didn’t need any “normal” vaccines, but we gave her her first flu shot. So I am at the check-out desk waiting for my receipt with Alysa in the umbrella stroller and I was helping K pick out a sticker to take home. I then hear Alysa start to cough. So I check on her and notice immediately that the little round band aid they put on her injection site was no longer on her leg. I knew immediately where it was. I immediately used my finger to try to fish it out of her mouth. I could not feel it and she was still coughing so I ripped her out of the stroller and began to pat her back (of course, no nurses were in the hallway at this time and the receptionist (not their best) was not paying attention to me). At that point, she stopped coughing and was breathing fine. As I’m trying to look to see if the band aid was anywhere on her or in the stroller (anywhere but her mouth), I have to run after Kayla who thinks the Ped’s office is a playground. My instincts told me that the band aid had gone in her mouth even though she was no longer coughing or choking – so I wondered if she swallowed it. I did not want to leave w/o checking her mouth – so I asked the receptionist to get a nurse to help me look b/c she “ate” the band aid. Immediately, her Ped came over and took her so we could check. Sure enough, that band aid was in her mouth – stuck to the roof of her mouth. I tried to get it with my finger w/o pushing it down her throat. No such luck. Her doc left and came back with some grabby tool. She and I tried to get in her mouth to get this precariously positioned band aid out of Alysa’s mouth b4 it slipped down her throat. She had to get a nurse to help b/c I also had to make sure Kayla was ok and not running off, climbing on the table or traumatized. As the nurse held Alysa down and the doc tried to get in her mouth, I felt terrified. I’ve been scared and worried about their health before, with high fevers, allergic reactions to food and Kayla’s Failure to Thrive Diagnosis. I’ve even had them both choke on food or other items b4 – all which was easily dislodged with a few good “pounds” on their backs. But never had I experienced something so potentially dangerous that would not be “easily” fixed. And her Ped was worried about her crying too hard and sucking it down her throat. When her Ped after trying unsuccessfully again, leaned back and said the band aid was starting to slip down her throat, I saw that she was visibly shaken up. In the end, it took the nurse, her Ped and another doc (2 holding her down, and one with the funky tool) to get the band air out of her mouth. But they DID get it out. So I was finally able to hold my 2 traumatized children and try to comfort them and myself the best I can.

And as I tried to give Alysa lunch (an hour late) when we got home, I happily relented and gave her what she wanted – a bottle. It also gave me the time to cuddle her and be thankful that I listened to my instincts. She is napping now and as I watch her on the monitor and I am trying not to think of the “what-ifs”.

This gives me yet another reason to LOVE my Pediatrician’s office. They have always been wonderful. As I watched their doc try to remove the band aid b4 the worse happened, I realized that they probably don’t deal with true life-or-death situations often like this. That was evident in her demeanor. But she was calm and rational and helped me comfort both girls when it was over. Is it any wonder why I love her as their doc so much?

It’s also good to know that even as a totally sleep-deprived and sick Mom, my instincts are dead-on! Some people may have left since she was breathing fine. I don’t want to think of what would have happened had I done that. This just goes to show that Moms know best and ALWAYS TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS!!!