TL;DR - Don't forget to secure away ALL of your loose change. Even your responsible kids can do something stupid.The loose change is always dropped into a canister that sits high above our heads on top of the fridge. For some unknown reason, a few pieces were scattered out on the bar. This isn't too uncommon though. If the 5 year old spots it, he'll gather up every piece he can find, shove the change into his pockets, and walk around making it 'jingle' like it does in daddy's pocket. He loves to pretend to be daddy. Once he's satisfied with his jingling ways, he'll ask for his jar. There is a special jar, just for him, to put all the change into that he finds.Last night.. it was different. For the first time in his short 5 years on this earth one of those coins found it's way into his mouth. Before I knew what was happening.. down the hatch it went. He. Flipped. Out.Luckily his breathing was fine but the sound of voice and the cries of pain said something was wrong. As it was 9:30pm, off to the ER we went. His cries of pain were silenced by what I can only describe as the most heavenly cocktail of pain meds. An x-ray shows the coin is logged in his esophagus (about mid-way down in his chest). Great. Now what?Our local hospital doesn't have a GI specialist to deal with this. We're transferred to the children's hospital an hour and a half away. It is now 11:30pm. We have the option of going by ambulance or driving ourselves. However we would need to wait 4hrs for the ambulance. Into the car we go.It is now 1:45am and we've stepped into the emergency room of the children's hospital. Another x-ray shows the coin hasn't moved. Good news! You're being admitted! It is now 3:30am.4am we're finally in a room. Awesome! I can maybe get a little glimmer of sleep, but first I need to put the sheets on the cot they gave me. I look to my child who has been soundly sleeping ever since we hit the interstate. Lucky.6am nurses come to check the kid's vitals and verify all kinds of info. 2hrs of sleep I'm so wide awake I could run a marathon.A barrage of people in and out the door once, twice, three times an hour all the while little dude is still slumbering away. If you're counting, the time is now 10am. He's been asleep for about 12hrs now. I'm running on fumes.12pm and it's time to finally get this dang coin out of him. He will be scoped by a GI specialist to see if they can safely pull the coin out or if they need to just push it down further and let nature take its course.As I am typing this it is 2:45pm. He is out of surgery, still sleeping soundly and we're back in the room. We will not be cleared to go home until he wakes up and eats something. The cocktail from heaven coupled with the anesthesia... this kid ain't waking up for days.All of this, over a nickel. Couldn't it have at least been a quarter? I lost the bet and am slowly losing my sanity to sleep deprivation.Edit: I can't tell time even though I typed this from my mobile and the time shows at the top. Fixed it. via /r/Parenting http://ift.tt/2mkulfA
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