Anneliese- don't you know that a bank will save that nickel for you? You don't need to swallow it!That's one of the many, many jokes we have heard today.
We were putting our kids to bed late last night when Anne threw a nickel and a quarter into her mouth. She choked on it and the quarter came up but the nickel went down. We just figured she would poop it out... right? After 5 minutes of Anne crying that the money was stuck in her throat and a call to poison control (who told us to get her immediately to the ER), we dumped our other kids at grandma's and headed to the hospital.
At 2 am we were headed home with this awesome x-ray and plans to check it again in the morning.
This morning we made plans with grandma to meet her at lunch after the x-ray. Hah... that's funny. A 2nd x-ray proved that it had lodged into her esophogus and had to be fished out.
After hours of waiting (Scott and Anne snuggled and slept while I tried to read), they finally took her in. She threw a kicking and screaming fit from heck but the anesthesiologist was so awesome. He took her right down the hall and calmed her down before she got the laughing gas. She was given a breathing tube, an IV and some meds. They stuck a scope down her throat and fished it out. The surgery itself was all of 4 minutes and a proud doctor walked out with the most expensive nickel I've ever seen!!!

This is Anne right before surgery (and before the fit).

This is the "after" picture. She got her own pink "cast" to keep her from removing her IV. She was so calm and easy-going while the sedation wore off. Everyone told us how cute and easy she had been!

And last but not least... here is the actual nickel itself, pulled from her insides. Pretty crazy!
This little experience has sure made me stop to think about how fragile life is and how important it is to keep my priorities in order all the time. It also made me realize even more how much I love my little girls!