This week I had a "Zek swallowed a foreign object" scare. The story is as follows...
Earlier in the day I noticed Zek seemed to have put something in his mouth and I quickly went over to check but found nothing. He had a unsure look on his face and sort of struggled to swallow. But since I try to keep the floors pretty clean I just figured it was maybe a piece of dirt or food I didn't catch. After that brief moment he went on to play and seemed fine.
Late that evening when Robert came home he told me that last night his watch had fallen off in our bedroom and later had noticed the metal pin holding the watch strap was missing. Once he told me that, I began to think back at my day and thought...what if Zek had swallowed the pin! Come to think of it he was drooling that day and he spit up some of his dinner maybe from something being lodged in his body? How was I to know? I began to calmly panic;)
I first started researching online what to do if a child swallows an object. Probably not the best idea because it might have created more reason to worry. If the object was round or smooth a child could easily pass it. However if the object was more like a pin or sharp it could potentially get caught in tissue and cause an infection. I had also called my mom and she suggested I call the advice nurse at Kaiser to get an xray if I was really worried that he had swallowed the pin. My mom began to pray for Zek as I got off the phone and called Kaiser's after hours advice nurse. While I did that Robert was thinking up ideas to find the pin. He checked the floors all around and searched for a really strong magnet to help pick up any metal objects. Yes Robert has MacGyver tools like really strong magnets.
While Robert was thinking up ideas I called Kaiser and they said it would be at least 30 to 40 minutes before I could speak to anyone. So I said fine and they proceeded to put me on hold for a half hour. Since I couldn't sit there any longer wondering if I was ever going to get through to an advice nurse the thought dawned on me to check the vacuum bag!
I put a white trash bag on the kitchen floor and carefully cut open the vacuum bag, then laid the contents of the entire bag on the floor. By first glance I thought the chances seemed so slim that the pin would be in this bag and even more slim that I would find it. If you have ever gone through a massive vacuum bag you know it is not easy to see through the tangled amounts of dust and hair and well you get my drift.
I took some scissors and started carefully like CSI going through the bag. I couldn't find anything but gross! I kept checking and checking. I was just going to throw it all away. Right before I almost gave up and tossed it all in the trash I look down and what do I see...THE PIN TO ROBERT'S WATCH!!! Thank the Lord!
I called Robert into the kitchen, stood up handed the pin to him dropped my shoulders and head in relief and started to cry a little. Robert gave me a big hug and a good smile. I was a very relieved mamma.
CAUTION: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION
