Parents, please read!

My workout blog is being interrupted to share with you the details of our frightening ordeal Monday evening. Chris and I were cooking dinner and the kids were just playing in the living room and watching The Wiggles. We noticed Sullivan had something in his mouth (he puts everything in his mouth) and quickly realized it was part of the half-eaten plum he swiped off the kitchen table. We walked over there to scoop it out of his mouth and when we got there it seemed he had sucked the fruit out and the only thing left in his mouth was the skin of the plum. Either right when we took out the skin or immediately there after, he swallowed the pit. He was instantly in distress and right away his lips turned blue for a couple of seconds. His color quickly returned, but his breathing was labored and he was in obvious pain. He was crying (good news) so we knew he was getting air but he was distressed enough that we called 911. The paramedics quickly arrived and even though is vitals were okay, they recommended transport to the hospital via ambulance as we knew the pit was inside somewhere, but didn't know where and it could be sitting dangerously close to completely clogging his windpipe. They wheeled Sulli and I out on the gurney into the ambulance and took us to Childrens Medical Center in Plano. We were taken right in for xrays however since a plum pit is a natural substance they feared it wouldn't show up well on xray. Sulli was hysterical while being pinned down for the xrays and we had to stop halfway through because he started vomiting because he was so upset. We ended up getting through the xrays and went back to our holding room in the ER. While we were waiting, Sullivan became much more relaxed, he stopped crying and his breathing went back to normal. Chris and I thought for sure that the pit made its way to his tummy and our ordeal was over. About that time the ER doctor came in to tell us they confirmed a foreign substance in the xray, though they couldn't tell exactly where it was due to the fact it was a plum pit. They had paged the surgical team and we would be going up for surgery in about an hour. Wow. We of course questioned the doctors since Sulli's demeanor had changed in such a positive way. They agreed they thought the pit had moved somewhere because he sounded different in the stethoscope, however they were insistent that Sulli was still in great danger because they had no way of telling if the pit had moved to the stomach and it could actually be in a more precarious place than it was before. One cough, burp or sudden movement and it could shift and block his airway. Or, it could break up and have parts and pieces in his lungs/airway/esophagus that would eventually cause a bad infection. Before we knew it we were being wheeled to the operating room where they shot a little something up Sulli's nose to relax him and he was out of my arms and off to general anesthetic and surgery. They went through this mouth with a camera and found the plum pit COMPLETELY blocking his esophagus. He had been drooling very bad since he swallowed the pit and I thought it was b/c he had been crying so much, but he literally could not swallow anything, not even his own saliva. Thankfully, his lungs and airways were free from any debris. They plucked the pit out and now I have it as a souvenir of our horribly terrifying experience. My sweet angel was extibated in recovery and was able to sleep for a few hours before the anesthesia wore off. They kept us overnight through mid afternoon yesterday to make sure there were no tears or signs of infection and that he could drink and eat okay. Other than being a bit sleep deprived and not much of an appetite, he is back to normal and as I look in his sparkly blue eyes, I thank God for watching over us and for the gift of Sullivan's life and for the privilege of being his mom.

HERE IS WHAT I LEARNED FROM THE ORDEAL, VERY IMPORTANT INFO:
1. If your child swallows ANYTHING that could be a choking hazard - TAKE THEM TO THE ER. If Sullivan had calmed down at home like he eventually did after the xrays at the hospital, I would have completely assumed the pit made its way to the stomach and he would be fine. If the pit had found its way to the airway, we would have only had seconds before major damage and/or death.
2. Do NOT pat your child on the back to help dislodge. Again, you are creating more of a danger as the object could move further into the airway. Luckily I remembered this from that infant childcare class I took when I was pregnant - but believe me, my instinct made me want to smack him on his back.
3. Do NOT give your child anything to drink to help "get it down." I immediately ran for a juice box thinking that would help - but the 911 operator told me not to give him anything.
4. Do NOT to a "blind sweep" where you stick your finger in your child's mouth hoping to get something out. If you cannot see the object, do not attempt to get it. Or, if you CAN see the object, but it is down far in their throat, again, do not attempt to get it. You will likely push it farther down and make thing worse.
5. I had no idea there was a Childrens Medical Center in Plano, it is at Preston and Hedgecoxe. For those of you who live up north and have any kind of emergency (big or small) with your child, this should be your first stop. All of the ER doctors are trained in pediatrics which can be very different than adults. My ambulance driver told me that they still take major traumas to Childrens Medical in Dallas if they have time (meaning the patient can make it there) - but worse case they will take a child to the Plano location where they can be stabilized and eventually airlifted to Dallas location.
6. I asked the anesthesiologist what they see the most with choking and she said by far they coins are the biggest culprit - however, the most dangerous and deadly is a hotdog. I knew hotdogs were a choking hazard, but I guess I didn't realize just how dangerous they could be. She said to NEVER give your child a full hot dog to eat and when you cut it up, be sure the pieces are small.

We were so very lucky that Sullivan was getting air the entire time. As I sit here nice and calm though it makes me realize that I don't really know what I would have done if his airway had been completely blocked. I do remember a few things from the childcare class I took (like turning them upside down and then hitting them on the back and the Heimlich), though it is all a little fuzzy and this ordeal has reminded me how important it is to take a new CPR class and stay "in the know" on what to do in an emergency.

I pray, pray, pray that none of you ever are put in the scenario where you might need some of this information, but I would be remiss not to share what we learned through our frightening experience. Thanks again to all of you for your prayers, thoughtful messages and love. It meant the world to us.