Lainey's Penny Scare

One Friday, everyone at home, Lainey started crying upstairs.  Occasionally, but not often, Lainey will wake up from a bad dream wanting attention or just want confirmation that nap time is over and she can come out now.  So she will cry a bit until someone either gets her or tells her to come downstairs.  So we called her down.  She continued to cry so I sent Brielle up to tell her she could come out.  Brielle came down quickly saying Lainey swallowed a penny and was crying because it was caught in her throat. 

My first thought wast that if she can talk she's hopefully not suffocating, but Todd and I FLEW up the stairs.  She was coming out of her room, gagging and sobbing, and in and out of breaths.  We were to scared to take any measure to pop it out of her lest it go down further and stop all air flow.  Rather, we rushed her to the car and to the nearest medical building- the walk in clinic.  In the car, I started to sooth her and tell her to try not to cry because it would feel better if she stopped.  She did try to stop and it actually made her throat relax and helped the penny sink down and pass the first sphincter into her stomach.  She appeared 100% normal in the waiting room of the clinic.  But still a concern, they took an x-ray of her.

There it was.  One expensive penny!  We found a hand full of coins under her pillow.  Looks like she was playing her own tooth fairy, but put one in her mouth.  

She has done fine since and says she saw it in the potty.  Wish she would have told us before flushing it, but it sounds like it's a thing of the past.