The Reynolds Family: Anti Almonds!

So here's the long and crazy story about Elliot and the almonds (pictures included):

Tuesday: Elliot was eating some almonds with breakfast. She's had almonds tons of times and loves them because Tim and I eat them a lot. She spilled the cup of almonds on the floor and started to sneak away, so I asked her to clean them up. Toddler tantrum started up as she yelled no and faked crying. Apparently she still had some almonds in her month and she started coughing really hard. After a couple of minutes the coughing wasn't stopping, instead it was getting worse. It got so bad that she threw up! The rest of the day she kept coughing, but her behavior was the same.

Thursday: I took her to the doctor because the coughing wasn't getting better and now she was wheezing! The doctor heard the wheezing, but both lungs seemed to be breathing the same. Elliot had 2 xrays done, and they didn't see anything stuck. She sent us home with an inhaler to do 4 rounds 4 times a day. Poor baby girl was so good at the doctor's, but hated the inhaler when we got home. But she settled down when she got to show it to Tim, and we convinced her it was pretty cool :)

Friday: We went in for a check up to see how the inhaler was working. Although it was better, it wasn't much better and she was still wheezing. A different doctor prescribed a steroid to take once a day. She also said that she thought that Elliot had a nut allergy, and didn't inhale the almonds. I wasn't convinced. Even though she gave a good explanation, I stuck to my mommy guns and believe that she had aspirated the almonds. Over the week, Elliot was feeling better but she was still dependent on the inhaler. Like clockwork, every 6 hours would stark hacking and wheezing uncontrollably! Although she was playing, Elliot would get sluggish and her appetite had decreased.

Wednesday: We went in for another checkup with the original doctor. I told her how it couldn't be an allergy and that Elliot had even lost 3 pounds in one week! She listened to her chest again...and sure enough the left lung was barely letting in any air. The doctor immediately made arrangements for us to go to the hospital, see the surgeon, and get a bronchial scope done. It was so crazy! The world stopped for a moment as I tried to process what was going on. What?! We have to go where?! She going to have surgery tonight?! Since DC traffic is so ridiculous, we had to leave immediately and didn't have time to go home and collect out things, otherwise a 20 minute trip would take and hour. I must have had a horrified look on my face, because the doctor asked "Are you ok? Can you do this?"
Yes, yes I could do this. I would have to be strong and not show fear or cry because then Elliot would start to freak out. So I gathered up Aaron, Elliot, our barely stocked diaper bag, put on a brave mommy face, and drove us to the pediatric ER.

We got checked in quickly, and Aaron enjoyed flirting with the nurses while Elliot got another set of x rays. Thankfully, Tim made it quickly to the hospital by metro and bus and met us after the x rays. Apparently, this time the almonds did show up in the x rays because they were encompassed by mucus and other stuff. The nurses were so sweet and set up Cinderella on movie channel for Elliot and showered her with princess stickers. (In the pictures, it looks like Elliot is wearing a cast, but it is to cover up the IV so she wouldn't mess with it).

After what seemed like forever, and meeting with doctors and the surgeon, we moved upstairs to a private room. Thankfully it wasn't long after that when the OR had an opening and we were moving Elliot to another wing of the hospital.

Poor Tim was trying to console a tired and hungry Aaron at 10pm, while the anesthesiologist and surgeon talked to me again about the procedure. I carried Elliot into the OR and tried yet again to put on a brave face for my baby girl. We snuggled and sang our favorite songs right before they gave her the anesthesia. In a matter of seconds, Elliot became limp and closed her eyes. It was by far the hardest thing I've had to see. I knew she was fine, but it was horrifying to see your child like that.

Tim, Aaron, and I waited in the waiting room for 30 minutes until the surgeon came out with good news! He showed us the tiniest little slivers of the almond that was stuck in her bronchial tube. He also showed us a digital picture of the slivers before and after they removed them. I couldn't believe that the tiniest of nothings caused so many problems!

Unfortunately, we had to stay the night (that's all I'm going to say because it's a sensitive subject). In the morning, Elliot was hungry and ready to get back into our normal routine! This meant watching Micky Mouse Clubhouse while eating cereal :)

We finally got to leave around noon! We were all SO excited to go home, get out of the clothes we'd been in for 24 hours, and take a long nap!

We didn't even make it off the hospital's grounds before both babies fell asleep! Elliot took a peaceful 4 hour nap, and woke up with a smile on her face. Our sweet baby girl was back to her wonderful self!