Last night we had our first ER experience. Addie woke up at 10:15 PM coughing, gagging, choking, and crying. She clearly had something caught in her throat that was making it difficult to breathe. The good thing was that she was crying. She was scared, though, because she started to hyperventilate. We tried to calm her down to see if that would help the matter. We also tried turning her over and hitting on her back to dislodge whatever was in there. She was still having trouble breathing so we decided we needed to take her in. On our drive to the Monticello hospital, she began to calm herself down. I could still hear the rattling in her chest when she took breaths so we decided to still take her inside. We were there for 2 hours... they checked her oxygen level, which was normal, and they looked in her ears and throat. They listened to her chest, but by that time she had been crying for about an hour, so that may have been why she was hoarse. Finally, they took two chest X-Rays, just to make sure there wasn't anything lodged anywhere. She was surprisingly calm for her X-Rays! We looked at them and got the "all clear" from the doctor, so they discharged us at 12:30AM and we came home.
I know we did the right thing bringing her in because something was wrong when she woke up last night. I am also thankful nothing was wrong! At the same time, the people in the ER have a way about them that makes you feel stupid for being there when it seemed as if she was normal from the time we stepped into the hospital. I felt as though we were 'bothering' them with our concern. But they did go through all the steps to make sure I felt comfortable leaving, knowing she didn't have something stuck in her throat... so I appreciated that. Anyway, we are doing great today. She slept until 8:30AM, which was nice for all of us!