Our first 911 and ER trip

Well, I guess it's a rite of most parents, but one I hoped would never have to happen to us. Yesterday we had quite the eventful Memorial Day. Stephen did a triathlon in the morning and we all went to cheer him on, then came home for naps for everyone and a pretty lazy day. Our original plans were to meet some friends to go swimming, but then storms came through, so we decided instead just to get together at our friends' Brent and Becky's house, along with friends Tiffany and Justin, with all our kids. Everything was going great and I was holding Davis while I fed him some watermelon; he had been woofing it for quite a while (he must have gotten his mama's watermelon-lovin' gene) when he started choking. I did a quick finger-swipe and got everything out of his mouth, but he continued choking. So I turned him over and pounded his back, but nothing came up. I wasn't in full panic mode, as I could tell his air passage wasn't totally blocked because he was able to get in a couple of gasps for air. However, he continued this horrible gagging and we could tell something was blocking his throat. By this time, Justin (a nurse anesthetist) came over and pounded his back, and said he could tell he was able to get some air through because he wasn't turning blue, but that maybe he had aspirated the watermelon. By the way, thank you to Justin for your sense of calm through everything at the time--it really did keep me from panicking. After a couple more minutes of us all pounding his back and staring helplessly at Davis while he gagged but nothing but foamy saliva came out, Brent called 911. By the time they arrived, the watermelon must have come un-lodged, because he was breathing normally, although nothing ever came out. They checked him out and said he looked fine, but that we should take him to the emergency room for a chest x-ray to make sure the watermelon was not in his lungs. Humorously enough, the pizza delivery guy arrived right after the EMT's, so we had quite a crowd. He had called a few minutes earlier saying he couldn't find the house, and Becky had told him to just look for the house with the ambulance and firetrucks and all the flashing lights.

So then we spent the next 2 hours in the emergency room of Williamson Medical. As we waited, and waited, and waited, I commented that it didn't seem very "emergency-like", as no one seemed to have any sense of urgency. I'm sure it didn't help our cause that by this point Davis was smiling and flirting with all the ladies at the reception desk. I guess I've watched too many episodes of ER, as I expected to see doctors running around pushing gurneys and people coming in with bloody limbs half attached to their bodies. But it was mainly just people sitting around. A woman did come in hopping on one foot and was being quite loud and dramatic, to which Stephen made the comment "Now there's the emergency room action you were looking for."
We finally got called back and Little Man did great for the x-ray, and everything was clear.

Many thanks to the Rutlands and Sextons for watching Eliza while we were at the hospital. It was comforting knowing she was in good hands and having fun!

Although it wasn't a life-threatening situation, it was very scary for those 4 or 5 minutes. We came away very thankful that it wasn't anything more serious, and Big D got some extra squeezes last night, and only yogurt and oatmeal for breakfast. Stephen suggested we put all his food in the food processer from now on. We'll have to see about that.