Saturday
Our weekend began with some more baking. The Cookies for Kids’ Cancer bake sale that was supposed to take place on Saturday morning was postponed to Sunday due to weather which gave us extra time to whip up a few more treats. We made a bunch of our favorite holiday pretzel treats as well as a few pumpkin loaves and our house smelled amazing!
Once the loaves were out of the oven and cooling, we piled into the car and took the boys to Discovery Place Kids in Huntersville for some morning fun.
We’ve been Discovery Place Kids + Discovery Place Science members for years now and DPK is open to members only for the first hour of the day right now. Our family loves going during this time because it’s not crowded at all. It’s such a wonderful spot for young kids and all of our boys love exploring all of the different areas of the space. It’s especially fun to take Rhett to DPK right now because all he wants to do it walk all over the place and get into everything and DPK is a place he can safely live out his best life at 15 months old.
We stayed at Discovery Place Kids until we figured we should head home for an early lunch and Rhett’s nap. After lunch, Rhett slept while Ryan took Chase and Ryder fishing and I worked on our family Christmas cards.
Ryan and the big kids weren’t gone too long because of the weather and about 45 minutes later everyone was home so we broke into a Christmas puzzle. (For any fellow puzzlers, we love this 350-piece Christmas train puzzle for family puzzling because the pieces transition from big to small so it’s great for everyone to work on simultaneously.)
We spent some time working on the puzzle until the big kids were over it and wanted to play in the bounce house instead.
Our initial Saturday evening plans had us attending Holidays at the Garden, the holiday lights display we loved so much at Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens last year, but the rainy weather caused us to postpone our visit. We pivoted by heading to Birkdale Village to visit my father-in-law (we had about 20 minutes of outside time before it started pouring) and help Greg install a new TV in his apartment.
(Jeans: Old Navy Curvy Straight Jeans / Sweater: Old Navy / Booties: Dansko)
While we were at Greg’s place, Ryan and I did not realize he had a box of small batteries out on a nearby table and when I looked over at Rhett, I saw him making that weird “I have something in my mouth” face before swallowing. I flew over to him to see what he could’ve consumed and that’s when I saw the box of batteries. I then saw an empty package that previously held a pea-sized disc battery and knew in my gut that’s what Rhett had just consumed.
I immediately called poison control and they asked me a bunch of questions, mostly centering around the size of the battery and whether or not Rhett was choking or acting strange. Rhett was totally unfazed and seemed fine, thank goodness, but swallowing a battery isn’t something you just “let pass” without getting everything checked out and we were instructed to head to the emergency room.
Time stopped during the drive to the hospital as I felt my concern escalate. I tried hard not to let my mind wander into worst case scenarios (Googling was not my friend) and I prayed. I tried to put my trust in God and the doctors and nurses that would be caring for Rhett when we arrived. I looked at Rhett who seemed 100 percent fine and tried to find comfort in his normal behavior.
Poison control called ahead for us so we were seen immediately when we arrived at the hospital. A nurse took Rhett’s vitals before we were instructed to wait for an x-ray. We waited for an hour for our x-ray at which point a mix of emotions ran through me. “If we’re waiting this long, perhaps this is a good thing because they aren’t panicking?” And then the mama bear concern kicked in and I began thinking, “What if we’re waiting too long and the battery is already doing damage to his body?”
The waiting room was almost completely empty and Rhett spent most of the wait time treating two of the chairs as his own personal jungle gym which I also tried to take as a good sign. Rhett ended up receiving three x-rays (he did NOT like this!) before we waited a little longer to see a doctor. The x-rays freaked him out to the point that when any other stranger would walk by us in the waiting room, he would scream and burst into tears. He thankfully settled for me as I held him, walked around with him and sang to him.
Eventually we were escorted back to a room to wait for the doctor. She was so kind and entered the room by saying, “We have good news and bad news. Which would you like first?”
I asked for the bad news first and she said, “Your son definitely swallowed a battery.” I was fairly certain that was the case so this didn’t surprise me. She followed it up with the good news which was that the battery had already passed his esophagus which was the “serious danger area.” She showed me Rhett’s x-rays and I was shocked at just how visible the little battery looked in his body. There was no missing it!
We were then told that Rhett should hopefully pass the battery within 48 hours but, should the battery not pass by Monday evening, we would need to come back to the hospital. We picked up MiraLAX on the way home to help encourage bowel movements and monitored his dirty diapers for the rest of the weekend.
I always hesitate to share stories like this on the blog because judgment comes out but I hope you guys can read this story and understand that scary moments with kids happen, despite every parents’ strong desire for our kids to be 100 percent safe 100 percent of the time. Our family isn’t immune to moments like this and we do our very best to respond to our kids in the safest, most proactive way possible.
Sunday
Sunday revolved around hoping for poops from Rhett and checking his diapers.
We also made our way to the Cookies for Kids’ Cancer bake sale in the morning and Ryder made sure he was the first one to drop off our treats. He was my big kitchen helper and was especially proud of the pretzel treats he made for the bake sale.
After our time in Birkdale, we popped into Michael’s to pick up some sprinkles for a cookie decorating play date I have planned for the boys and some of their friends and then headed home for Rhett’s nap.
As Rhett slept, I read Harry Potter with Chase and Ryan and Ryder played outside for a bit before my father-in-law joined us for some family time. Once Rhett was up, we went on a walk around the neighborhood before getting the boys ready for an early bath.
Right before bath time, we had the dirty diaper we were hoping for all day long!
I am happy to report the battery is out and all is well. Thank goodness.
We all had to laugh when Ryder said we should make sure to give the battery back to Grandad. I’m pretty sure he’ll pass on that one.
Our plans for the evening looked like hot chocolate and driving around our neighborhood to look at the holiday lights!
The boys got a big kick out of all the blow ups as usual which always makes us laugh. All white classy lights? Not impressed. Giant inflatable Santa with a jet pack? Two thumbs way, way up!
We managed to get everyone in bed early on Sunday night which gave me and Ryan some time to hang out on the couch before we headed upstairs to read a bit before bed.
The week ahead should hopefully be less eventful than this past weekend. It’s the final week of school before the big kids’ holiday break and we have some small school events sprinkled in the mix that we’re looking forward to attending and supporting. I’m sure I’ll share more on the blog later but until then I hope you all have a wonderful Monday and a fantastic week!
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Parenthood: digging through the contents of diapers for batteries. Yeah, probably sums it up.
Glad he’s ok, and no judgement, you can’t be watching kids every single second and they move/do things FAST. You definitely moved fast in response and did everything, just like the loving mom you are.
Also I think they make batteries with a bitter coating now so that kids won’t swallow them. THAT’S how common this is.
I had no idea about the bitter coating — that’s amazing and I’m so glad that exists! And I’m pretty sure I washed my hands 5 million times yesterday.
Haha I don’t know how you did the diaper search, glad you didn’t have to do it for the full 48 hours.
Honestly the bitter coating should be standard – doesn’t impede battery performance and makes babies/toddlers spit them right out.
So happy that everything is ok and don’t feel bad at all!❤️Shit happens! You are an amazing mama Julie!
Thank you!! And it sure does… I mean I literally had my hands in it yesterday — haha!
I don’t have kids but I’ve been around plenty to know they move FAST and manage to get into things they shouldn’t. Sounds like you handled it as well as you could have and it ended well! Sorry it happened to y’all though!
This is a huge fear of mine after reading a horror story about button batteries, I’m so glad everything turned out alright!! There should really be more warnings about them, the size makes it so easy for little ones to easily grab one without anyone noticing. Thank you for sharing, it can be difficult to share the harder moments but hopefully your story helps someone know what to do if they’re in this situation!
Yes!!! The bigger batteries are so scary for obvious reasons but I keep thinking about how he so easily could’ve swallowed that battery and we never would’ve known because it was so, so tiny.
Oh I am so so happy for you that it all worked ok. My daughter stuck a craft googling eye so far up her nose that we had to have it removed in an emergency room with her under general anesthesia so I know all the feelings you are feeling. I had never been so happy in my life when the doctor handed me that googling eye on a piece of gauze. I wrote about it here
https://lovelylucidlife.com/the-googly-eye-event-of-2019/ if you want to read what we went through and know you are definitely not the only one to go through this kind of stuff. And my daughter was five at the time! I totally would have thought she would have known better.
I had so much mommy guilt at first but then got over it because I realized I did the best I could. You did a phenomenal job handling the situation! Good work Mama!
oh my gosh! apparently i did something similar as a kid and shoved a tiny wad of paper ridiculously far up my nose. my mom still talks about it — and the paper is now in my baby book!
If it makes you feel any better, my nearly 6 year old swallowed a gem stone recently and we ended up in the children’s ER for a few hours on a Monday night. Like Rhett, it was far enough down (on the x-ray) for us to wait for it to pass. He was so excited when he got home from school the next day and told me it came out (I’ll spare you the details!)
We’re all doing our best!
oh man!!! and i can only imagine that conversation after the fact. chase and ryder were VERY obsessed with the whole phenomenon of rhett pooping out the battery.
Zero judgment Julie! You are a wonderful mama and I’m so happy everything is ok. These kiddos like to keep us on our toes!
thank you, caitlin <3
Thank you Lord for your protection over sweet baby Rhett! Sending you a hug Julie! Thank you for sharing the real parts of life. It is literally impossible to watch three kids 100% of the time, just impossible! We’ve had some accidents happen here that I thought would never happen to us (thankfully all okay!). We are all just doing our best! You are an amazing mama!! <3
kit, your comment is so kind — thank you!
We have all had things!!!! happen and it is just by God’s grace that we make it through certain days. Just be thankful!!! Not guilty!!!!
May I ask where you got the cute bear mugs with the boys names???
my prayers always begin with gratitude and i’m pretty sure that’s all they were this weekend. thank you for your kind encouragement.
and the mugs are from zulily! https://bit.ly/3ymxo9R chase has the reindeer, ryder has the bear and rhett has the moose!
So glad he is okay! What a scary thing for a momma (and dad) to experience!
Im so glad hes ok!
I have 3 boys (5.5, 3, and 17 months) and I know EXACTLY how easy things like this can happen. You cannot watch all 3 of them every second of the day. I used be the person who would judge parents when I would see a toddler in a cast, like oh my God watch your kid! Now Im like I totally get it and I feel terrible for ever judging another Mother!! Things happen and so quickly. Thank you for sharing your story and I hope no one says anything RUDE to you. “If you cant say anything nice…then just shut up!” <3 Merry Christmas!!!
LOVE you Blog!
thank you, holly!! i feel like motherhood is one giant lesson in not judging others. <3 the deeper i get into motherhood the more grace i have for moms all the time.
Glad everyone is okay!
Oddly enough I was buying batteries at Target this weekend and saw Duracell now has a bitter taste on their batteries so that this doesn’t happen since they’re aware of how quickly kids can snatch something even when parents are around. I think it’s great and something all battery companies should do, especially do those small ones since they can so easily be swallowed.
i think this is genius!!! when i was down the (horrible) google rabbit hole on saturday, i was shocked by just how common it is. i’m so glad some companies are being so proactive! there must be something extra intriguing to kids about shiny little batteries.
So glad he is ok!
Thank you so much for sharing this story, Julie. No judgment whatsoever—I’m just impressed at your level-headed response, grateful for your transparency, and so glad the incident has passed (pun intended)!
As a lover of puns, I appreciate this comment a lot! Ha! And thank you for your kind words <3
I’m so glad all is well! Thanks for sharing—it’s a gentle reminder that we always need to be on watch AND this could happen to anyone! Hope your week is a lot more relaxing 🙂
A scary moment for sure! Kids are so darn fast and it’s impossible to watch them 100% of the time. So glad to hear he’s going to be okay:) I hope you are feeling better too Mama!
Yes, exactly <3 I'm constantly amazed at the speed of a 15 month old!
you need to make that battery into Rhetts X-mas ornament! WHEW!
i have it saved in a little baggie right now and was wondering what we should do with it! it’s been on too big of a journey to just go in the trash!
was going to suggest this, what a family memory! So glad he is ok, little ones are impressively speedy, and of course it is around things that they shouldn’t have. Glad you shared, if it helps one momma out there it is worth it.
Oh no!!! I am so sorry that happened…that must have been absolutely terrifying! I have a 10-year-old son and an almost 6 year old son and I consider myself to be a helicopter parent. (My younger son has autism and no sense of danger…he is also a crazy climber and must be shadowed every waking moment.) Even though I do my absolute best to keep an eye on them, stuff happens. My older son has had three broken bones…siiiiigh (bike and monkey bars). My younger son ate glittery styrofoam when he was little and he also almost choked on a marble which was one of the scariest moments of my entire life. (Marbles are now banned in my house.) Also, when my older son was four, I got so excited about something that happened on Press Your Luck (the 70s/80s version) that my reaction startled him and he ended up swallowing the little Lego that was in his mouth. I had told him a million times never to put Legos in his mouth. When I called the doctor in an absolute panic, I said, “Tyler swallowed a Lego!” And he asked, “was he hungry?” Parenthood is no joke. I am SO glad Rhett is okay! The only positive is that the picture of you holding him in the ER is one of the cutest pictures of him ever!
thank you for sharing your experiences with me. it truly is impossible to prevent everything and knowing other moms have had moments like this helps alleviate some of the guilt i have lingering from not preventing it in the first place. thank you <3
Oh gosh, I felt like I was right there with you in the waiting room while reading this. That is so scary and I’m so sorry this happened—kiddos like to keep us on our toes, don’t they?! I am so, so happy to hear that the battery is out and he’s ok!!
I’m so sorry that happened!!!! Visiting others’ homes can be so tricky because they’re simply not baby-proofed the way our normal environment is. Not that stuff doesn’t happen at home too. We had a furniture falling incident after we moved into our new house before we had time to anchor stuff to walls. I still have flashbacks to what could have happened and am eternally grateful my daughter was fine😭 thanks for keeping it real❤️
Glad he is OK! That stuff is so scary and happens so fast. Our dog ate a tampon Friday morning so we were in the doggy ER (thankfully he passed it yesterday). We spent the weekend waiting for poop too LOL. Great job taking him in!
I’m so glad Rhett is okay!! Things happen no matter how incredible of a parent you are (and you are!). Sending love and solidarity from a fellow mama.
Thank you so much for sharing. Your post prompted me to move our batteries to a more safe place. (I currently have them in our guestroom nightstand and our only-child is not usually in there alone, but you never know!!!)
I’m so glad he’s OK. I can’t believe they made you wait an hour for xrays. My heart was beating so fast just READING your post!
this is truly one of the reasons i shared this post and i’m so glad you were able to move them to a safer place because you’re so right — you just never know! kids looove to explore and get into everything and this absolutely served as a reminder for me, too. <3 <3
Glad Rhett is okay and the battery is out! Hopefully this is something y’all can laugh about soon!
thank you. i was definitely stressed until the battery finally came out last night.
in terms of laughing, i actually dressed rhett in a shirt with a lightning bolt on it yesterday and chase noticed his shirt and said, “mom, rhett’s lightning shirt!! he’s like an electric baby because he has a battery in him right now!” thankfully kids find a way of bringing humor into just about every situation.
So glad everything ‘came out’ okay! Good thing you can laugh about this now. This will be a good story for the future 😆
I think it’s a parenting rite of passage with stuff they eat/shove up their nose. My then 2 yr old put a vitamin up her nose. It was when her snot was purple we realized it.
NO judgement from me!! Kids are fast as lighting (and then I read about his lightning shirt, and it’s all the more appropriate. haha). My twin sister was taking our photos for our reveal, and her husband accidentally looked away from their son for a second. In that time, he ate some leaves and started to choke. They acted fast, and he was just fine. But I know I will be there one day with some scare. I appreciate you sharing just because it’s strangely comforting to know how common it can be. It doesn’t make anyone less of a loving parent!
So glad he is okay! I’m sure that was a scary experience! No judgement at all! One day it will be something you’ll laugh about, but I know how scary it can be in the moment! So funny about Ryder’s comment to give it back. 😂
Constant reader, once in awhile commenter… can’t imagine anyone judging you for this. Every parent has a story to tell. You’re a fabulous loving mom and it’s entertaining following the adventures of your beautiful, happy boys. So glad your baby is ok.
Thank you for sharing this! I am a new mom and I appreciate the honesty and wisdom. I am so glad Rhett is ok!
I’m so glad he is okay! How scary that must have been! And I can’t believe anyone would judge you-we can do everything we can to keep our kids safe and forget something is dangerous or leave something out. Stuff like that happens! In October, we went to the NC mountains and rented an AirBNB house. It had an open loft with a couch pushed in front of an opening. We didn’t realize it until late the first night (out of two) and just told the kids to not go on the couch or go near it. On the second night, my three year old sat on the back of the couch and tumbled off the back falling 12 feet to the tile floor below. It was one of the scariest moments of my life! We called 911, held him to the floor so he couldn’t move and went to a trauma center in Asheville. He had a few xrays of his back and he was totally fine, no injuries at all which I still can’t believe. The dr said “kids bounce”. I posted in a FB parenting group and people were judging me all over the place for staying there with the hazard but it didn’t even occur to us to leave.
You are awesome, mama. So glad your sweet little one was ok. I’m sorry people gave you any grief and thanks for posting so others (like me!) don’t accidentally wind up in similar situations. 🙂
So sorry that happened to Rhett. No judgment here. Things happen. I’m glad everything worked out for the best. 😀
So glad he is okay and thank you for sharing your story. I hope this helps raise awareness of two important things. First – what an awesome resource the poison control hotline is! And did you know you can access online as well? https://www.poison.org/online-help-for-poisonings
Second – the dangers of button batteries! They are in SO many things you don’t even realize. Every caregiver of little kids should know about this. Also, in a witnessed ingestion like this with no acute distress, giving honey can be helpful!
https://www.nationwidechildrens.org/family-resources-education/health-wellness-and-safety-resources/helping-hands/button-battery-safety
An amazing PA mama lost her son to complications of button battery ingestion and has dedicated her time and efforts to spreading awareness and trying to ensure it never happens to another kiddo.
https://www.facebook.com/remembernugget
Lena – thank you for sharing the resources. The best thing we can all do as parents is know what resources are available to use in emergency situations (such as poison control) and share the resources and experiences with others to raise awareness. Thank you!
thank you Lena…. I have printed out these resources for our library and community resource centres as it is so easy to happen.
SO so glad sweet Rhett is ok. And zero judgment here. Our baby boy Chase (2 weeks older than Rhett) is so fast and it’s so hard keeping kids out of things in your own home, let alone elsewhere. You guys are doing an amazing job, especially with 3 little ones! Hope the rest of your holiday season is eventful only in positive ways :).
I love this post! Parenting is such a wild ride, isn’t it?! Glad the battery pass through without any issue. 🙂 Great job, mama.
I am 100% sure you are a fantastic mom and I am 100% sure this could have happened to literally anyone!! So glad baby Rhett is happy and healthy.
I’m glad he was ok and didn’t choke or have any internal damage. We are all just doing our best and put so much pressure on ourselves. I try to remind myself that my son is still a person with curiosities and desires I cannot control. All I can do is babyproof what I can babyproof.
Zero freaking judgement, mama. I could watch over my toddler like a hawk and there will inevitably be something he eats, something he falls off of or something he gets into.
I can’t even imagine how you must have felt while waiting for the x-ray results and I’m just so SO happy that he’s all cleared up! Sending you guys so much love!
Just a comment in the hopes that it helps someone – if your kid swallows something like a battery or bites a tidepod or whatnot it can really help the Dr if you bring the package to the ER. Ask me how I know…
Oh girl, I’m so happy everything works out. I try to tell people about button batteries and not to buy anything that use them… I’m a Dietitian at a Children’s Hospital in the GI Division and I can’t believe how many (unfortunate) incidences I’ve seen. By far the worst thing for a child to swallow, the damage can be super sad! It’s so hard to prevent though. You’re such a good Mom and did all the right things!
How scary for you! Glad you are all ok. It happens alllll the time. Last year my youngest boy came waddling in the room with a half empty pack of my husbands strongest pain relief medicine. He said they were “tasty lollies”. Never have I ever driven so fast to the ER and by the time I got there I could barely speak from sobbing so much. Of course he was totally fine, he hadn’t even ingested enough to give himself a tummy ache. They gave him an ice pop and we were on our way. Little kids are soo fast and we do our best to look after them but accidents happen! You are an amazing mum to those boys. I hope you can give yourself some grace ( though I know it’s so hard in the moment!) best x
I have a little one about Rhett’s age, and today, he got into big brothers paints and painted his face, clothing, and the floor all when I was in the same room. It’s incredible how quickly they move when they’re doing something naughty! I’m glad it all turned out okay, and thank you for sharing this with us 🙂
Julie – so happy to hear that Rhett passed the battery and everything is okay. I am so sorry you had to worry about possible judgments when you posted about it. I for one am glad you did decide to post because it raises awareness for everyone. You did exactly what should be done – called poison control and took Rhett to the ER immediately. Hopefully by sharing this, if someone else finds themself in this situation with their child, ,they will remember your post and exactly what to do. Many people are not aware of how dangerous ingestion of a battery could end up being and they might wait to go to the ER. Thank you for sharing. Hope you have a wonderful week.
Great post, Julie … NO MOM GUILT ALLOWED!!! It happens. Shit happens,,, and thank goodness it did for sweet Rhetty Spaghetti
True stories by loved ones can stop so many things from happening: PUT BATTERIES FAR FAR AWAY FROM CURIOUS KIDS.
No judgement at all, Julie!!! I’m 100% sure every parent experiences similar incidents with their kids at one time or another. Mine was when my kids, who were in 1st grade and 4th grade wanted to carve pumpkins. I got everything ready and since it was a beautiful fall afternoon, told them to take everything outside BUT wait for me to come out because I had to run to the bathroom. I was in the bathroom for all of 8 seconds when my son came running in, screaming, holding one of his hands out and a trail of blood all the way from the driveway. Yup. The kid just couldn’t wait, picked up the GIANT knife that was for me to cut off the tops and proceeded to slice his pinky open. I just happened to be an EMT so I knew what to do and stayed very calm so as not to upset him more (he actually passed out a couple of times because he can’t handle blood or other bodily stuff…he still does and he’s 23yrs old lol). I got him to the ED where he got X-rays, 22 stitches and a LOT of attention and popsicles! When I took him to the ortho the next day, he said he wanted to do another set of X-rays, different views than what the hospital did because he needed to “rule out something”. He didn’t tell me what so as not to upset me. Unfortunately he was right to be worried as my son not only cut his skin but also 2 ligaments and tendons. Off to surgery my boy went 24hrs later.
He has a crooked pinky and remembers everything but recovered fine. I was so grateful that his surgeon got him in the very next Day because that gave me a very short window to be nervous rather than say if it was the following week…too much time to sit and worry. Remember when I said I was an EMT and managed to stay calm so he could stay calm?? Well, by the time we got back from the ED that night it was after bedtime so I got my kids in bed, myself too where I proceeded to shake and cry for hours as my adrenaline bottomed out lol I am not an EMT anymore but am still very cool, calm and collected when it comes to emergencies but kids man, they definitely know how to scare their parents sometimes!! So, so happy Rhett is ok!!!❤️
Ever since we had our third I feel like our lives have been one story like this after another. This blog always makes me feel like I’m not alone. So glad to hear everything turned out ok!
My story involves a marble (better than a battery), but the marble got stuck for about 20 seconds before going down (the longest 20 seconds of my life). You did beautifully in a NOT FUN situation.
Oh goodness, I’m so glad everything is okay! And Julie, I’m so glad you wrote about this because I’m a mom of littles and had no idea batteries were particularly dangerous if consumed (other than the choking hazard). You’ve done everyone a service by writing about it. And like others have said, it’s not possible to watch a kid every single moment, and when you’re visiting other homes, it’s impossible to anticipate every possible hazard. Thank you for writing about it.
They are so fast! My son was 18 months old, when he drank an entire bottle of prescription cough syrup with Codeine. I had picked up the script, and put it in the diaper bag. Got home, he was in his high chair, I turned my back long enough to fix his dinner, an he had reached those little baby fingers over and pulled the bag to him, and somehow, drank the bottle. He is 24 years old now, and I still cringe when I remember those hours in the emergency room. I felt like the worst mom ever. Thank you for sharing!
So sorry to hear this. I think it’s super common for kids to swallow button batteries. I had a nurse friend tell me if it happens and does get stuck in their esophagus to give them honey as you go to the ER. It’s supposed to coat it and help prevent it from breaking down. Just and FYI for other mamas out there!