You know {that} heart-stopping moment...

when you realize you've locked your keys in the car, yourself out of the house, or maybe your baby in the house {I should tell you about that some time... or maybe not}.

I could have multiplied that feeling by at least 10.

Let me back up a bit.

Remember me telling you that we made yogurt ice?  And that Nator was the only one who liked it?  Well, Sunday night, I was using a knife to chop off small chunks to put in a bowl for her.  In the process, the tip of the knife cracked a small hole in the frozen, plastic, storage container.  I may have gotten carried away.  Maybe not.  Chopping frozen stuff is never easy.

Monday morning, Nator began to complain of a sore throat, and by afternoon, she had full-blown body aches, tummy-ache, and a bad headache.  I recognized that 'glassy-eyed' look, so... I, of course, began to give her our regimen for helping the immune system do its job.

Monday evening, I was doing my nightly cleaning of the kitchen {because who really likes to wake to a dirty kitchen?}.  I happen to notice that a knife was chipped on the tip.

{Don't judge my ruler.  The girls went through a phase of coloring everything in sight.}

Then I remembered that this was the knife I used to chip away Nator's yogurt ice.  I recalled every time she told me of her stomach pain throughout the day...

and my heart dropped...

to my toes.

In one heart-pounding moment, all of my priorities were once again reevaluated.
I turned around to tell DK of my findings and his expression told of his concern, too.  I melted the remaining contents of the yogurt ice into a tiny, wire mesh in hopes that I would find the tip.  No luck.  I gave everything a clean sweep... counter tops, sink, stove, floor, contents of the swiffer-vac, and under the oven.  The only things I found were Cheerios and dust bunnies.

Although, we both agreed that it doesn't seem likely that Nator would not have noticed this in her mouth, as she really savors. every. morsel.  For all I know, one of the pets may have ingested it or it could be behind the oven where everything else seems to be.

We've never been to the emergency room with our girls before.  For that matter, Nator hasn't seen a doctor in years, other than our chiropractor.  We try to stay far away from them, but we're thankful to know they are there in case of an emergency.  DK and I both began a google search on separate computers.  {Apparently, we weren't the only ones who've had this scare.  See what one search led me to, here.}

From what we read, if she swallowed the tiny tip of this knife, the likelihood that it would be found and that anything could be done were slim.  And... that the body is actually more resilient than we realize.

We continued to grill her... What does your tummy ache feel like?  "It feels like there should only be one glass of water in it, but there's two."  Ummm... okay.  With no 'sharp' pains to speak of, that's her way of saying that it feels nauseous.  She usually just says, "It feels green."

We never told her why she was getting grilled.  The last thing she needed was to worry, and DK and I were quietly doing enough for all of us.

All of her symptoms seemed associated with some sort of tummy bug.  I wish I could say that made me feel better.  It was already 10:00 p.m. and DK had to be at the airport the following day. We opted to monitor her during the night.  She never ran fever, and seemed to rest okay.
 
{Please.  For the love of all things motherly, don't comment on what a horrible mom I am for not taking her to the ER.  Please.}

Tuesday morning, she was feeling much better.  Throat, tummy and body aches were feeling better. She says that mommy gives good vitamins.  ;)  Her only worry is losing her crazy-loose-K9-tooth!  It's hanging on by a thread.  Although wiggling of the teeth makes me queasy, I can't tell you how relieved we are that her tooth is her most irritating symptom.  Her appetite was in full swing, too.  Yay!

So, all symptoms still point to a short-lived tummy bug.  Each passing day, I feel a little more relief.

Lessons learned...

Never, EVER, give the job of ice pick to a knife!  Never.

Even if your child is 10 years old, she could possibly develop {low immune} symptoms where loose teeth are concerned.  Possibly.

It's time to move the oven and see exactly what is lurking beyond the dust bunnies and cheerios.  Seriously.  For peace of mind, Mama still wants to find this shiny object... no matter how tiny it is.