Perhaps now I have a bit more insight into the root of Mac's distaste for all that is bedtime. She must have some pretty vivid dreams, because at around 4:30 yesterday morning, she came running hysterically into our bedroom to tell us that she swallowed a bouncy ball. Since she was breathing and crying, I was relieved to realize that she wasn't choking. Once I established that, I became instantly cynical about the idea of her swallowing a bouncy ball. Not impossible, but certainly not likely without some choking involved.
Tim and I asked her plenty of questions, including how, why, and did her stomach hurt. She was very worried that a) she was going to die, and b) how was she going to get the ball out. While I did my best to assure her that this wasn't going to kill her, I wasn't really sure how we were going to get the ball out. I guess if it's small enough to go in, it's small enough to come out, but I didn't know how to explain that in a way that wouldn't freak her out.
Although the scenario is funny in retrospect, it was really disturbing to see Mac so upset. So we let her crawl in bed and tried to get her back to sleep. The next morning, I called the doctor and they said that they would recommend x-rays in order to determine if the ball was really in there, and if so, when we could expect it to "pass."
By this point I was even more seriously doubting the ball in the belly. But Mac even knew what color it was (yellow), and told Nanny that she ate it because it looked like a cheese ball (which she eats maybe once a year because we don't keep them in the house. So unlikely). I don't think that she was lying or doing it for attention, but I do suspect that it was a vivid dream. But since we started the train rolling, I did in fact take her for x-rays, which revealed the presence of no ball anywhere in her midsection. Although it was the expected outcome, it was also a relief. I was not looking forward to helping her poop out a yellow bouncy ball this weekend.
So they sent us home with some candy (a nice treat for mac and me) and the caveat that sometimes rubber objects are hard to see on an x-ray (nice to know we aren't the first bouncy ball family to go to the radiologist). So even though the chances are slim that it's in there, the yellow ball is still missing. I might get a surprise this weekend, after all.
