Monday, February 18, 2008

My Klepto Was at It Again (And It Landed Her a Night in Lockup).

Well it wasn't actually lockup but the ER, which is like jail with Barney.

Once a month my family get together for Family Home Evening. We take turns hosting and last night was our turn. We'd had a really nice time and most of the family had left. The few remaining adults were in the kitchen and the only kids left were my own and my nephew who was sleeping in his daddy's arms. I was enjoying the company and actually able to sit back and relax after a busy day. (As much as I would love Sundays to be quiet and reflective that is never the case when you have to get 5 kids ready for church).

Anyway Kendall comes is the kitchen to says, "Mom come here." I slowly follow her into the kitchen thinking she's built some Lego structure she wants to show off. What I find is Dakotta with the contents on my Sister-In-Law's bag thrown about. And the first thing I see is the bag full of bright red pills. I ask Dakotta if she ate any and she nods. I ask her how many and she says, "1-2-3-4." I'm impressed with her rote counting skills but not sure that the answer means anything. They were Tylenol which I had heard horror stories about so I called poison control. The guy on the line told me the magic number for her weight was 4 pills and since I wasn't sure how many she took Matthew headed to the ER.

The initial blood test didn't show any signs of Tylenol but they need to check again in 4 hours. They tried to get her to drink a cup of charcoal, but she was not having any of that and has the shirt to prove it. My Sister and her hubby were here so they stuck around while I got the kids to bed (all except a lonely Corinna) and then I relieved Matthew of his ER duties. He came home to hold down the fort and to get Corinna asleep while Dakotta and I killed time at the ER. For the most part Dakotta thought it was pretty cool because she got one on one time with both her parents, videos and people to bring her juice and crackers. She was not going to sleep, however. About the time I thought she might sleep they came in to get the 2nd blood work. She was a trooper and was very brave. The 2nd results came back that she didn't appear to have taken any. So an hour later after a brief lecture on medicine safety we headed home. By then it was after 1 AM and she was asleep before I pulled out of the parking lot.

When I had newborn twins I'd run into other parents of twins and they'd assure me it does get easier. What they've all neglected to tell me is: WHEN?!?

3 comments:

Victoria said...

I'm glad the little "klepto" is okay! What a nerve racking experience!

marcus said...

I'm glad everything is ok, and I'm so sorry about he role we played. We've definitely learned our lesson about medicine safety, I just wish it hadn't come at your expense.

Melissa said...

Marcus, we've had several other close calls when we've been at other people's houses or had people here. The good news is apparently she didn't actually take any and she's fine. I keep saying I'm going to hire them out so other parents will know what they need to childproof. We didn't have to be nearly as vigilant until these 2 came along.