A strike against my motherhood

****First, let me just say I take full responsibility and feel really guilty about the story you are getting ready to read.

So I worked last night, got home around 7:00 am and fell into bed, asleep the moment my head hit the pillow. Livvy came running in at about 8:00 wanting, what else, chocolate milk. I dragged myself out of bed, got her chocolate milk, turned on the Disney Channel, checked on a sleeping Micah and promptly fell back to sleep.

I woke again around 11:30 to the sounds of Livvy and Micah laughing. Livvy was standing by his crib handing him her little princess dollies to play with. As I smile at them I notice a draw in the bathroom is open. I ask Livvy what she took out of the draw. She runs past me and comes back from the living room with a chapstick. No problem, but the drawer is a lot emptier than I remember it being. So I asked her what else she took from the drawer. She runs back into the living room and comes back to me with a package of Diurex (a water pill) with capsules missing.

I look past her into the living room and see a box of Tylenol samples on the floor as well. They are individually wrapped 500mg tablets. My stomach becomes very sick. I look at Livvy and ask her if she ate any of the medicines. She looks at me and says yes. I scan the floor for empty wrappers and find one Tylenol wrapper and the outer capsule of a Diurex pill that had been chewed on. I start to panic. The Diurex pill I know would just make her pee like crazy, but I didn't want her to become dehydrated. The Tylenol is another story. Ingesting too much is very toxic for your liver and can be fatal. (500mg is about 4 times the amount of Tylenol Livvy would need at her age and weight).

I call poison control and explain what happened, my daughter found the pills (that I don't even remember having or when I got them) while I was asleep and should I take her to the hospital? He asks what time all this took place, I answer sometime between 8am and 11am. He replies back in a shocked tone, "You slept that long?!" Now I admit, I should have just gotten up the first time Livvy asked for milk, but if you have never worked a night shift and tried to stay up all day you don't understand exhaustion. Sometimes you body just won't let you stay awake. It needs rest. So him adding to my self guilt did not help any.

I pack the kids into the car and explain to Livvy we are going to the hospital, the doctor wants to make sure the medicine she ate doesn't make her sick and they are probably going to poke her arm (I don't lie to my kids, if something is going to hurt, I let them know it is going to hurt. I knew they would draw blood so I forewarned her).

At the hospital, we are checked into our exam room, they take my insurance and payment. They check Livvy's oxygen level and heart rate. The doctor comes in and explains the need to test her blood and here comes the IV tray. (A side note, this is happening at the hospital I work at. I know these people and feel about 2 inches tall. But later I realized, nurses aren't super human, everyone has stories like this, but you still feel really crappy it had to happen). Two cute nurses walk in and Livvy freaks! "I don't want to poke my eye, I don't want to poke my eye!" I hold back a laugh and explain they aren't going to poke her eye, but her arm. She struggles, I hold her down, the skilled nurses get it on the first try. They take their sample, leaving the IV in, and tell me I will have to wait about 30-45 minutes for results. If the levels of Tylenol in her system are low, we can go home. If they are even slightly elevated above a possible toxic level, another blood draw and more waiting. I pray for the first.

Livvy is appeased after the IV stick with a stuffed cat, a cup of apple juice, Teddy grahams, cartoons and a banana popsicle. The waiting begins, but I have a constant prayer in my heart. I know I will never forgive myself it anything happens to Livvy. Kenny arrives from work and we wait.

It seemed like forever, but about 35 minutes after the IV we got EXCELLENT news. Her levels were just fine. Her body wasn't absorbing any excessive amount of Tylenol and we can go home!!! ( I wonder if the diuretic had anything to do with the low level of Tylenol in her body, peeing it all off. If so it was a blessing in disguise). A nurse comes in to take out Livvy's IV and she says she wants to leave it in. We explain she can't, the nurse attempts to take it out and Livvy says, "I want Mommy to take it out". I take out the IV, put a bandaid on and we are out the door.

We stop at McDonald's on the way home for a Happy Meal and Livvy looks at me and says, "You're the bestest Mommy ever!" I hold back tears and say, "You're the bestest Livvy ever!" The minute I got home I flushed all those pills down the toilet. I got really lucky today. I know the Lord was watching over Livvy. I thank Him for all he does for me.