On st. Patrick's day I had the boys dressed up in their cute matching Sunday best with green bowties that my mom had made for them. I sat them on the couch to take pictures, and I ran to the office to download the images on the computer, and after that I was going to pack the bags and leave for church. I sat down at the computer, and a few minutes later Chase comes up to me holding my pill container that was in the diaper bag. His face and shirt is covered in pink, and his tongue is also pink. He starts crying and spits out a benadryl. I grab him and run over to Jason. I wasn't sure what to do. My Mommy instinct told me that he didn't eat enough pills to harm him, but since I honestly had no idea I called poison control. I had Ibuprofen, Tylenol, and Benadryl in my pill container. The man at poison control calculated the amount he would have had to ingest in order to cause harm based on his weight, age, and the medication. He would have had to take only 4 benadryl to cause possible seizures and heart palpitations, only 4 or 5 Tylenol to possibly harm his liver, and like 12 ibuprofen. They weren't worried about the ibuprofen, but they were worried about the other medication. They told me I needed to take him to the nearest ER to be evaluated. I knew things would be ok, but I had to try really hard to not let my emotions overrun me, and to remain logical and level headed. I grabbed the diaper bag, and ran out the door, while Jason took Wesley to church. I had never taken a child to the ER (thankfully), so it was all a little new for me. They checked him out in triage, and then admitted him to the ER. We sat in a little room for a while, and I was a little nervous. What if he did take a large dose of medication? By the time they saw him it would already be though his system. Eventually the doctor saw me, and she told me that basically they just had to monitor him, and treat any symptoms that came up. The don't pump the stomach unless they know for sure someone has ingested an extremely large dose of a harmful substance. The poison control told the ER that he had to be carefully monitored and watched for 7 hours. I was not too happy to think that I was going to have to sit in the little ER room with no tv, trying to entertain a one year old for 7 hours, but it was better safe than sorry. I am so thankful I had my iphone because I just played Elmo for him over and over. He was hooked to a heart monitor, an oxygen monitor, and a blood pressure cuff along with an IV port to draw his blood. They did an EKG on him, and he just layed there and let them put all the leads all over his little body. He didn't make a sound. The nurse tried to draw his blood but couldn't find a vein, so tried the other arm. He cried a little, but didn't move and was so good. Even though he was amazing, and the small amount of Benadryl he took made him super relaxed, I was going crazy being stuck in that small room. I couldn't even get up to walk to go to the bathroom without getting a nurse to watch Chase for a few minutes for me. Jason couldn't even come visit because I had Wesley's car seat (they walked to church), and I couldn't leave to switch because there was no one there to watch Chase. My mom and Dad came down to bring me dinner about an hour and a half before we were discharged. I was starving, and was soo grateful for their company to keep me sane. Poor little Chase was starving too because they didn't want him to eat anything until they knew if he was ok or not. He didn't eat anything until about 30 minutes before going home, but he was a trouper and didn't complain too much. After the long, long wait, and after all the tests came back ok, we were finally discharged. It was a really long day, but I am SO grateful that he was ok, and that we have good insurance and a good hospital so close to help us out in such times of need. I'm so blessed that he did so well considering the circumstance, and that he took at least one Benadryl so he was one of the calmest, and most relaxed one year olds the ER has ever seen! :-) It is moments like this that reminds me how fragile life is, and to not take health for granted.
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| Looking so cute and handsome just moments before the incident. |
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| I am so glad I grabbed his paci and blanket before we left. |
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| The nurses couldn't believe how calm he was during the EKG, and while getting his blood drawn |
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| Hooked up to all the leads and wires. It brought back lots of memories of the NICU |
He started getting kind of fussy after about 4 hours, and he was sooo tired, but wouldn't sleep. I layed down on the stretcher/bed, and snuggled with him for a while. He finally fell asleep, but I had to use the restroom, and he was laying on my bladder. Luckily he stayed asleep as I put him down on the bed so I could slip out.
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