Lent

Ash Wednesday was this week. The family went to mass. Husband and I got the ashes on our forehead. Annie was fascinated and kept pointing to Husband's head and telling him, 'yucky' over and over again. She thought it was great fun.

Since Lent is a time of penance in the liturgical calendar, it's common practice to sacrifice, pray, and do charity in preparation for Easter. This year for Lent I will
-give up soda
-pray a divine chaplet each day
-make a meal or baked good to give to one family each week

So far I've flubbed on the soda and I haven't prayed yet. I have baked some bread, I just need to deliver it soon. The flub on the soda was actually pretty funny. Went to the mom's group and picked up McDonald's afterward. Ordered a soda without even thinking about it. After lunch, I went to Giant to pick up a few things. I bought soda for Husband, thinking "It's not really Lent and I'm not really giving anything up if it isn't in the house and isn't a temptation" all the while completely forgetting that I'd been sipping on a coke the whole way to the store. It was only when I was unloading the groceries and the McDonald's wrappers that it occurred to me that I messed it up. I gave up computer use for that day to make up for it though. Feel free to ask me how I'm doing throughout Lent, keep me accountable to my Lenten promises people!

The Little Artiste

Annie really like to draw with markers, pencils, pens, crayons, and even my lipliner. She usually draws on paper, sometimes in her books, and as often as not, on herself. Today she took a pen and drew on the side of the trash can. I figure it's a short leap to coloring on the walls. I got the crayola tub crayons (basically soap and dye) but she doesn't seem to understand that these are just for the tub. She wants to carry them all over the house and let the soap drip on things, like the bedsheets.

Went out today and got her some Colorwonder markers and paper by Crayola. We'll see how it goes.

Don't Be Me

Remember this? So I had a root canal. There is the actual appointment for the root canal, with a couple more appointments to get the temporary crown and later the permanent crown. The temporary filling really shouldn't stick around for more than two months before the temporary and permanent crowns go on. I had appointments to take care of the crown, really I did. But for one reason or another (a good reason at the time, but since I can't remember why, it must not have been so good a reason) I cancelled the appointment. Then I had a baby and was really distracted for several weeks.

Finally got around to going to the dentist two weeks ago. Only I was way, way too late and the tooth had an infection in it. Treated the infection with an antibiotic but had to go back and have the tooth retreated. I'm not messing around this time and the appointemtns to finish the work are already scheduled. Don't be me and neglect your own medical care--even if you get busy by having a baby!

A Round of Doctor's Visits

I've noticed before that doctor's visits seem to happen all at once. We're in the middle of a marathon of doctor's visits now.

Last Thursday --We had the ER visit
Last Friday --We had to follow up the next day with Annie's pediatrician
Monday --Elizabeth's well baby visit and immunizations
Tuesday --Retreat my tooth
Next Monday --Annie's well baby visit and immunizations
Next Wednesday --Follow-up on the tooth
Next Thursday --Get a temporary crown put on
With other dental appointments for the permanent crown, then the cleaning, then any subsequent dental work.

I wish I got stickers like Annie does when I have to schlep to the doctors.

Emergency Room Visit

Had to rush to the ER Thursday afternoon. I woke up that morning with a sinus-headache that was painful to the point of distraction. Since I had to look after the girls, I took some Tylenol. Left the bottle on the bathroom counter & didn't think anymore about it.

That afternoon, I was settling both Elizabeth and Annie down for a nap in my bed. After both the girls went down, I also dozed off. Woke up a few minutes later to the phone ringing. I got up to answer the phone and was met by Annie coming out of our master bathroom, holding the bottle of adult tylenol with red dye all over her hands. The pills weren't spilled on the floor, no pills were half eaten. A single pill lay on the floor of the bathroom. She must have climbed up on the toilet, to the sink-top, across the sink, and grabbed the bottle. Also safely and noiselessly climbed back down.

I asked her if she'd eaten any, and she said, "Yucky Bottle." Not a direct answer to my question, but through deductive reasoning, how would she know the bottle was full of something yucky tasting if she hadn't at least tasted it?

Put a call into Poison Control. They said based on her age and weight, if she had consumed 4 tablets, she would be facing a serious overdose. Since there was no way to be certain that she hadn't eaten any pills, we had to treat it as a worst case scenario. I needed to take her immediately to the emergency room.

Called Husband, quickly gathered up the girls and went to the hospital. Husband was hot on my heels through the ER door. Annie was sent to triage very quickly.

The steps to treat a potential overdose of tylenol:
1. Drink activated charcoal to absorb the stomach contents & pass through the digestive system with nothing being absorbed into the body.
2. Take a blood draw to test Tylenol levels in the blood
3. Pump in IV fluids to make sure the body is well hydrated
4. Take an EKG of the heart to check for normal function
5. Take an x-ray of the esophogeal area to make sure no pills or tablets are still waiting to drop into the stomach
6. Take a second blood draw 4 hours after the Tylenol was first consumed to make sure there are still no traces of Tylenol present in the body.

Annie had to drink 60 ccs of activated charcoal, a black, sticky, chalky, sweet mixture. She cried and Husband and I coaxed her to swallow all but a few drops. The technicians then wrapped her in a sheet & held her arm to insert the IV and do the first blood draw. She cried and they put in the IV. She cried as they splinted her arm so that she could not bend it and pull out the IV. After this the technicians left the room. Annie put her head on my shoulder and dozed off. She wasn't deeply asleep before the technicians came back to do the EKG. She cried while they did the EKG. Again the technicians left for awhile. Annie perked up then and we were able to feed her a little food. The technicians came back & took her for an X-ray. She cried. They returned her to the room & the last technician came in to do the final blood draw. She cried while they did a second needle stick to draw the second blood test.

The ER doctor came, said neither blood draws indicated that any Tylenol what-so-ever was present in her system. The EKG was normal, and the X-ray was clear. We were free to go.

Annie DID NOT EAT Tylenol, but gave us a good scare. Fortunately things are now back to normal.








I'm so mad at myself for not being more careful.