What do you mean I am out of Ipecac?
“If evolution really
works, how come mothers only have two hands?”
~ Milton Berle
God is faithful. That is one thing I say just
about everyday I am alive. He is loyal, constant and steadfast. Though we do
things awry, he is faithful to forgive us if we ask him to. My heart always
melted when my children would ask for forgiveness for some silly little thing
they had done or said.
Ms. Chatty was 3 years old. She was a climber.
She could scale an entertainment center in 3 seconds flat and be perched at the
top; hovering over you, ready to pounce on you from above at any given moment.
She also did not like to nap. My other 2 were very good nappers. Ms. Chatty
would have none of that! We had to come to an understanding. Mommy needed
downtime or she could become very cranky. Ms. Chatty understood this and
normally would look at her books and play quietly in bed with her babies until
nap time was over. My rule was, you must stay in bed and not awaken your
sister. Most days she complied. Today was not one of those days.
I had been preparing all week for a singing
performance with a group of ladies. We traveled around the Pacific Northwest
singing at different Christian venues. There were certain things I had to get
accomplished that particular afternoon while the cherubs napped. Laundry was
the main task.
As I put Ms. Chatty to bed, I reminded her that
she was not allowed to get out of bed and could not wake up her sister. Ms.
Bunny was already fast asleep. Ms. Chatty assured me she would be a good girl.
I remember seeing a glint in her eye, but dashed that from my mind because I
had too much to do.
I headed downstairs to work on the laundry. With
three small children, there was always a plethora of dirty laundry and I would
be gone for several days and did not want to leave Himself with that task along
with the kids and cooking too. While folding, I paused; I thought I heard
something fall. I headed upstairs and checked on Mr. Rational and he was
asleep. I walked into the girls’ room and Ms. Chatty had piled up every stuffed
animal on top of her sleeping sister. Ms. Chatty was pretending to be asleep as
I moved all of the stuffed animals back to the shelves. Upon leaving the room I
whispered loud enough to be heard, ‘If you get out of bed one more time during
nap time, you will be in time-out after nap and going to bed early without
dessert.’ I heard an audible gasp because she knew I was true to my word, and I
headed back downstairs.
About 20 minutes later I kept feeling like I
should go upstairs. I kept telling myself that everything was fine, and I was
being silly. Finally I hear that ‘still small voice’ rather loudly and headed
up the steps. There was Ms. Chatty with orange all down the front of her! I
just knew that she had gone into the fridge and took a swig from the orange
flavored drink that was in the pitcher. She hauled it down the hall when she
saw me and jumped back into bed. I told her I would deal with her after nap and
she could just wear that messy shirt for the next 40 minutes while the others
slept. With that I headed back downstairs smugly thinking to myself that she
would not get up one more time today during nap time!
Then it dawned on me mid-shirt folding. I had
made green bug juice and not orange! I flew up the steps into the kitchen.
While I had been downstairs the first time, Ms. Chatty had drug the chair over
to the far counter and got onto the counter, pulled down a big bowl and had
perched on that to grab a brand new bottle of Triaminic antihistamine syrup.
This bottle had still had the plastic shrink wrap on it the day before. She was
able to get the shrink wrap off, open the childproof bottle and swig down half
of the bottle. She must have heard me coming up the steps and spilled and all I
saw was her shirt and her hauling herself quickly down the hall.
I tried not to panic. I went calmly and got her
out of bed and brought her to the kitchen and I called the Poison Control
Center. I gave my name and address. They told me to give her Ipecac and then
water and put her in the bathtub because she would start to bring it up. I had
gone through my medicine cabinets 2 weeks prior and threw out the out-dated
ipecac and had not replaced it yet. Now What?!! They told me that they
were calling the Albertson’s by me and they would have the Ipecac at the
pharmacy counter, open and ready to go. I was to bring a bottle of water, a bucket
and a towel, and of course Ms. Chatty.
I called my neighbor and she had her teenaged
son come to watch the other two kids while she drove us to Albertson’s. I
grabbed up Ms. Chatty in one arm and had the rest in the bucket in the other
arm. We hopped into her van and dashed off to the store. They had the ipecac
awaiting us. (Some people would ask why we didn’t call for an ambulance. We
lived ¼ mile past the Buffalo farm, in rural Snohomish county, and we could
make it to the store faster than an ambulance could make it to us.)
I talked Ms. Chatty into drinking the sweet
ipecac. I think she was thinking about how exciting all of this drama was and
that it was all revolving around her! All of this special attention just for
this sweet lil cherub! She downed the water and a little more ipecac and then
more water. I was trying to get her outside, but then the ipecac kicked in. I
saw her face wince, and just as we got to the doors, she started the projectile
vomiting. It was amazing to me how much this little one could throw up! She
kept at it for quite awhile too. By this time I had her outdoors. She never
once made it into the bucket either. Amazing. I called our pediatrician and he
said that we did everything correctly, and he did not have to see her. He did
say to keep her hydrated, and she might not be able to blink or make spit for a
little bit after ingesting all of that antihistamine.. (Laughing here now)
For the next 2 days, the Poison Control Center
would call us to check on Ms. Chatty to see how she was doing. I was impressed
as to how faithful they were to call every 4-6 hours. Ms. Chatty took her
naps quite well after that.
Psalm 91:4
Contemporary English Version (CEV)
He will spread his wings over you and keep you
secure.
His faithfulness is like a shield or a city
wall.
Prayer
Thank you for that ‘still small voice’ of the
Holy Spirit. Thank you that you don’t let go, but keep speaking to me even when
I am not listening. Thank you for your Faithfulness, Lord. Thank you for loving
my children even more than I do. Thank you for surrounding my family with
people who are eager to help in any season. Help me to listen for your call the
first time. Thank you for your faithfulness with me.
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