Last Wednesday started off like most normal days. The girls goofing off in Buggy's crib, breakfast, and the assumption that I can trust the girls to just watch 'Super Why' while I take a shower...I was wrong.
Brian was still home (thank goodness), but working on his computer, and I was getting dressed when Amelia came into our room to announce that she and Annabelle had medicine! She was pretty proud of herself. We ran out to the living room and found an empty bottle of Children's Tylenol on the floor. We both had a little heart attack, made sure it had been ingested and not just spilled on the floor (thanks to the super new special dosing lid it did not spill, but allowed the girls to suck the tylenol from the bottle like they were drinking a bottle), and then called poison control. Poison Control told us that since children's Tylenol is made to absorb into the blood stream quickly, and we didn't know for sure how much each of the girls drank, we needed to wait 4 hours and then have blood work done. The affects of an acetaminophen overdose don't show up for about 24 hours so it's good that we caught Amelia and Annabelle so soon.
I checked Coleson out of school and took him to his dentist appointment. He had a tooth extracted and took it like a champ. Meanwhile, Brian fed the girls lunch and put them down for a nap. When we got back from the dentist, we woke the girls up to take them to the hospital for blood work. Amelia was acting weird and we were pretty sure she'd had the bulk of the medicine...
The blood work was done quickly. I don't know exactly how they measure everything, but I do know that Annabelle's level was 16 and Amelia's was 150! Annabelle was fine. But Amelia was not. Supposedly 150 was on the "lower end of critical", but still "critical enough" that we were immediately checked into Utah Valley Regional Medical center because Amelia needed a medicine they call an antidote for the high level of actetominophen in her blood.
We got all checked into the hospital and by then it was about dinner time. Brian took the kids to his sister's house and then went home to grab a few things for the night while I stayed with Amelia. They gave her and IV and started the 21 hour infusion of the antidote. She got to order dinner from the hospital menu and watch a movie.
After dinner, she got a visit from the Kid's Life director who showed us the playroom and gave her some stickers, coloring books, and crayons to keep her busy.
At bedtime we snuggled in her bed, finished watching her movie while drinking her milkshake and waited for Brian to get back.
Once Brian got back to the hospital I took off to get Coleson and Annabelle from my sister-in-law Sherry's house. I took them home, got them in bed, and then face timed with Amelia. She and Brian had a good night at the hospital.
The next morning, after getting Coleson off to school, I took Annabelle back to Sherry's house and then headed back to the hospital. I got there just as Jett the therapy dog was making his rounds.
He was huge, super sweet, and Amelia was determined to take him for a walk around the pediatric floor. Brian left to get Annabelle and I spent the day trying to entertain Amelia...which was not an easy task.
Finally, the antidote infusion was finished and Amelia's blood work came back "looking great" and so they let us come home! While the nurse was removing Amelia's IV they were chatting and the nurse asked Amelia what she wanted to be when she grew up. Amelia said "a doctor" very matter-of-factly. The nurse said "What kind of doctor?" and Amelia thought for a minute and said "A kid's doctor." The nurse told her that she was going to take her vitals one last time and Amelia said "Yeah, you have to give my arm a hug, and beep the temperature in my ear and listen to my heart with your stethoscope." The nurse was so impressed that she knew what a stethoscope was and could pronounce it properly, that she gave her the stethoscope she was using to take home.
When all the paperwork was finished the nurse said "Amelia, would you like a wagon or a wheelchair to take you out to your car?" Amelia said "Hmmmm...How about a horse!?" The nurse replied "I don't think we have any horses. Would you like a blue wheelchair or a red wagon?" Amelia thought for a moment and then said "Um, how about a horse!?" It took some convincing, but I finally got her excited about the wagon.
We were all so happy when Amelia was home and Coleson picked out some flowers which made Amelia feel really special.
She showed Brian her stethoscope and insists on checking our vitals multiple times a day. She even pretends to drawn our blood with a straw. "Hold still Mom! It will only hurt for a minute."
Kisses from Annabelle, her partner in crime.
All things considered, it was a pretty pleasant trip to the hospital. Amelia never had any symptoms of the overdose (because we caught it quickly) and her treatment was really just to prevent liver damage. Every time they did a blood draw (which they did 4 or 5 times) Amelia would try to be brave but ultimately would start crying and say "Mom, I'm so sorry I drank the medicine! I won't drink it anymore! I'm so sorry I drank it without asking!"...which would just break my heart. Other than that she was her happy, bubbly self. The doctors and nurses just loved her and enjoyed a fun, happy, non-sick patient! I assume that the girls used a chair or stool to get the Tylenol off the counter but I have no idea how they got the supposedly child proof cap off. You'd think I'd have learned by now not to leave them alone while I take a shower...and I still feel a little guilty for underestimating Amelia.
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