If You Don't Succeed.... Try, Try Again.

Well,

Max had his first ER visit.

(first IV)

And it was pretty much all my fault. I am trying to baby proof my house, but am finding more and more things every day that can be risky for a child. While I was going through my medications, throwing the expired meds away, and trying to place all the medications in 1 cabinet in our house. I had placed the expired medications on the counter top and went to the kitchen to get a garbage bag to throw them all away. Well... Max got a hold of a Tylenol PM bottle. And he somehow opened the child proof bottle top (child proof....Riiiight). Then he decided to try the pretty blue pills.

When I found him, there was an open EMPTY bottle with 1 pill on the ground. My heart sank to the bottom of my stomach. I had looked inside that bottle not 10-15 minutes before and there were at least 5, 6, or maybe 7 pills in that bottle, not 1 or 2. I immediately pinched his cheeks and did a finger sweep of his mouth. Something that I have become an expert at doing because I do it at least once a day. Every day. For the past month and a half. I retrieved one of the pills and stuck my finger in again. I could feel one in the back of his throat, but despite my effort... he swallowed it. By swallowing that one pill he had taken 3 times the amount of Tylenol recommended for his weight and 4 times the amount of Benedryl. And I wasn't sure if he had swallowed any more pills.

I screamed for Chris to come he took Max who was now gagging and crying from my aggressive attempt at retrieving that pill. Chris found 2 more pills on the ground that I had missed in my panic. I was so upset that this had happened. I felt like the most irresponsible parent in this world. How could I, A NURSE... OF INFANTS, let this happen?!? Why did I have so much confidence that a 10 month old would not get a hold of one of those medication bottles on the counter top and open the child proof lid? I couldn't find the number to poison control so I called 911 in my panicked flurry.

Anyway, after the ambulance came and saw that he was stable and acting his normal self, they let us drive him up to Primary Children's to be evaluated. We had to be there for 4 hours to get his Tylenol level drawn. He ended up being just fine and his Tylenol level was OK. He didn't need any reversal medications. And the only affect of the Benedryl is he was a little more agitated and wouldn't fall asleep (Large doses can do that to you).

Anyway, BIG lesson learned. CHILD PROOF ANYTHING TOXIC! I feel like I can't leave this kid out of my sight! He is so active and loves to get into anything new.

My confidence was a little shot. But every parent makes mistakes. You just hope that the mistake you make doesn't end up being detrimental to your child. You just do your best. Nobody is perfect. I have to accept that, and just try harder. If you don't succeed.... Try, Try Again.

Max has also decided to attempt to walk. He is not graceful what so ever. It is hilarious to watch him. He pulls himself up, attempts to take 1 or 2 steps and then totally face plants. Then he just rolls over and gets back up again. You can't blame him for trying, but this is why my child may have a few more bruises or scrapes then the average child. I swear he has NO FEAR. He just falls over, and gets back up again. A good lesson in life too.... If you don't succeed, try, try again! Thanks for that little buddy.

Here are the video's:

A Rough Few Weeks

Max has been really fussy.

And he forgot how to sleep through the night.

For the past 3 weeks he has woke up every 2-3 hours at night. I feel like I have a newborn. I tried to think of why he would all of the sudden start waking up when he used to sleep so good at night. That is when I realized he is going through a lot right now.

He just got 4 teeth at the same time. Which included lots of biting things (including my arm!), low grade fevers, and stuffy nose.

He just graduated to helmet therapy only at night. But Chris is convinced he is so used to having it off during the day now, that it bugs him at night.

The stupid time change. Even though it is only 1 hour.... it throws EVERYTHING off!

He is starting to pull himself up to standing on furniture (developmental milestones tend to cause night waking in infants), and he tries to climb all over Chris and I.

He is experiencing stranger anxiety and separation anxiety. He likes being held, and if he's not he wants me right next to him. I try to leave the room and cries of protest ensue.

I feel like I can't get anything done. I am exhausted from the lack of sleep. There are a lot of changes going on at my work right now. So I haven't felt like blogging.

I know my trials are trivial compared to some. And I try to keep life in perspective. But I have to admit, it has been a little rough.

Too top it all off....

Yesterday I had a crazy busy day at work. Chris called to tell me he was going to my cousin's house to play XBox with her husband. So if I could come pick up Max and take him home and put him to bed because that is one of my favorite things to do with Max. So I agreed, because I usually don't even get to see Max after my shift because he is already in bed.

So I got to my cousin's house and talked to her for a short time. I decided to take the car my husband drove home because it already had Max's car seat installed in it. It has automatic locks and a computerized key (that is super expensive to re-create!) for security reasons. So we hadn't yet got a spare because they have to take our only key to make a copy and it takes 3 days. So we have to go without that car for three days.

Anyway, I have this bad habit of opening the car, putting the keys on the front seat, and then putting the diaper bag on the floor of the back seat, and then putting Max in. I almost always drive my Mazda, so this has never been an issue.

Well, I did this and when I shut Max's door the car made a beep. I went over to the driver's side. LOCKED. Oh S#$%. The back door. LOCKED. Max's door. LOCKED. Passenger door. LOCKED. I panicked!! I ran into my cousins house crying. I didn't know what to do. We stood by the car for probably 5 minutes as Max is SCREAMING in the back seat.

Chris was trying to look up a lock smith's number. But I decided to call 911. I explained to them what happened, and they sent a fire truck to come our rescue. They were able to get the door open and I just cuddled Max until he calmed down. I felt like the biggest IDIOT! I knew Chris wasn't happy about what I did, but he was really great and gave me a hug, and assured me everything was alright, and sent me home. I felt like the worst mom.

But Chris said we will laugh about it one day.

And even though all of this happened. I still have a happy smiling boy: