I spent a large portion of Tuesday in North Shore hospital. Lily was being monitored. I’ll start at the beginning.
I woke up at 7 when Frank woke but I managed to keep him entertained while I stayed in bed. He’s been waking very frequently in the night the last week or so, worse than usual. At 8, I was surprised not to hear any activity from Lily (usually crying) but optimistically thought maybe she’s sleeping in as she was particularly tired on Monday. By 8:30, I was up and suspicious. I went in and discovered…
A disturbingly blue child.
She was oxygenated but there was a thick, blue, unmistakeably non-food substance smeared all around her face, over her clothes, and a good quantity on the duvet too. WTF. Looked like the old loo blue. Then i noticed the 200g tube in her hand. Toothpaste. “Were you eating it?” I asked, quite horrified. “Mmmmm,” she responded.
This set about a series of events. Acertaining the toxicity of toothpaste, trying to get it off her (toothpaste doesn’t rinse off that easily), and then taking her to A&E. Thankfully Mum and Fred did most of this stuff. I was busy feeling stunned (and holding Frank).
Toothpaste sounds innocent enough, right? But it can cause convulsions and heart problems. The fluoride messes with electrolyte balances. Moral: DON’T EAT TOOTHPASTE. Though Fred says an adult would need to consume more than a full tube’s worth.
We couldn’t tell how much she may have ingested. How full was the tube initially? It was now half full. How much does it take to produce that sort of coverage? Less than you’d probably think, is my guess. The large blue area surrounding the mouth, the acknowledgement of consumption, and the missing toothpaste all indicated a concerning situation.
She had to be monitored for 4 hours to make sure she wasn’t going to be affected. Her throat and mouth were irritated, so she had definitely consumed some amount. She was otherwise fine.
All of this didn’t stop her wanting Nanna Poppet’s “pimps” (mints). She seemed rather oblivious to it all, really, except for knowing she didn’t want those suspect doctors and nurses interferring with their contraptions.
It’s too easy to forget about things the kids could get in to trouble with. I’m going to have to be better about tidying things away. Especially if she continues to wake quietly.
Our laundry has never smelt so minty fresh.