sleep deprivation
To be an honorable member of ‘the hood’ one must sacrifice many things.
One of the most noted things: sleep.
When new mommies ask me what motherhood is like, I always tell them that as much as you love your children; which is unthinkable; that is just how tired you will be. It is an unimaginable exhaustion.
I remember one night; Troy was about 4 weeks old. Sophia would have been right at two. I “woke” to hear him crying in his bassinet beside my bed. I picked him up and began to pat his back. I was rocking back and forth trying to soothe him, but he kept crying. As I woke up a little more I realized I was rocking and patting the pillow, as my infant son lay unattended in his cradle. It is that kind of exhaustion when you have kids.
Now, this story I am about to tell you goes right along with the topic of sleep deprivation and the exhaustion that comes when you have children.
It was about 730am. I was in my typical morning routine. Wake up, make coffee, take the dog out, get dressed, and brush my teeth…
Only when I put the tooth brush in my mouth and began to brush the toothpaste didn’t suds up like normal. I spit and my tongue went numb. I grabbed the toothpaste tube and looked… it was anti fungal cream for athletes foot.
I spit, and spit, and spit, and grabbed the Crest and began brushing my teeth faster and harder than ever.
I swore my tongue was swelling. It was all I could do to read the back of the cream. The tube read, “if swallowed contact poison control immediately”.
I felt like my tongue was swelling, my throat was closing… I felt faint.
Yes, I’ve been called dramatic, a time or two.
I imagined the headlines, “Local Mother dies after antifungal poisoning.”
I grabbed the phone book, looked up the number for poison control.
Multi-tasking; I rinsed my mouth with water and dialed the number.
It was ringing… my mind was spinning…
How would Tony survive without me? Sophia would probably never brush her hair. Troy would grow up wearing shoes that didn’t fit. They’d eat doughnuts everyday for breakfast and pizza for dinner.
“Poison Control, How can I help you?”
What do I tell them? “Yes, I just brushed my teeth with athletes foot cream” NO.
So, I did the same thing that any honorable woman would do.
”Yes, my daughter just tried to brush her teeth with anti fungal cream, I don’t think she swallowed it but is there anything I need to be concerned about?”
“What exactly is the cream?”
My mind was racing; I don’t know what kind of cream it is! I’m going to be dead in a matter of minutes.
But worse, the person on the line knows I’m lying. They know I ate the cream not Sophia.
“Equate, Anti fungal Cream, for athletes foot 1% anti fungal”
“How old is your daughter mam?”
“4″
“How much does she weigh?”
”One hundred…. I mean forty pounds”
I almost lost it.
“OK, let me look this up for you.”
I waited, feeling like my throat was closing, I couldn’t feel my tongue, I may not be able to talk much longer…. was my voice horse?
“OK, looks like everything is going to be fine, go ahead and give her something to drink and rinse her mouth, call us if you need anything else….”
Thank God. Instantly my symptoms disappeared.
I gargled with Listerine and went back to bed…
Call me paranoid; but I called Tony and told him what happened, just in case I died in my sleep.
-Holly
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