What's In Your Backyard?

It was mid-morning, the sun was shining, the kids were playing outside and I was happily sitting at the picnic table enjoying the day. As I was chatting at one of the kids, I realized that Kara had become very, very quiet. You know someone is getting into something at that point.

Grace found her at the back fence. She was picking berries off the branches on the fence. She had some in her little play bucket and the rest were squished in both of her hands. Hmmm....I thought to myself. There are quite a few kinds that poisonous. So I looked in her mouth but I couldn't tell for sure if she had eaten some or not.

I had Grace take her into the bathroom to wash her hands and arms thoroughly while I went to the internet to find out what I could on this mysterious berry plant. I couldn't find the exact match but what I did find is that if she had eaten any, it would cause some abdominal distress like vomiting and diarrhea. So I wasn't too freaked out.

Brad finally woke up from his hibernation period, found out what was going on and immediately 'Googled' it and found what we were trying to find. It happened to be the Deadly Nightshade. When we went to the site, in big, bold, red letters it read "POISON!!!" Apparently, it's a very dangerous viney-weed-like plant which can have FATAL effects on children if only a couple berries are consumed.

Bob called poison control and they told him they couldn't identify the plant over the phone. We needed to take it to a florist for exact identification. We happen to know someone who is a horticulturist and she said that it was definitely the Deadly Nightshade. So off to the emergency room we went.

The doctor was very concerned when I showed him the sample of the plant we took with us. He said that it was indeed what we had thought and that she was going to have to stay for at least four hours so they could monitor Kara's breathing, her heart rate and to watch for convulsions. Now I'm freaking out. I also had to get her to drink that awful charcoal drink. After wrestling with her to get it down, she and I both looked like we had been in a coal mine.

God was merciful to me during our stay.....Kara finally fell asleep in my arms instead of the screaming hysterics that were previous to that. I am sure the other patients were thanking God for His mercy too! We were finally released with the caution to watch her for the next twenty-four hours. (So far..so good!)

After we had eaten dinner, I went to town at pulling all those vines out of the fence. It is growing over the fence from the neighbors yard so it made it somewhat difficult to get all of it. However, I removed all the vines from as far as I could reach. My husband had contacted the neighbor while I was in the hospital with Kara to let them know. We just had no idea that, that weed was so dangerous and there was so much of it along the fence. I filled up our garbage can with it and it was full when I finished.

I guess I should pay more attention to what is growing over the fence from all of our neighbors yard. Just because it's a pretty vine with pretty purple blooms on it, doesn't mean you should let it grow. Lesson learned!

Today, I am grateful for God's protection and His mercy. I am also thankful that my baby girl is just fine and is able to find all kinds of more trouble to discover.