Until yesterday we had made it through 6 years and 3 kids without stitches or a broken bone.Until yesterday.
It was a good streak.
Avoiding the ER was a good thing. I did not realize how good until yesterday.
It was inevitable, I guess. We have 3 little ones, and that littlest one above it the craziest by far! I really had already predicted that he'd be the one to send us into the Survivors of the ER club.
He was being babysat for a few hours yesterday morning at a place very near our house while I had a meeting regarding the volunteer work I do advocating for abused children who are in CPS custody.
It was a very official sort of meeting with 5 lawyers, 2 CPS caseworkers, etc., so my cell phone was on silence mode. My husband got the call.
The call every parent dreads, "Your child has been hurt, here talk to the paramedic." Apparently he got his finger stuck in a folding chair and there was lots of blood!
Thankfully my husband and my mom, who is a nurse, were both able to get to my son within 10 minutes, pick up Sister at preschool, and head to the hospital where I was able to meet them just as they were checking in.
It was a long afternoon and evening.
We soon realized that would be the case and sent my mom home with the 3 year old to eat and then pick up the 6 year old from school.
We were seen initially by a triage nurse, my toddler was bandaged, we were told not to give him any food or drink, and then we waited.
And waited.
And waited.
My bloody, injured toddler was so exhausted from the accident he slept on me for an hour or so, which was such a blessing.
Then he woke up surprisingly happy considering it was after 2PM and he hadn't had lunch, and had a large gash around a good part of his ring finger.
He toddled around the large waiting area/lobby of our very large, very well-known children's hospital, looking like he'd been through a war!
I was really hoping his blood soaked shirt and shorts would get us seen quicker, but it just brought us a lot of shocked looks from other people there and passing through.
Finally 8 hours from check-in, 5 x-rays, 0 broken bones, 3 sedation medications, 6 stitches, and 1 bright yellow bandage later we were done.
Exhausted, starving and thirsty. None of us had eaten since breakfast!
In hindsight my husband and I should have split up, taking turns going off and eating, but neither of us wanted to leave our baby and we kept thinking "Surely any minute it is going to be his turn for x-ray/doctor exam/IV/2nd doctor exam/sedation/stitches/discharge." In reality we waited about an hour between each step.
You know the whole day I couldn't help thinking about MckMama stuck in the hospital with her precious baby for a week and counting. A baby with much more serious issues than an injured finger. And as I hated being in the hospital, hated watching my baby in pain, hated not being able to give him a drink when he asked for it, I prayed for her.
And now, I'll spend my day being so thankful to be home with my toddler who is fine, and I will pray for her.
And I'll also spend the day reapplying that bandage we're suppose to leave on for 24 hours. He's already taken it completely off twice!!!
Find more Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers and Talk About Tuesday at The Lazy Organizer.
I am glad he is okay. I hate when it takes FOREVER in the ER waiting room. I can't imagine if something was "wrong" really with my baby. MckMamma is in my prayers too. I linked your post to my gratituesday post. Stop by anytime.
ReplyDeleteBlessings!
Wow, that's quite a bandage! Very impressive. I'm glad that it was just some stitches and that you have survived this long without any major injuries. Good luck in the future!
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about his little injury. Hope he heals quickly. I am thankful we haven't had an ER trip, but I keep thinking we'll be lucky to survive our middle child's toddler years without one. She's a little daredevil.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about the injury, but thankful he is going to be fine. I have two boys that keep our ER in business! You are fortunate to have gone this long without a trip!
ReplyDeleteToni
We have been to the ER three times in the past year- each boy went once! J. had a broken arm, W. had a busted tooth and lip, and the baby had a scary fever. It's such a blessing when you finally get to the other side of the crisis. Glad everybody is ok now!
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the club. Congrats on managing to stay away for so long...very impressive. Our last trip to the ER was similiar in my husband and I hadn't eaten anything all day and were to afraid to leave our daughter (they were positive she had appendicitis).I think your idea of praying for Stellan everytime we think of our own children is wonderful, for I am fairly certain God heard all of the many prayers for my daugher (the whole church was praying)and healed our daughter, even the doctors could not explain it. Great post! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeletePoor little guy. I'm glad he's okay.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear this! I hope that everything heals OK. My son got his fingers slammed in the door one morning and it was not a pretty sight! I was in freak out mode for sure! Thankfully we didn't have to take him to the ER, but I know a little bit about what you could have been feeling...just on a smaller level.
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