A Week of Firsts: E.R. Visits and New Teeth!

I'm such a bad blogger! I have so many things to post, but haven't had time to catch-up, yet.

So, I will try to be brief and catch-up starting with this week's events....

We had our first E.R. visit with Ava on Tuesday. Most will remember Tuesday for the inauguration of Barak Obaama, the first African-American president. Unfortunately we will remember other moments that occurred that day.

Ava tripped and fell against a wooden chair at day care and split her forehead WIDE open. She required five deep stitches and glue / tape on the top layer of the cut. She was SO BRAVE during the whole ordeal. I can't believe how grown-up she is these days!

I got the call around 2:30 from her day care stating "your daughter is bleeding from her head, we called an ambulance, you should leave now." Lovely. Hearing that my daughter is bleeding from her head made me start shaking immediately. I got there within two minutes, I'd say. The ambulance and fire trucks were there. Ms. Barbara was holding her, sitting in a chair, consoling her with an ice pack on Ava's forehead. Everyone was so great and calm, thankfully. I took my clue from them. I tried to maintain my own composure as I was sure Ava would lose hers if she saw me start crying. After hearing a Cliff Notes version of what occurred, we were headed out the door. I declined to have the EMS workers take her in the ambulance... I think it's $300 or so for an ambulance ride with our insurance, and didn't think getting there two minutes later using our own car would really be that significant.

Never needing to visit our local E.R. in the past, the EMS workers had to give me directions. We were on our way. I was driving to the E.R., calling Doug to tell him to pick-up Liam at day care, trying to make sure Ava was calm and not poking her cut (or falling asleep), wrapping-up time-sensitive work calls for the day and trying to find this hospital to which I had never been. Nice. We found our way there easily. Phew!

She wanted to be sure that we brought her pink princess backpack (a gift from Aunt Sherry from Christmas) into the E.R. with us. So there I was, clumsily carrying Ava, my purse and a pink backpack into the E.R. They put numbing medication on her head at triage (via cottonball and a bandage to cover). I received a few calls from the day care principal while we were there, she felt so bad. I told her I would call her back later.

Normally Ava is averse to having her temperature taken or getting on the scale to be weighed. She had no issues with anything this time around. The nurses even commented on how well she did, asking how old she was.

While we were waiting in our treatment room, gash in forehead, Ava sang church songs for the entire E.R. Our door wasn't closed, so everyone got a free concert. And trust me...when Ava sings, she SINGS. :-) Amazing.

The doctor came in, said she needed stitches, and was going to try to do the work WITHOUT additional antistethic (aka not fun needle pokes). After he told me that she was going to need the papoose board, I tried to talk to Ava about what was going to happen. I told her she was going to be put on a board and that she would be wrapped up like a hot dog and feel like she was getting a very big, tight hug. She saw a dry-erase board on the wall and said "That's a board I will lay on!" :-) She was wrapped-up into the sheet and into the papoose like a champ.

She did fine until the doctor put the first stitch in. The doc knew at that point that she wasn't numb enough. Great. So he gave her three shots of antistethic in her cut while she wailed. He then started stitching her up at the deepest layer (he said the cut was one layer away from her skull). She did fine after that, but was annoyed by the papoose at that point, saying "Mommy, get me out of here!" I heard that sentence a few times. The hardest thing I did during this whole ordeal was to try to not cry for her. I knew she would REALLY lose it if I did...

The day care principal showed-up while Ava was being stitched. She added additional distraction for Ava, thankfully. I was really impressed that she showed-up. After Ava was stitched, they glued the cut shut and put some sort of tape over the cut, as well. She got an orange popsicle and was loving it.

When we were done, we headed to the Business Office to pay. The principal wanted to come with us and held Ava's hand while I was paying. The principal told us that the day care wants to pay our E.R. co-pay ($125). I told her I didn't expect them to do that, but she insisted. And truthfully this could've happened at home or day care. We've been fortunate that nothing like this has happened yet. And I pray nothing like this happens in the future!!!!

We've been assured that the glue helps cuts heal with the least amount of scarring (instead of stitches). Fortunately the cut goes cross-wise, so it shouldn't be a big deal. We were advised to be extremely vigilant with sunscreen on the healed cut, and apply vitamin E often to help the scar. It looks like a doozy right now, but once the glue and tape fall off, I think it will heal very well. And it's also fortunate she has bangs right now.

Being the crazy mom that I am, I called her pediatrician and a dermatologist the next day. Her pediatrician says that we should follow-up in a week as a precaution. The dermatology nurse said that time is what is needed in this type of situation, to heal optimally.

On the way home from the E.R., Ava told me that she wants to be a doctor so she can "help people". (She also wants to be a firefighter). She also told me "Mom, the doctor sewed my bump." :-) (Yes, as of last weekend Doug and I are no longer "Mommy and Daddy", we are "Mom and Dad". How quickly they grow-up. :-) I am astounded at how well she did during our E.R. visit. She really impressed me!

NOT TO BE MINIMIZED AT ALL, LIAM HAS HIS FIRST TOOTH! He woke up yesterday with it, after a rough time getting to bed and staying asleep. He can move wherever he wants to, it seems, but he doesn't technically "crawl" there, yet. He does crawl backward, scoots sideways, rolls, sits up on his own, but doesn't crawl forward yet. He reaches things, moves them back and forth between both hands. He also picks food up and puts it into his mouth but has a hard time with smaller items like Gerbers Puffs. He LOVES eating them, but I will normally feed them to him. I will keep the other fun updates for a post of his very own. :-) And I promise I will get to it!

I hope all of you are enjoying the start to a new year and the promise of good things God has in store.

Peace, love, stitches and glue,
Shelly (aka "Mom")

P.S. - Pictures and other posts to follow, I promise. :-)