December 21, 2009

About last night

So, we spent last night in the ER.  That was not a really good way to spend a Sunday evening and I would heartily recommend against it.  I would also heartily recommend against letting your three-year-old fall out of his chair at the dinner table and land flat on his back, with the back of his head against tile as the first point of contact.  Not good.

Your first sign that you're headed to the ER in such a situation is said child NOT crying immediately upon hitting the floor. Your next sign is that when said child does start crying it's more a blood-curdling, slobbery scream and he's telling you in no uncertain terms that he would like for his forehead to stop hurting because, as the screaming would suggest, it's hurting a lot.  The next signs came more slowly, over the next 20 minutes, but included the child begging to go to bed, acting as if he would now be vomiting and refusing to talk to us.  And then he started talking and it was kind of disturbing and not quite right. That's when we called Grandma and asked her to please drop everything and come be with Andrew.  (Grandma rocks, by the way. Not only did she drop everything to come over but she also cleaned up our entire dinner mess which was uneaten and all over the kitchen, making it possible for us to drag it out tonight and try again.)

The good news is that after a few hours in the local ER and a physician-endorsed catnap, he began to come around and we were eventually sent home with instructions on caring for a child with a concussion.  I'm thinking that I'll probably not be winning my mother of the year award now, since my son has a bruised brain and all. If there can be a silver lining to a sucky accident it is that he wasn't horsing around when it happened, he wasn't dancing on the table or doing something else he shouldn't have been and I was in the room but just not fast enough. Bad circumstances. 

The other good news is that he has been willing to take it easy today and his balance seems to be more up-to-par this evening. He also had the energy to help his brother with this project tonight...



These all started out under the tree.  They're now in the living room but they were calling themselves the Christmas elves so how do you put an end to that activity?

Also, right before bed,  he had the energy - when asked to please stop crying because something hadn't gone his way -  to say the following to me with a very serious look on his face. "Mommy, I cannot stop crying because every time you do something wrong, it makes me cry."

Definitely back to normal.

5 comments:

Rosemary said...

That was scary to read about and scary to worry about last night. How super wonderful that he is on the mend and back to "himself" once again. That's a pretty cute "self" that we don't want a head bump to change. Loved your phone message, Thomas. Can't wait to talk to you soon.

SStites said...

Think all 3 of ours managed to get a head bump (all by different methods, of course, so guarding against the first didn't mean the next kid wouldn't figure out yet another way to accomplish the deed), and yes, it's frightening for the parents! But no matter how high you rank on the "parenting scale" kids can figure out many ways to put you right back at the bottom again! Keeps you humble! Glad Thomas is back to being Thomas, though! Hugs to all of you!

Maria said...

So glad Thomas is ok! Thanks to him, Zac and Claire sat flat on their bottoms for dinner last night. Something good to come out of something scary!

kerikish said...

I'm pretty sure Santa will deliver your mother of the year award still. You've won it 6 years in a row now--there's no stopping you. You're such a great mom--and friend! And, if you've already met your insurance deductible this year, just think of this like frequent flyer miles--can't let the free stuff you earn go to waste! :) So glad Thomas is ok! Merry Christmas.

aimee said...

ack!! i can't even imagine the panic. right after nina turned three she whacked her face on a coffee table and needed stitches.
so i can imagine the panic because i've been there! glad you all are back to normal and i wish you no more trips to the ER.