It was like a Friday the 13th movie. Someone was stabbed. There was lots of blood and screaming. Only it was Saturday the 19th. And to be honest, I laughed through much of the Friday the 13th movies. I wasn't laughing in this gory story.
The weekend was on a pretty good roll. We were checking things off of our weekend to-do list with gusto. I was able to decorate for Halloween the way I'd hoped. Yep, I turned it out! The bench for our farmhouse table was completed. I did some tweaks here and there with a few of my home improvement projects...and then...it happened.
We were wrapping up a few things and preparing to load the gang up to hang with some friends. Arguing and crying could be heard coming from the play room for what seemed like the 20th time in the last hour. "Knock it off!" I scolded my two younger ones before coming in and detangling them. "Stop wrestling. It's almost time to go bye-bye, okay? Just a minute." I turned and walked out of the room and proceeded to tidy up in the room adjacent when I heard a loud crash, which was immediately followed by both children crying/screaming. I ran into the room to see Ethan, who was facing me, rubbing the back of his head while sobbing. Ella, who was facing away from me, had her hand up to the front of her head and was screaming. As I ran in I was saying, "I told you guys to stop wrestling, and---OH MY GOD!!!!!!" A cold shiver accompanied by the immediate impulse to vomit suddenly took hold. Ella turned to look at me and blood was pouring through her fingers as she still held her hand to her forehead. She took her hand away when she saw me only to reveal a gaping and gurgling hole in her head. Blood was gushing out of it. I completely freaked. Like flipped. my. lid.
The two had apparently entangled themselves (after my detangling) into sort of a bear hug body lock where Ethan fell backward and Ella fell forward, both hitting the window seat on the way down, only Ella happened to nail the corner with her forehead.
We grabbed them up and yelled to the boys, and we all headed to the ER. I sat next to her during the drive to the hospital and held her hand and tried to not to cry so that I wouldn't make things worse. She was so brave.
When we arrived, we were seen right away. I swear, it was the fastest I've ever been seen in an ER. Not only did we get to go back right away, but the nurse assessed Ella immediately and the doc was in there within minutes. Not because her skull was cracked or brain matter exposed, because it wasn't, but because they had a special pediatric section within the ER that just happened to be at a lull when we arrived. I was so grateful for the timing on this one.
Because the outer tissue was cut in a straight line and could be pinched together, they said we could do surgical glue instead of stitches if we wanted. After discussing it with the doc, we decided this was the best option for my poor, sweet girl. It would take a few days for the superficial layers of skin to heal, and longer for the deeper tissue to repair itself, but we were told after 4-5 days, the superficial layers would have healed and she would be good to go (as long as she doesn't have a hard hit to the area again, in which case the wound would split open again).
Just to ensure the outer layers had a chance to heal without risk of additional injury, I took some time from work and have kept her home with me, which is why I missed yesterday's post. I love you guys, but Ella wins. As anyone who knows Ella might expect, this incident hasn't slowed her down one bit. She acts like nothing ever happened, which is great on one hand because I'm super happy she's not in pain or feeling bad and is her completely normal, funny, hyper self, BUT on the other hand...it's bad because it means she's not being cautious at all while her head pulls itself together. So...I feel GREAT about keeping her home instead of sending her to daycare, where bumps and falls can be timed by the quarter minute.
And I have to admit, I am completely soaking in every second of the mommy-Ella alone time. It's rare and precious and absolutely delightful. It seems our Halloween themed slasher movie weekend had a happy ending after all. First ER visit down. Let's hope she doesn't have too many more.
I think it was good practice for me. I obviously have some work to do on the whole panic thing. And the nausea and weak kneed-I want-to pass-out thing. I've gotta master that before I'm subjected to the onslaught of Ethan ER visits...because I know they're coming. His Jackass: The Movie-esque stunts are bound to get worse as he gets older. Oh god, I feel sick.
The weekend was on a pretty good roll. We were checking things off of our weekend to-do list with gusto. I was able to decorate for Halloween the way I'd hoped. Yep, I turned it out! The bench for our farmhouse table was completed. I did some tweaks here and there with a few of my home improvement projects...and then...it happened.
We were wrapping up a few things and preparing to load the gang up to hang with some friends. Arguing and crying could be heard coming from the play room for what seemed like the 20th time in the last hour. "Knock it off!" I scolded my two younger ones before coming in and detangling them. "Stop wrestling. It's almost time to go bye-bye, okay? Just a minute." I turned and walked out of the room and proceeded to tidy up in the room adjacent when I heard a loud crash, which was immediately followed by both children crying/screaming. I ran into the room to see Ethan, who was facing me, rubbing the back of his head while sobbing. Ella, who was facing away from me, had her hand up to the front of her head and was screaming. As I ran in I was saying, "I told you guys to stop wrestling, and---OH MY GOD!!!!!!" A cold shiver accompanied by the immediate impulse to vomit suddenly took hold. Ella turned to look at me and blood was pouring through her fingers as she still held her hand to her forehead. She took her hand away when she saw me only to reveal a gaping and gurgling hole in her head. Blood was gushing out of it. I completely freaked. Like flipped. my. lid.
The two had apparently entangled themselves (after my detangling) into sort of a bear hug body lock where Ethan fell backward and Ella fell forward, both hitting the window seat on the way down, only Ella happened to nail the corner with her forehead.
We grabbed them up and yelled to the boys, and we all headed to the ER. I sat next to her during the drive to the hospital and held her hand and tried to not to cry so that I wouldn't make things worse. She was so brave.
When we arrived, we were seen right away. I swear, it was the fastest I've ever been seen in an ER. Not only did we get to go back right away, but the nurse assessed Ella immediately and the doc was in there within minutes. Not because her skull was cracked or brain matter exposed, because it wasn't, but because they had a special pediatric section within the ER that just happened to be at a lull when we arrived. I was so grateful for the timing on this one.
Because the outer tissue was cut in a straight line and could be pinched together, they said we could do surgical glue instead of stitches if we wanted. After discussing it with the doc, we decided this was the best option for my poor, sweet girl. It would take a few days for the superficial layers of skin to heal, and longer for the deeper tissue to repair itself, but we were told after 4-5 days, the superficial layers would have healed and she would be good to go (as long as she doesn't have a hard hit to the area again, in which case the wound would split open again).
Just to ensure the outer layers had a chance to heal without risk of additional injury, I took some time from work and have kept her home with me, which is why I missed yesterday's post. I love you guys, but Ella wins. As anyone who knows Ella might expect, this incident hasn't slowed her down one bit. She acts like nothing ever happened, which is great on one hand because I'm super happy she's not in pain or feeling bad and is her completely normal, funny, hyper self, BUT on the other hand...it's bad because it means she's not being cautious at all while her head pulls itself together. So...I feel GREAT about keeping her home instead of sending her to daycare, where bumps and falls can be timed by the quarter minute.
And I have to admit, I am completely soaking in every second of the mommy-Ella alone time. It's rare and precious and absolutely delightful. It seems our Halloween themed slasher movie weekend had a happy ending after all. First ER visit down. Let's hope she doesn't have too many more.
I think it was good practice for me. I obviously have some work to do on the whole panic thing. And the nausea and weak kneed-I want-to pass-out thing. I've gotta master that before I'm subjected to the onslaught of Ethan ER visits...because I know they're coming. His Jackass: The Movie-esque stunts are bound to get worse as he gets older. Oh god, I feel sick.