There Will Be Blood
Yesterday was not one of my finest days… It was complete day #1 of Chris being in Germany. And it showed.
It started off well enough. I got the kiddos to school and headed to the Y where I did a respectable (for me) 5k. I rushed back, made myself presentable and picked up the kids.
The plan was to pick up Katie from school and go get some haircuts. An easy, relaxing yet productive day.
Only Charlie had other plans.
Amy and Charlie were whirring around the house like two crazy mosquitoes - here, there, everywhere. I kept telling them to slow down, not to run inside… but of course, they didn’t listen. And that’s when it happened: when Charlie decided that he belonged where the coffee table now exists. He ran, at top speed, right into the table. The result? Blood everywhere.
At first, I thought he had poked his eye. I was freaking out. Amy kept talking and I finally yelled “Shut up!” at her. I have immense guilt about this but I was at the end of my rope.
I got Charlie cleaned up and decided a doctor’s visit was in order. As it turned out, so was a hospital visit - but not before I picked Katie up at school only to learn from her teacher that she had tripped over someone’s bag on the playground and scraped up her knee, ripped her tights, the whole bit. Katie was, I think, looking for more attention than she got because I was speeding out to take care of Charlie.
We finally landed at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He needed stitches just under his eye. There was a whole debate about stitches versus glue - stitches one. If your child has never had stitches in the face, let me give you a hint: it’s not pleasant. For the kid or for the parent. They had to strap him into this “papoose” which was basically a long hard plastic board crossed with a straitjacket. He was pretty good but he cried (of course) and looked miserable for a few moments.
I have to say, the folks at CHOP were awesome, as always. So we were in and out in a few hours - the whole ordeal was about five hours, start to finish. Charlie’s face is officially stitched up. He will have a scar.
We got home in the early evening. Our good friends had given the girls some dinner but I brought them a few extra meatballs. I finally cleaned up Katie’s knee with some peroxide and Neosporin and got the girls off to bed. Charlie was not as gung ho about going. He finally fell asleep on top of me - but not for long. I think he was kind of freaked out by the “papoose” thing because at night, he would not let me put any blankets on him despite the chill in the air. So, he was up quite a bit - which meant that I was, too.
I am ridiculously tired today. Amy and Charlie both stayed home from school - Charlie because of the stitches (he is supposed to avoid hitting that area) and Amy because she wanted to stay with her brother… Sweet, I know. But also tiresome.
Am sooo ready for Chris to be home. Business travel stinks.
October 9th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
That brought back some (not too fond) memories of taking Julia to CHOP to have her chin stitched up at two and a half.
The doctors seemed a bit suspicious of my story that she was singing “No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed” when she flew off the bed and hit her chin on the edge of a table.
Crazy thing was she fell asleep while being papoosed and stitched. She woke up, looked at the doctor, and said “Thank you.”
I thought he would melt. The rule of thumb is that if your child hasn’t had stitches at least once, you’ve been an overprotective parent.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:49 am
I like that rule!
Yeah, I got asked a million times, “How did it happen?” Although, I think they *got it* when Charlie tried to bounce himself off of the examination table - more than once.
October 15th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
What was the glue vs. stitches debate? I ask because my 15 month old did the same thing on Monday, cut the bridge of his nose on the coffee table, masses of blood, I thought it was his eye, etc. etc.. Our emerg. doc just announced she was going to use glue because it was too close to the eye and too difficult to stitch. Is there a downside to the glue?
October 15th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
There were two reasons -
1, Some doctors believe that glue doesn’t heal as well because while the bad stuff can’t get in, it can’t get out either.
But really it was 2, which is that his cut was under his eye, on the very top of his cheek. Whenever he smiled or otherwise showed emotion, it would pull. They don’t like to use glue where you would have pulling… That’s why glue is used on places like the forehead - or apparently the bridge of the nose!
Sorry to hear that you had to experience the same thing!