Yesterday I was in the kitchen, prepping some stuff for dinner. E had just eaten his lunch and was happily standing and crusiing between the cabinets and stove. He lost his balance, fell on his tush, and then on his head. I rushed over to him, picked him up and comforted him.
Then I looked at my shirt. It was covered with blood. My arm was covered with blood, my neck, my chest. I started to panic. I checked E’s mouth, no blood. I checked E’s head, no blood. I looked at myself again, there was more blood on me. Finally, I noticed that it was E’s hand. Then I noticed how quickly it was coming out. Then I really started to panic (I know, I know, not the thing to do). I called A and asked what to do-he said to bandage him up and take him to the hospital. Sounded good in theory, but I just couldn’t bandage E up. He wouldn’t sit still for me to look at his hand, I didn’t want to hurt him even more by trying to wrap him up. Being the great wife I am, I started to get angry with A and hung up, saying I needed to take care of things…yea.
A few minutes had passed and the bleeding was still pretty heavy. F@*k this I thought. I’m calling 911. So I did. And actually calmed down. The funny thing being that E, once I calmed him down for falling and hitting his head, wasn’t upset at all. If anything, he was just bothered by my holding his hand wrapped in a paper towel. A couple of minutes after I called, a police officer showed up.
“What happened?”
“My son cut himself, I’m not sure on what, and a chunk of his finger came off.”
“Do you have it?” the police officer asked.
“Um…no, no, it’s not a piece of his finger, just the skin.”
Ok, now I was feeling pretty badly. A paramedic and firemen showed up…totaling at least 6 people. Two of them looked at E’s finger. They couldn’t figure out where it was cut, but said it wasn’t too bad, and that he wasn’t in dire need of medical attention. The wrapped it up, suggested I get him a tetanus shot (at that point I had NO idea what he had had for his shot) and seek medical attention if I wanted to (um…YEA!). Then they all left.
Yea, maybe I over reacted a bit, but I was covered in blood, COVERED. It looked so much worse than it was. So, I packed up a few things in E’s diaper bag, grabbed a hoodie to cover my bloody self, loaded the car up, and off we were to the dr.’s.
A met us there, thank goodness, and was surprised at how E was…normal. We brought him into the doctor, the doctor looked at E’s finger and told us this
He has a superficial cut on the tip of his finger. The cut that he has on the middle part of his finger isn’t too bad. Luckily the skin is still there, so it will heal better. Babies heal very quickly. Stitches are not needed. Just make sure change the band aid when it gets nasty looking, and keep it clean. The only thing we’re looking for is infection. Keep it covered until Monday. Call me tomorrow and let me know if it’s still bleeding and how he’s doing.
Ok…phew. Even though I called 911, over reacting a bit, my baby was going to be ok. In a way, I’m glad that it happened like it did. I’ll be better prepared for the future when things are worse…because of course they will be.
And I was feeling like a negligent mother, my perfect baby injured at only 9 months. But, things happen. And how he got cut? The pair of tongs that I had in my hand when I went to comfort him-my guess is he grabbed them and cut himself. As A puts it, you went over to make him feel better, that’s not a bad thing.
Lesson learned-don’t have anything in hands when comforting baby…
Filed under: baby, new mom, son | Tags: doctor, fussy, JM, PJ's, sick, talking, weather
Today E and I have stayed in our PJ’s all day. I haven’t done this for quite a while, no wait, I did it the beginning of January when I was really sick. But since then (not including being sick and giving birth) I cannot remember the last time I stayed in my pj’s all day. I am very much of the whole get dressed so you’ll feel good mentalities. When I am in my pj’s during the day, it makes me feel so blah. But with the weather like it is today (holy rain) and the past couple of days being frigid, I am going down a slippery winter doldrum path. The past 3 days E and I have made it out twice, both times just a quick drive to go to my favorite coffee shop (and yesterday to pick up some cupcakes for a post birthday celebration with JM). That’s it. I went out more with E when he was weeks old. I am desperate to get out of the house! DESPERATE!
And E seems as though he may be going through another growth spurt. He has had 5 bottles and 2 meals and he’s only been awake for 9 hours. This is getting a bit insane. He’s been incredibly fussy again, and of course his bottle seems to calm him down, but otherwise nothing else will. He hasn’t played independently all day today-each time I look away from him, he fusses. I don’t know how to stop this…I don’t know how to make him learn to play alone.
And I’ve also been thinking of searching out a new peditrician for E too. Our current one, however nice she is, just doesn’t seem there for us. When I brought E in last week with his spitting up issues, she suggested changing formula, but didn’t say anything about my mention of his incredible fussiness. He is such a fussy baby. He spends several hours a day FUSSING. No matter what I do, how many times I change his diaper, how many times I feed him, how much time I pay attention to him, he fusses so much. And I am beginning to worry that E’s doctor is missing something, that something is wrong with him. I compare him to the few other babies I know and he is by far the most high maintenance one there is (and I am VERY tired of people telling me, he’s a baby, of course he’s fussy and needs a lot of attention. I know, but he’s in constant need of it, this is not normal).
Maybe it is just a growth spurt for E, that’s what all the eating is about. I know now that I can’t wait for him to be able to talk so that I can know what is wrong with him, although I hear that once they start to talk, you wish it were back when they couldn’t.
The grass is always greener…
Filed under: baby, family, life, new mom, son, working | Tags: baby, doctor, formula, organic, spitting up, stay at home mom, working mom
So, E and I went to his doctors this afternoon and my worst fear was confirmed, she offered NO help. She said that he is on the ‘curve’ still even though he’s spitting up a ton (she saw him for 10-15 minutes and he spit up FOUR times while she was in the room with us. She suggested we try soy formula and then go from there. I do not want to put him on any medicine…we are trying so hard to keep his body free of toxins by making our own organic baby food, using only organic, natural cleansers, etc. so I am thinking we are just going to have to deal with his crazy spitting up.
And she offered no help in terms of his fussiness. Oy, what to do now. Just hope that things improve and put a positive spin on it all. I at least am the one that gets to spend time with him and watch him grow and help him learn, not someone else, although there are times where I think about working again, only to realize that it would be so much more work for me. I don’t know how you mothers out there work and raise such young children-you are amazing!
