Stitches

What a day, and not really in a good way. I woke up this morning with a headache, and by noon it was really only getting worse. Since I developed high blood pressure at the end of my pregnancy with Caleb, I decided to leave work early to have my bp checked (it is fine) and then to head home to relax for an hour or two before picking up Caleb from daycare.

I wasn't home more than a few minutes when I got a call from daycare that Caleb had jumped into the pool during swim time. Mid-jump, he turned around to grab onto the side of the pool and caught it with his chin instead. I picked him up and they already had it bandaged and there was no blood seeping through the bandaids, so I thought it wasn't that bad. But the person who bandaged it said she thought it might need stitches. So off to the hospital we went. And we had an absolutely AMAZING experience at the community hospital that is right around the corner from our house. Kind of makes me wish I was delivering there instead of at the hospital 1/2 hour away.

Anyway, we walked right up to the front desk in the ER, the woman at the desk had me fill out a quick 1/2 sheet of paper (I don't even think you could call it a "form") with names and birth dates. She made a quick call that we were heading to triage and then she herself walked us straight back to a room in triage. Before we even got there, there were two or three nurses in the room waiting for us. They got Caleb all set up with a hospital bracelet...

 

Note the awesome tie dyed camp shirt that he'll be sporting every Friday this summer.  Yeah, it has blood on the collar as a reminder for us every week!

...checked his pulse and blood pressure...

 

 ...They had me take off the bandaids so they could take a look at his chin, and I knew immediately that it needed stitches.  Flesh was hanging out, but he didn't seem to notice anything other than the ripping and pulling from the sticky bandaids.  Next, they got him set up with some numbing ointment on his chin to take away some of the sting when they injected the real numbing stuff...

 

 ...then we waited for about 30 minutes for the numbing ointment to take effect.  And Caleb passed out thanks to a week of no naps at camp...

 

 ...the nurses came back, strapped him down to something called a "hug board" which is basically a giant swaddle blanket, and started the injection of the lidocaine.  That part was the hardest for Caleb.  After one stitch he calmed down and went into "the zone."  He just laid there with his eyes closed tightly and didn't budge or whimper the whole time he was being stitched.  He ended up needing 9 stitches, but they actually did 10 stitches because the first had to be removed and replaced once the others were in place.  This queasy momma watched the entire thing and didn't even once feel like passing out.  I'm so, so, so proud of my little man and his toughness and bravery today. 

 

Of course, the first thing we did when we left the hospital was to head straight out for milkshakes.  Tonight he was dancing around after his bath just like every other night.  So, I think we're well on our way to healing!