A Little Run in with Concrete

Well, it was bound to happen.

We just got a brand new hospital and ER within ten minutes of our home.

So, in order to make it feel more welcome, we decided to pay it a visit and check out all the new amenities.

You see, last weekend I FINALLY got my new patio furniture I've been waiting and saving for for about three years now. I was very excited.

A couch, two chairs, two ottomans, and a coffee table. It looks great! We can hardly wait to spend lots of fun summer nights out there.

But what's not so great about the new furniture is that it proved to cause the demise of our injury free streak around here.

This has been an exceptionally healthy year in our family. My kindergartener has not missed a single day of school due to sickness, and the oldest one hasn't either, though since she home schools she has to be REALLY sick before I'll count it as an excuse to take a day off. So far her little sniffles and coughs haven't measured up to my high standards as school nurse.

It's been great! No fevers, no viruses, no flu (and we even irresponsibly skipped our flu shots this season), and no more than one cold.

But alas, our nine month streak of no one needed to see a doctor came to a screeching halt this week. Well, more like a heavy sounding "thump" than a screech.

Little Miss Busy was happily sitting on the new patio furniture with my six-year-old and me. We were working on Bible memory, which can prove to cause more need for confession than just about any other mothering task I do, by the way.

Anyway, she settled herself right down on the arm of the couch. I blinked. And literally (I mean, it, literally!), during that blink she fell off backward, slamming the back of her little 3-yr-old head into the concrete.

It was pretty awful. After comforting her and making sure she wasn't bleeding, I got her settled and I did some research online for signs of concussions in children.

Somehow we've managed to avoid them for almost nine years as parents, so I wasn't 100% sure what to look for.

Lethargy: check. She even said, "I just want to lay down." What three year-old EVER in the history of the universe has said that?

Fussiness: check. My normally tough as nails little girl just kept crying every few minutes and holding her head. The Tylenol had done nothing for her.

And the final clue occurred as I was on the phone with her doctor.

Nausea and vomiting: check. To her credit, she did make sure she was in the kitchen rather than my freshly cleaned rug.

I called her Nana to watch the older girls, loaded her up in the car, and off we went to the new ER.

We were in for a LONG wait.

(but seriously, if you're at the ER with your child and your biggest problem is a long wait, you don't have a problem)

Her Daddy was coming in from out of town on business and wasn't home yet, so Papa showed up to keep us company.

Within a few minutes of his arrival, his phone rang. On the other end were my two older girls, both crying and distraught over the fate of their little sister. Leighanne got on the phone and quite calmly stated loudly, "Don't worry, girls, they haven't cut off my head yet!"

Before the long night was over, she got to have our family's first CT scan, wear one of those funny radiation aprons, and ride in a wheelchair.

She thought it was fabulous! Totally worth the short-term pain for this kind of fun and attention and excitement.

Meanwhile, I sat on pins and needles waiting for the results of her scan.

We were back in her little room by then where she was happily investigating and trying to distract me so she could go tamper with the red hazardous waste trash can. She had a total blast.

I am grateful to say the scan showed nothing more than a mild concussion. No blood clots, no permanent damage, nothing extremely serious going on in her little head.

Whew.

She was given what will amount to around an $800 red popsicle for the ride home.

Though it was late, her big sister was awake and very eager to snuggle with her baby sister (in MY bed, of course). The two were so sweet and, well, sisterly. It warmed my heart.

Until the next morning, that is, when I overheard big sister telling little sister that her $5 a night fee still applied to sleep with her. Big sisters can be hard nosed businesswomen.

Welcome to town, new ER. Now that we've officially been introduced, we hope to not see much of you.