As I was standing at the dining room table stuffing the daycare bag, I heard Aerin laughing behind me. I turned around to see her standing on the sofa, bouncing up and down, and grinning at me. She was SO PROUD of herself. I told her to sit down, but because I was busy, I didn't go over and pull her off. I knew full well she'd just climb back on again, and I honestly just didn't have the time to get into a battle of wills.
(Hahahaha, you know what else I didn't have time for? EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED AFTER THAT.)
The next thing I heard was her walking backwards off the sofa and hitting the side of her head on the coffee table on the way down.
She immediately started screaming and I ran over and picked her up. There wasn't any blood and she was crying, so I figured she was okay. I got her calmed down, we got everyone loaded in the car, and we went to daycare.
At 11:30, while Todd and I were at lunch, they called to tell me Aerin was sick. They told me she'd fallen asleep during the gym that morning, then thrown up right before lunch. She didn't have a fever, but she was acting strange and they were pretty sure she had some sort of bug.
Sadly, I spent a good 15 minutes lamenting the presence of another goddamned stomach bug in our home before it finally occurred to me that the child probably had a concussion. And of course, by then, her pediatrician's office was closed for lunch until 1:30.
Todd took her home and I went back to work, Googled the crap out of "baby concussion," and decided she was probably okay. But I called the doc at 1:30 anyway and described her symptoms and asked them if they wanted to see her, or if I should just keep an eye on her. And the nurse immediately told me to take her to the ER. Apparently I should have been a hell of a lot more concerned than I was. So, yeah, I guess I failed that parenting test?
Anyway, once at Huntsville Hospital's Pediatric ER, they checked her out and decided she needed a CT scan, since she hit the side of her head and there wasn't any real lump. Aerin had to be restrained for the scan and holy hell, that sucked, but at least they didn't have to sedate her. Based on the scan, they determined she was fine and probably just had a mild concussion. We were given the okay to go home before our paperwork even made it through registration.
She was still a little off the next day, but by Wednesday she was back to normal. So even though I clearly missed the "freak out about head injuries" portion of the parenting class, no harm no foul this time.
I always told Todd Aerin would be the first of our children to ever visit an ER. And even though I fully expected there to be more blood on her first trip, I'm still going to say NAILED IT.
And THIS, boys and girls, is why parents of grown children have gray hair.
ReplyDeleteAt least the pediatric ER is nicer than the one for grown-ups.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the toys sure look better!
ReplyDeleteI think it was a really nice place originally, but it's a little run down now. The covers on all the chairs were worn out, the paint on the toys was chipped and rubbed off, and it just seemed kind of like it needed a facelift. I know it's an ER, not a playground, but it just felt a bit neglected.
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