Wild Will: Our First Trip to the ER

Well, we took our first trip to the ER yesterday. Sophie will be five in July, and though she has fallen 9 bazillion times, miraculously none of the falls have required an ER visit. Will, being the thug-baby that he is, at 15 months, has had two black eyes, more bleeding wounds that I can remember, and now has made his first Emergency Room visit. 

So, to set the scene... I am visiting in Franklin at my parent's house. My mom had been watching the kids for me while I was out with Hope, and I had just come home in time for Mom and Hope to make it to a doctor's appointment. Mom had been gone around 10 minutes, when Will climbed three stairs from the bonus room to Hope's bedroom suite. Knowing Will would wreak havoc in his teenage aunt's space, and knowing he was probably headed straight for the toilet in her bathroom, I followed Will in a hurry and reached out to scoop him up.

Sensing I was hot on his trail, Will snickered and lunged away from me just as I grabbed him. Because my hands were on his body, I could feel how hard his head slammed into the door frame of the bathroom. I knew instantly this injury was the worst we'd experienced.

At first, silence... I immediately scooped him up, and by the time I began rocking him back and forth, the silence was broken and the screaming had begun. (He cried differently than I've ever heard him. Lots of breath holding... Seemed like equal parts scream and silence). For a second, I thought he might be just scared - until I noticed "the egg" that seemed to explode on his forehead. Truly, I have never seen anything quite like it. The size and shape of an egg, with a cut (though not at all deep) right down the center.

I checked his eyes, responsiveness etc., grabbed an ice pack, and then started calling for backup. I couldn't get my sister, Tori, at first, but I reach my dad, and told him to get to the house asap. (I found out later he'd been in a meeting in Brentwood for all of about sixty seconds, but he came on anyway.) Tori called back almost immediately, and I think she heard my voice and got in the car before she even knew what was going on. 

The first family member home was actually, Vasya, our nineteen year old, "almost brother," and I could tell by the look on his face that I needed to get to the ER. Vas later said that he had never seen a bump like it, that it was at least 1/2" off Will's face, and that it looked like a second nose! 

Aunt Tori and Uncle Derek arrived next, with Tori helping me find keys, wallet, shred of sanity etc. and Derek managing Sophie, getting her ready to spend the afternoon at work with him. Both agreed we needed to check it out; then Tato (my dad) arrived, and the vote was unanimous. 

Meanwhile: Will stopped crying in short order, and by the time Vasya arrived was calmly drinking milk while I would collect my self, look at the "egg," and begin to weep like a wounded puppy. Poor Vas had just arrived at our house from out of town, by way of a big job interview and had no clue what he was walking in to! By the time Tori and Derek arrived, Will was even willing to go to other people, and I think was, perhaps, worried about his crazy mama!

By the time, we had Will loaded into the car, the swelling was beginning to go down, but after some debate, Tori and I decided to err on the side of caution, and Will had his first adventure in the ER.

In the end, Will basically had a very expensive popsicle (they asked me what color he would like...), and though I felt a little silly, I felt more relieved than anything else. Actually, the ER staff all said that though Will didn't have any of the serious symptoms -vomiting, dizziness, loss of consciousness, etc. - that with head injuries, it is always good to have kids checked out. Will thoroughly enjoyed his adventure, stretching out on the bed in the ER like it was a lazy boy, grinning at the doctor when he was checking his vitals, and impressing the nurses with his high fives! More than a popsicle, our ER copay bought me a great deal of reassurance. As the ER doctor told me, "He is your pride and joy! You should be cautious." Never have I been so grateful to feel a little bit silly! 

I seriously doubt that with "Wild Will" we have taken our last trip to the ER. (I started to ask if I could purchase a frequent visitor's card.) I saved his little hospital bracelet, and I plan to present him with a collection of them when he graduates from high school. My prayer is that all our trips will end the way this one did.

So, my lessons learned from our first ER trip... First, I need to work on my "crisis mode." I really think I was more upset than Will. Second, a crisis is way more manageable with the help. I am grateful that our first ER experience happened with my family as backup. Last and most importantly, I re-learned again not to take having healthy children for granted. I am so very thankful that all we have out of this experience is a bruise, a scrape and some some lessons learned. 

Note: I left the camera in Atlanta. Not that I would have ever thought of taking a picture, but I did think about it once the whole ordeal was over. I will take one when Matt brings the camera on Thursday, though Will's head is healing so nicely, I don't think there will be much to see!