Trip to the ER

Late Sunday afternoon, Jonathan had his first major (we have had LOTS of minor) injury.  The kids and I were getting ready to leave for church, when Jonathan fell and hit his head HARD on the rocking chair in which Kellen and I were sitting.  Seeing him fall and hearing the smack, I knew before I even picked him up that I was going to see a lot of blood.  And I was right - head wounds BLEED people! 

I immediately plopped Kellen on the floor, picked up Jonathan (who had blood everywhere), quickly assessed him, and ran to the bedroom where Jeff was napping.  I very LOUDLY (he had in earplugs) awakened him, telling him I needed his help, Jonathan was hurt and that he needed to get up NOW,  put on clothes QUICKLY, grab Kellen, and take us to the hospital.  He sat up and said, "the sippy cup is on the counter".  Guess he thought I was freaking out about a missing sippy cup :-)  

Jeff stayed very calm and cool.  I on the other hand was loud and bossy.  My adrenaline was up and I was ready to leave for the hospital RIGHT THEN!  I didn't think Jeff was moving fast enough, poor man, and I kept telling him multiple things to do.  I calmed and quieted down once I was able to get the bleeding to slow down.  Jonathan was fighting me as I tried to hold pressure and tried to look at the cut.  I was able to get a glimpse of the cut, but couldn't keep him still long enough to see how deep it was.  I could tell that it was fairly long and that it required a trip to the ER.  Jonathan kept crying for his Boo Boo Bear - which I finally got out of the fridge and let him hold.  We put a pressure bandage on his head, loaded up in the car, and headed out to Children's Hospital.  The drive was rather uneventful, our bandage appeared to have stopped the bleeding, and Jonathan calmed down and was happy as a lark as he munched on some of his favorite snacks that Daddy thankfully thought to grab on the way out the door.

On our way to the hospital.  I tried to wipe as much of the blood as I could off his face and hands with wipes, but there was still quite a bit on him.  And that would be crumbs all over his mouth - that boy loves some snack food!

After arriving at the After Hours Clinic at Arkansas Children's Hospital, they immediately send us next door to the Emergency Room - apparently you have to call ahead and have an appointment for the After Hours Clinic, and they aren't well set up for stitching.  We went through the questions and paperwork for ER, and were placed in a small curtained off area to wait for a doctor.  A resident came in to see us, removed the bandage, and we saw this.  It just looked like an ugly scratch!  Wow, didn't look nearly as bad as I had thought it was!  I was almost embarrassed for bringing him in.  The resident thought he could glue it, but went to find the attending doctor to make sure they agreed.

A few minutes later, after our little wild man was crawling and moving around the bed, it looked like this.  Turns out it was pretty deep!  The resident returned, looked at his head,  brought in an overseeing doctor, and everyone agreed that he needed a few stitches.

They put on two bandages with numbing meds for 20 minutes each.  We were so thankful they had Barney and Bob the Builder movies for us to watch!

The stitching process was quite traumatic for our little guy :-(  It took the overseeing doctor, a tech, and myself to hold him still (and he was still moving ALOT) while the resident sutured him.  The resident was also named Jonathan, and was very nice, but boy was he shaking (I don't think the poor man had sutured many kiddos before).  I know the residents have to learn on someone, but I must admit I really didn't like it being on my child.  

Jonathan thoroughly enjoyed a popsicle, we got some directions on how to care for him, and we headed home.  He hit his head a little after 5:30, we arrived at ACH about 6:15, we arrived back home at 10:15, got Kellen in bed by 10:45, cleaned blood out of the carpet and clothes, had Jonathan to bed by 11:30, and Mommy and Daddy to bed around midnight - it was a long evening!   

Sporting his circus bandaid and eating frozen strawberries the next day.

The big boo boo :-(  We were told that if Jonathan ever decided to split open his head again, to try to make sure he did it horizontally.  Apparently your skin heals better horizontally than vertically.  We were also told he will have a nice scar, that it will fade some with time, and that there really isn't anything we can put on it to help with the scarring (Anyone out there disagree and have any suggestions on what to put on it?).

Still just as happy as ever :-)

And just as busy as ever :-)

There were many things concerning the incident for which we can be thankful

• That the injury wasn't worse than it was!  Four stitches is much better than fifty!
• That I wasn't home alone with the kids when it happened.  I am so thankful that the Lord allowed Jeff to be here with me.
• That the kids and I were already getting ready to head out the door for church - so shoes were on, diapers were changed, bellies were full, diapers were packed, etc. 
• That we were able to get the bleeding stopped and Jonathan calmed down for the car ride.
• That Kellen was super sweet and content for the entire 5 hour ordeal!  She slept very well once we got her home and in bed :-)
• That our wonderful Care Group was praying for us.