The Johnson Journal: First Trip to the ER

Before I start, I would just like to say that I specifically titled this post as the "first trip to the ER" because I have no doubt there will be more.

If you know my kids, it wouldn't be hard to guess which one had their first trip to the ER this morning. Hannah is fearless, thinks she's as capable as big brother and is always pushing our boundaries for her. This is also no surprise if you know Hannah.

So, this morning I'm taking a shower (actually half way through shaving one leg) when Troy comes running in yelling at the top of his lungs, "Get out of the shower now!" I didn't understand the urgency until I saw the blood. It was all over the top half of Hannah's pj's and on Troy's arms. Needless to say, the shower ended rather quickly. Hannah had fallen/lost her balance/ran backwards into the fireplace and had a puncture wound in the back of her head. Troy and I quickly came to the conclusion that I would be taking Hannah to the ER.

After gathering a few necessities, Hannah and I were off. I have to say that Hannah calmed down fairly quickly after I got out of the shower and seemed perfectly okay. She didn't seem bothered that there was a hole in the back of her head--she's one tough kiddo. So we get to the ER and check-in. Thankfully, we were the only ones there and we were back in a room within 5 minutes. After a few triage things, the doctor comes in, cleans off the blood a bit to get a better look and says she needs staples. I have to say I cringed. He explained that to numb it would take 3-4 sticks and the staples would only be 2 so numbing it really wasn't worth it. I cringed a whole lot more but agreed.

The doctor and nurse leave the room for a few minutes and I tried to prepare myself for major screaming and tears maybe on two fronts. When they came back, the doctor thought it would be best for me to lay down on the bed, holding Hannah tummy to tummy while the nurse held her head. The screaming and wiggling started immediately as I knew it would. It took what seemed like an eternity for the doctor to get positioned to put in the staples--I'm sure it was no more than a few seconds. And then he put in the staples. And I have never, never heard a child, mine or anyone else's, scream like that. I managed to keep it together and not cry but I was shaking for sure. Hannah was a trouper but seriously she broke some blood vessels in her face because she was screaming so loud and hard. She again calmed down rather quickly and we were able to leave a few minutes later.

We got home to a worried dad and brother but after some hugs and tylenol Hannah seemed to be okay. Of course, she was fussy and it seemed if she moved her head the wrong way it would bother her but I was impressed with her overall resilience. Grandma and Grandpa H. stopped by with a balloon which definitely brightened her mood. But Hannah still did want extra mom time and snuggles but that's understandable. She didn't eat a very good lunch, also understandable, and I wasn't sure she would be able to fall asleep on her own for a nap but she did. Hannah slept for almost 3 hours and was pretty grumpy and whiny when she woke up, again understandable. Grammy was here by the time she woke up and that seemed to cheer her up a bit.

The rest of the day went fairly well and she's now sleeping away. I have to get up once during the night to check on her just to make sure that everything is okay although there have been no indications of a concussion up to this point.

I am still cringing when I look at the back of her head and see the 2 staples. It's completely unnatural and not at all normal especially for an almost 20 month old. I'll be very glad when they are gone and the wound is healed.