(This was the "Mommy, don't take my picture" moment.) We were celebrating Noah's first birthday at his party at our church building. There were kids running all over the place in fellowship hall and had been for a while. Most of the adults were helping to clean up. Many guests had already left. I was in the kitchen helping to clean up and our friend, Matt, brings Charlie in, crying and pouring blood from his forehead. Apparently, he had tripped and hit one of the locks on the bottom of the doors as it was closing. Daniel had been walking around with Philip while he slept so he didn't see it happen either. I remember my stomach sinking at sight of Charlie. But, I jumped into action as any mom would, consoling and applying pressure. Just from the look of it, I knew it was going to be his first trip to the ER. Everyone who was still at the party kept telling me I needed to take him to Scottish Rite which is the Children's Hospital in Atlanta instead of taking him to Kennestone which was much closer. Daniel and I had trouble deciding but ended up driving on down to the Children's Hospital. We were both glad we did. They were equipped with TV's with kids' movies, extra TLC, etc. They had this really cool sculpture in the front lobby which was made up of many tracks that balls rolled down. In a snake's mouth. A chicken dumps them out. Bouncing off a platform and landing in a basket. Those were just a few. We had trouble getting Charlie away from it to go and see the doc. We were first taken back to the "injured" waiting room. the movie on was Mater and Lightning McQueen so Charlie just got comfy in the little chairs. He had his feet propped up and everything. Cut? What cut? :) We were relieved though that he was so comfortable there. When we got back to the actual room, we did end up having to wait a while. The doc came in within about 10 minutes but they had just put the numbing gel on Charlie's forehead and he said it needed to stay on for about 30-45 minutes. So, he said he would return. Yeah, I knew what that meant...an hour later and numerous visits from nurses, techs, etc., the doc returns but tells us that the plastic surgeon on call was going to come in and do Charlie's stitches. More waiting. There was a TV in the room but the movie "Sleeping Beauty" had come on and Charlie couldn't have cared less about it. There was basketball on one other channel. Thank you March Madness! I did have my wits about me when we arrived and I grabbed Charlie's bag of football guys. Boy, was I glad I did! These came in quite handy while we waited in that little room.
In with the surgeon came a lady who she said it was her job to play with the children while they have their stitches put in. Her title on her nametag was "Child Life Specialist". I thought it was kinda cool that there was such a job. I'm sure that's not the only thing she does though. She really tried but Charlie was skeptical at best. She tried books, and a spinner thing with lights. The Toy Story book attracted him for a second but he was on to her. :)
He was a champ though while they put his stitches in. He got four stitches...right above his left eyebrow. The stitches were the kind that dissolve so no need to go back to have them removed. I was thankful. The first thing Charlie asked after his procedure was, "Can we go see the balls?" Stitches? He didn't care about stitches or the trauma he just went through. He wanted to go see the balls. Wish we, as adults, could write stuff off that easily. :\ And, yes, we went back to the sculpture. At this point, we were doing whatever he asked for.
And, if you're wondering where Philip was in all of this, he was at home with his Kathy being loved on, fed, bathed and put to bed. We immediately called her when we decided to go to the ER and luckily, she was home. We dropped him off at her house, handed her a key to our house, and thanked her and Terry endlessly. Looking back, we could have taken Philip with us but it was just better for all involved that he go on about his usual schedule.
So, ER...check. Stitches...check. We survived. I'm thankful it wasn't any worse than it was.
Charlie has been sporting some new bandaids. He went through a whole box of "Cars" bandaids with Lightning McQueen and Mater and various other racecars. He is now on to a box of "Toy Story" ones. It has been hard to convince him he doesn't need a bandaid anymore now that his stitches are gone. Who woulda thunk it? He's been obsessed with having a bandaid on it. To the point that I think one day, I changed it four times. :)
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