...we spent over seven hours in the emergency room last night because he fell three or four feet on his head.
I've been paranoid because Nate hasn't been eating very well over the past couple of weeks - he eats for a few minutes and then gets upset and cries. We borrowed a scale that reads in ounces (our bathroom scale's just not detailed enough). So we weighed him before he ate and then afterwards popped him back on the scale, which was on our kitchen counter. He squirmed around a little and the scale tipped over, sending Nate headfirst onto the counter and then through the passthrough onto the dining room floor, which is hardwood. We were both standing on the other side of the counter, so we couldn't reach him, but we both saw everything happen.
We totally freaked out, but he was at least moving around and crying and we were able to semi-calm him after a few minutes and get to the ER pretty quickly. They did a CAT scan and found out that he has a fracture in the back part of his skull, but no signs of bleeding, concussions, etc. Apparently, your head is much like your toe and if you break it you don't do anything, so they sent us home with some children's tylenol and told us to watch him. We ended up getting home around 1am, and needless to say, we are all quite tired today.
If you saw Nate, though, you would have no idea that he had a traumatic evening, forget about a broken bone. I don't know about you, but if I fell off a counter, I'd be pretty ticked off for at least a couple of days. At least Nate will have a good excuse later on in life - "My parents dropped me on my head when I was a baby." He seems completely normal (he was checked out again today by our regular pediatrician who said, "he looks great.") and was laughing and playing. Thad and I, on the other hand, look (and feel) like we were in a war. We both feel like total [insert curse word of your choice here] for not being more careful, cautious, etc. According the ER staff, this kind of stuff happens all the time, but we still feel awful, and pretty shaken up.
He seems to be on the mend and no worse for the wear, but we'll let you know if anything new comes out of this ordeal. Other than the fact that Nate is not allowed off the floor for the rest of his life. Or at least until he's 18.
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7 comments:
I'm not sure if you will take this as a good sign or a bad one...but...I had a similar head injury as a child. Look how well I turned out :)
since dads in boston- im going to come over and beat up that scale and floor! i hate them!
I squirmed off a counter when I was 6 months old and broke my arm. J's mom dropped him, *and* he leapt/fell out of a carriage! And a friend's son fell down stairs at 9 months and they didn't find out till a couple of days later that he had broken his leg. All those stories just came to mind without much deep thought--it is indeed so common for these crazy things to happen.
Maybe he'll grow up to be a bungee jumper. :)
I feel a little better about Carolyn falling as a kid than about Steve -haha!
This was in my weekly email from babycenter.com today:
http://parentcenter.babycenter.com/refcap/preschooler/phealth/pfirstaid/66313.html
Let the grey hairs begin to sprout... What a traumatic experience - more so for you guys than Nate, I'm sure, given the supremely positive news from the doctors. Giving you a hug from long distance...
Ok so I have to tell you a story that will make you realize that you aren't bad parents! When my daughter was about a year and a half old, I was holding her hand walking her down the stairs. I stepped on a matchbox car that she must have dropped at some point and started to teeter. I grabbed at the stair rail with my right hand, and with the left hand grabbed for the wall...the left hand having been holding Genna's hand. Basically as I reached for the wall I THREW her down the stairs. I watched in extreme horror as she tumbled head over feet over head over feet from the very top of the stairs, all the way down to the floor.
Silence.
WAAAAAHHHHHHHH.
End result? Small abrasion on her cheek. That's it.
So, don't feel bad for dropping him. At least you didn't chuck him down a flight of stairs! Heh. I'm REALLY glad Mr. Cuteypie is ok though!
Oh, honey - I can just imagine how awful you felt! But everything everyone said above is so true - we're remarkably resilient creatures, especially when we're little. We have to be, cause sh*t happens. Take a deep breath, and kiss that sweetie for me! XOXO
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