Have you ever had one of those days where you wake up with the looming feeling that something bad is going to happen that day? So you start covering your bases, ie you double check your bank account and bills, you make sure your husband makes it safe and sound to work, you get an oil change and you make sure when you leave the house all lights and appliances are turned off, and doors locked. I don't have those days all that often, in fact I really can only think of two times in my life where I felt this way, when my water broke with Axel, and then yesterday.
So naturally, I started to panic that maybe my daughter was about to make her debut into the world, (even though we still have 6 weeks) I couldn't shake the suspicion that something not so good was about to happen.
And then it did, despite my efforts to double check all my steps, and to keep my family safe. Before I could blink, I was running out the door following my husband who was holding our screaming toddler.
So what happened?
We have a door in our Kitchen that goes to the pantry, and to the basement and to our really steep stairs and to the back doors. We are constantly trying to keep Axel away from those areas, but when he sees that door open, he bolts for it, either wanting to go downstairs, or to have some candy from the pantry or in this case to go skateboard outside. He has been so obsessed with getting outside lately, and suddenly our easily distractible tike has turned into quite the stubborn boy. Kory was trying to distract Axel with a piece of peppermint candy while I finished up the last part of making dinner.
But as Kory was closing the door, and it is a really hard door to close because it's old, and you have to kind of pull it tight to get it to close otherwise it just snaps back open, Axel tried to stop Kory from behind and his little pinkie finger got stuck in between the door and the jam. Kory turned around and said "we need to go the hospital" I could tell by the urgency in his voice, he was not joking.
(insert from Kory)
[I turned around to see why the door wouldn't close and saw his finger in it. I threw the door open and grabbed his finger to assess the damage and it flopped around like a bobble head and blood started pouring down our arms. That's when I realized electrical tape wasn't going to fix this one.]
Seconds later we were headed out the door on our way to the ER. I drove to the hospital through rush hour traffic while Kory tried to keep both me and Axel calm, holding a screaming Axel on his lap. Axel kept crying "you Ok!" over and over. (We totally pulled a 'Britney Spears' but there was no way we could have gotten him in his seat with out doing more harm, Kory could barely hold him on his lap, he was in a lot of pain, and didn't understand why we needed to hold his hand still to stop the bleeding) I am sure we were quite the site when we pulled up to the hospital. Axel was not wearing a shirt either because we were having pancakes and watermelon for dinner and watermelon stains shirts, its just easier that way.
But after a conversation with Kory's sister, who thought that was risky, how many of you would have taken the time to strap your toddler into a seat? (Keep in mind we are less than a mile and a half from the hospital). Little babies sure, because they are more cooperative, but even then, if you were worried they were going to go into shock I don't think I would have taken the time. (And yes I actually thought he was going into shock, but realized it was just peppermint candy mixed with drool, and not blood, but still when you are in the fight or flight mode, you just go) So I am just curious what you all would do? Or are we just THOSE kind of parents and too afraid to admit it?
I dropped off Kory and Axel at the ER, and then rushed back home to turn off our grill which was still cooking the last of the pancakes. The whole time balling my eyes out, and tailgating everyone in site. I got two birds, and a "what's your problem?". When I got home, I thought for sure that our dinner would be gobbled up by our dogs, but even they knew something was wrong and didn't even attempt to eat it.
I am not sure what happened to Axel or Kory during this time, but Kory said there were a lot of nurses trying to make him calm and happy and when I got to his room he had stickers a bear and a book, but was still very very upset. He was mostly upset because they took his shoe and put on a foot tag, and they had the audacity of taking his vitals, Axel has not been a fan of nurses lately.
But we quickly turned his tag on his foot into a pirate flag by drawing the jolly roger on it and he was much happier about that. We then attempted to read him his book, but it was really when he got to color on his book that he liked it better, and when we told him the lizard was a dragon, because he has been really into dragons lately because of a book he likes to read. We did some singing too, which helped him too. But really what REALLY calmed him down was when we started to flip through channels on the TV and we stumbled upon Sports Center. After that he just sat back and made himself comfortable. Which we were so glad because we were there for a really long time.
The Dr finally got to us after about a half an hour and he was really great at explaining what was going to happen and the next steps.
After about another hour Axel was taken back for an X ray. Because I am pregnant I wasn't allowed to follow them. But in a way I was thankful. It was hard for me to see him in pain. I knew he wasn't going to be cooperative for them. And he wasn't, but they got the x rays they needed.
He was upset about them taking his blood pressure
After the X ray they came in and prepared him and us for the surgery. They had to put him under because it was such meticulous work and there was no way he would hold still for them to work on it. They gave him a shot of something that sedated him, but didn't put him out out, he just kind of sat there on the table and stared off into space. (Did I mention this happened on 4/20? I'm just sayin...)
This is where he started to fade out...
But basically what they had to do was sew his skin back together, sew the nailbed back on, put his nail back in and then repair his cuticle, so that when the new nail grew in it would have a place to grow in. He said he may not have the prettiest nail but that this should prevent his nail from growing like up or out some other weird place. The bone was broken but not in a way that would cause any problem.
When the doctor finished he showed us the stitches and I was amazed he was able to make it look so much better. We don't have any before pictures or after sorry. But it was a mess.
The Dr finished just in time, Axel started to come to, but was still really loopy. Just trying to get his eyes to focus and such, the first thing he asked for was "water". Poor kid hadn't eaten or drank anything since 2 that day. (besides the piece of candy) But in this case it was a good thing because he didn't throw up, which a lot of people do. But he kept asking me for it, "Mama, Water?"
We had to hang out in the room for a bit longer as we waited for him to fully come to. I have to admit we got some good laughs out of it. Poor kid was soo hungry and thirsty but once he could hold his head up they gave him some water, he watched some more TV, and a commercial came on with fries (Probably one of his top favorite foods) so after that he kept asking for fries.
Waking up and all bandaged up
(Side note story, once upon a summer Kory had surgery, and the first thing he asked for when he woke up was a stake...like father like son)
He also kept saying things like "door" over and over again and "No No No" We got a couple good videos of him coming out of it too.
We came home around 9:30, so we were there about 4 hours total. He still couldn't walk on his own so we had to keep a close eye on him to keep him from getting more hurt, but he went to bed pretty easily that night.
On Thursday, he woke up and had a hard time adjusting to using his hand for anything, but eventually as the day went on he started to use it, and he thinks the wrapping is pretty cool, he asked us to put some more wrapping on his other hand to match.
Follow up appointment 4/22
Today we had his follow up appointment with a hand specialist to assess the damage and make sure his little pinkie was still in good shape.
Good news! The Dr told us the ER Dr did a great job and that it most likely will heal nicely. Worse case scenario he will have a funky nail the rest of his life. Also good news we wont have to change the wrapping as often as we thought. FEW I am so done with things messing up this kids nightly routine.
Bad news! We are back to ANOTHER round of antibiotics, to help it keep from getting gross and infected. Luckily tho it is only 5 days, but still twice a day. And even tho it is not ammoxicilian, (he's apparently allergic) it is still pink, so I am hoping he will like the flavor and be a good sport about taking it.
This is after I put the candy back in the egg and closed it... I still see this face daily...
Brunches lunches and day dates....
This is after I put the candy back in the egg and closed it... I still see this face daily...
Brunches lunches and day dates....
