Last week RCW was out of town, again. I've gotten pretty good at the single parenting thing with the boys and the pups. But one thing I'm not good at (yet) is first aid. I'm the kid who never had a broken bone, never had stitches. I married a man who probably went to the ER every other year and that extended well into our courtship and marriage! Our boys are rough and tumble. Our dogs are high energy. We've also encouraged the two to interact. Thus begins the story of last Wednesday afternoon.
I was feeding E his afternoon bottle. C was happily playing on the floor in front of me. At some point he decided he wanted to play with Sonny, our youngest male husky. These 2 are buds and play together often. C throws a ball, Sonny chases it. Sonny chews a bone and C grabs for it. On this particular afternoon they decided their game of choice was tug of war with a rope toy. Unfortunately, C was on the losing end of that game. He fell and hit his chin on the corner of his IKEA table. Now, C falls a lot. See above, he's rough and tumble! This time though, he was screaming bloody murder. He wouldn't get up. He just sat on the floor, screaming, crying and I saw his chin was bleeding.
Video of C and Sonny playing.
Not the Wednesday in question, but just to give you an idea of their friendship.
E had just finished 6 ounces in a matter of minutes. He hadn't burped yet, but C needed his momma. E's car seat was sitting right beside us on top of the dog's cage where I left it when we'd come home from our morning out and about. I immediately put E in the car seat so he'd be semi upright to help his reflux issues and went to C. I scooped C up and rushed him to the kitchen counter where I grabbed ice and paper towels for his bleeding chin.
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I then started speed dialing RCW. Did C need stitches? Did I need to pack up everyone to go to the ER? How do I know when a cut is bad enough to need stitches?! RCW wasn't answering his cell. After the 5th or 6th time getting his voicemail, I called our pediatrician. My question was, "My toddler fell and cut his chin, HOW do I know if he needs stitches?" The nurse's response was, "Take him to local children's hospital, they'll have glue to use, not stitches. Good luck. Bye!" That was NOT the answer I needed. I did not want to load everyone up if C didn't need stitches. I called RCW again. Nothing. I started texting him pictures. Nothing. I called my very best almost sister in VA who had dealt with stitches on her little a couple years ago. Nothing. I called a very dear momma friend in TN with an 18 month old little boy. Nothing. I tried RCW again. Nothing. I was about to call my brother who had just taken my nephew for stitches last week when I remembered I had a work cell number for RCW.
I dialed and a man answered. I was 99% sure it was RCW and I just went off a mile a minute. "Where were you? Does C need stitches? He fell. It won't stop bleeding? Why didn't you answer your $!*%ing phone?! Help me, help me, help me!" Somewhere in a far corner of my head I wondered if it was RCW who had answered as their work cells are pretty communal. Thank goodness it was my hubs!
He apologized, his personal cell had been switched to vibrate in his pocket. He looked at pictures and said C didn't need stitches. Then he said I'd been making the situation worse by constantly putting ice and paper towels on and off of it. I wasn't letting the blood clot. During the good 15 to 20 minutes of trying to find someone to tell me if he needed stitches, the cut never stopped bleeding, which was what was freaking me out the most. He said to get a bandaid on C's chin, turn on an episode of Bubble Guppies and put pressure on his chin and call RCW back if it had bled through the bandaid after the 20 minute cartoon.
I scooped up C and headed back into the living room. During all of this E had been quiet. I mean, he was cooing and making his baby gurgles, but never once cried or fussed. At some point during all of it, I actually thought to myself, "Thank God E is behaving right now so I can take care of C.".
As C and I turned the corner back into the living room this is what I saw...
Yup. My quiet happy 3.5 month old was hanging off the edge of the dog's cage by his head. (!!!!!!!) No, I had not strapped him in. He often sits in his carseat and hangs out. Actually, he does it 2-3 times a week at MyGym. Had this ever happened before? No. Nothing like it. Now I was really thanking God and counting my blessings that E hadn't fallen to the ground. E and I had someone watching out for us that afternoon! RCW doesn't fully believe E did this on his own. RCW's theory is that one of the dogs jumped up to look at him since he was sitting on top of their communal cage and tipped the seat and then E wiggled, scooted and kicked his way toward the edge. We'll never know what happened, but I'm just glad this Wednesday afternoon didn't end up at the ER with a bumped baby head, or worse!
After I snapped a picture, I mean come on, I had to document the little dare devil's antics or no one would believe me, I got E settled into a safer seat while I tended to C's chin. By the end of our Bubble Guppies episode, all was well with both boys. E was ready to cuddle and drift to sleep and C was rocking a bandaid on his chin and back to playing. And this momma learned not to trust E in his carseat on top of anything without being strapped in and what constitutes stitches or not! Just a fairly normal day around our house!
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