The short story: Olivia got her finger smashed in her closet door while playing a previously forbidden game with her little brother. She fractured the tip, lost her fingernail, almost sliced the whole tip off completely, and got 8 stitches. She was a very cheerful girl through most of the day and is handling her new enormous bandage beautifully. We are very thankful for the power of prayer.
WARNING: EXTENSIVE JOURNALING BELOW CONTAINING ALL DETAILS OF A VERY CRAZY DAY. DO NOT FEEL OBLIGATED TO READ EVERYTHING. IT IS ULTIMATELY FOR THE SAKE OF MEMORY PRESERVATION.
Tuesday morning APRIL FIRST I was laying on the couch suffering from another migraine (5 in an 8 day period). Olivia normally only goes to Busy Kids on Thursdays but my friend Holly made arrangements to take her over with her little girl and to pick her up for me since I wasn't feeling well. At around 9:30 (when I was expecting Holly to show up) I heard a slam and a blood curdling scream. I knew exactly what had happened. They always play in Livi's closet. One of them gets in and the other stands outside of it while they forcefully open and close the doors. They have both gone to time-out for doing this very thing. I ran in to find Olivia crying with blood already all the way down her arm. At first glance my instinct was to hide my eyes and retreat! It was NOT pretty...but wait...I am the mommy, I have to fix it or do something!!!!!! I stuck it under some cool water, saw even more of the damage, grabbed the first clean cloth that I could find to soak up some blood, and then called Holly. Holly is an RN therefore I couldn't think of anyone I would rather be expecting to show up at any moment. I asked her how far she was and explained to her what had happened. She told me some things to do and most importantly assured me that Livi was going to be ok and that she was about 5 minutes away. I was hysterical...but actually I think that considering the blood, the mangled fingertip, and the fact that this was my little baby that I maintained most of my hysteria rather well. The ONLY positive side was that the adrenaline lifted that migraine for sure. I called Darren and asked him to come home which he was anxious to do. Mason was oblivious and just playing away.
When Holly got there my anxiety started to disperse. She knew just how to talk to Olivia and to me and exactly what to do. I felt such an overpowering appreciation for her at that moment. We decided to take Mason (who was still partially in PJs) to Busy Kids instead of Livi and that I would take Livi to the Urgent Care. Holly told me that it looked like she may have fractured her finger...OUCH! Olivia, despite all of the pain she must have been in was an angel really. She cheered when Holly brought her some Motrin over. In the car she was a little subdued but she stayed calm and even sang songs with me.
They got us into a room right away at the Urgent Care. The medical assistant was awesome. Olivia got a little anxious when he tried to look at her finger and soak up some of the blood that was still a comin'. So I started to sing the ABC's with her. She sang along and so did he. He was so good with her. I felt very blessed...my FIRST good experience at an Urgent Care!!!! YAY! When Darren showed up our little princess was so excited to see her Prince Charming! As he held her and the Doctor tried to explain to him what he had been explaining to me (that we should probably take her to the ER) Olivia was hilarious. When the Doctor would nod his head so would Olivia, when he made certain facial expressions Olivia would try to mimic him. I think maybe the adrenaline was acting as a drug for her at that point because she was kind of silly. THEN the assistant came back to dress her finger a little so that we could get her to the ER (a good 20 minutes away). Darren hadn't really seen her finger yet and at this point it looked even worse (if that is possible) because of the dried blood and stuff. I was filling out paperwork and then I heard Darren kind of gag a little. I turned to find him the same exact pale grayish white color as the yucky wall behind him. Luckily there were barf buckets in the room because he needed it! The guy got him right onto the bed and tilted him back to get the blood back into his head. If we had waited much longer I am sure that he would have hit the ground. His pulse and his blood pressure were way down...YIKES! At that point we decided that it would be best if Darren took Mason home instead of participating in the IV and stitches at the ER. So, all three of us ended up being treated at the Urgent Care as they had prescribed me something for my migraine. Wow, we were quite the crew in there.
Olivia fell asleep on the way to the ER, it was impossible to find a place to park, and I was getting nervous that the bandage was going to dry to her finger and be painful to get off if we didn't get there quicker. I finally found a spot in the back just as the helicopter was taking off. It hit me at that moment that Olivia WAS going to be ok and that we were still very blessed. Someone else was in need of Airlift and how scary would that be! We got to the ER and since this was a special ER just for kids we had absolutely NO WAIT to be seen and got right into a room. Olivia was very good during the X-Ray and really surprised me by holding very still and being very sweet. She even remembered to say "thank you" once they were finished and gave her a little stuffed bunny. In X-Ray they determined that yes the tip of her finger was broken...off in a couple of different pieces. That however is not a huge issue since it is the tip of her finger it will eventually just grow back together...I hope! The Dr. went over the process of a conscious sedation which was supposed to be better than putting her out completely but for some reason it scared me a little more since it would involve an anti-anxiety and a couple of other drugs. Dr. Cooper assured me that it was their most common means of doing extensive stitches and repair in young kids and that the risks were very minimal. We had to wait for quite a while to get going but I didn't mind. Olivia did mind though, she was hungry, and her finger was hurting, and she was tired. It was really starting to upset her whenever anyone looked at her finger. She finally fell asleep on my lap for a little bit. When they came to get her set up she was UNHAPPY and she let us know it! The IV was the worst. And she hated the monitors and the wires and kept pulling them off. Then they started the medication to sedate her and it worked SOOOOO quickly. It was kind of scary to see her go from being so active to literally just laying there. It was a fairly quick procedure and the Dr. and Nurses kept good conversation going probably to keep me distracted on purpose.
When it was over Olivia started to come out fairly quickly. Her first sign of awareness was when she looked at me and stayed fixed on me for a minute and then smiled this huge, crooked, drunken smile that made my day! She squealed, "oh, there my mommy!" The next couple of hours were actually so much fun. Olivia was hilarious. The nurses kept coming in to laugh at all the funny things she was doing and saying. She was the life of the party! She stayed on her bed and we played all sorts of made up games and pulled faces and ate that AWESOME hospital ice.
When we finally got home Olivia was overjoyed! She had been asking for her Mason all day so their reunion was a joyful one...luckily she doesn't remember who it was that slammed that door. I am very grateful to so many of our family and friends who offered prayers and help to us. So many people had called to see how Livi was and what they could do for us. The emotion of the day got to me last night as I watched her sleeping by me on the couch (I was catching up on American Idol). She could have reacted so differently to the day's events but overall she was an angel. I am sure that some of the pain that she would have felt was taken from her due to everyone's prayers and faith on her behalf. Being a parent is great but it sure has it's challenges.
Here are some pictures that I took with my cell phone while she was at her tired silly stage. Check out that HUGE bandage on her pinky...yeah that has been an adjustment today! Oh and I can't forget about the many MANY stickers all over her body!
Tuesday morning APRIL FIRST I was laying on the couch suffering from another migraine (5 in an 8 day period). Olivia normally only goes to Busy Kids on Thursdays but my friend Holly made arrangements to take her over with her little girl and to pick her up for me since I wasn't feeling well. At around 9:30 (when I was expecting Holly to show up) I heard a slam and a blood curdling scream. I knew exactly what had happened. They always play in Livi's closet. One of them gets in and the other stands outside of it while they forcefully open and close the doors. They have both gone to time-out for doing this very thing. I ran in to find Olivia crying with blood already all the way down her arm. At first glance my instinct was to hide my eyes and retreat! It was NOT pretty...but wait...I am the mommy, I have to fix it or do something!!!!!! I stuck it under some cool water, saw even more of the damage, grabbed the first clean cloth that I could find to soak up some blood, and then called Holly. Holly is an RN therefore I couldn't think of anyone I would rather be expecting to show up at any moment. I asked her how far she was and explained to her what had happened. She told me some things to do and most importantly assured me that Livi was going to be ok and that she was about 5 minutes away. I was hysterical...but actually I think that considering the blood, the mangled fingertip, and the fact that this was my little baby that I maintained most of my hysteria rather well. The ONLY positive side was that the adrenaline lifted that migraine for sure. I called Darren and asked him to come home which he was anxious to do. Mason was oblivious and just playing away.
When Holly got there my anxiety started to disperse. She knew just how to talk to Olivia and to me and exactly what to do. I felt such an overpowering appreciation for her at that moment. We decided to take Mason (who was still partially in PJs) to Busy Kids instead of Livi and that I would take Livi to the Urgent Care. Holly told me that it looked like she may have fractured her finger...OUCH! Olivia, despite all of the pain she must have been in was an angel really. She cheered when Holly brought her some Motrin over. In the car she was a little subdued but she stayed calm and even sang songs with me.
They got us into a room right away at the Urgent Care. The medical assistant was awesome. Olivia got a little anxious when he tried to look at her finger and soak up some of the blood that was still a comin'. So I started to sing the ABC's with her. She sang along and so did he. He was so good with her. I felt very blessed...my FIRST good experience at an Urgent Care!!!! YAY! When Darren showed up our little princess was so excited to see her Prince Charming! As he held her and the Doctor tried to explain to him what he had been explaining to me (that we should probably take her to the ER) Olivia was hilarious. When the Doctor would nod his head so would Olivia, when he made certain facial expressions Olivia would try to mimic him. I think maybe the adrenaline was acting as a drug for her at that point because she was kind of silly. THEN the assistant came back to dress her finger a little so that we could get her to the ER (a good 20 minutes away). Darren hadn't really seen her finger yet and at this point it looked even worse (if that is possible) because of the dried blood and stuff. I was filling out paperwork and then I heard Darren kind of gag a little. I turned to find him the same exact pale grayish white color as the yucky wall behind him. Luckily there were barf buckets in the room because he needed it! The guy got him right onto the bed and tilted him back to get the blood back into his head. If we had waited much longer I am sure that he would have hit the ground. His pulse and his blood pressure were way down...YIKES! At that point we decided that it would be best if Darren took Mason home instead of participating in the IV and stitches at the ER. So, all three of us ended up being treated at the Urgent Care as they had prescribed me something for my migraine. Wow, we were quite the crew in there.
Olivia fell asleep on the way to the ER, it was impossible to find a place to park, and I was getting nervous that the bandage was going to dry to her finger and be painful to get off if we didn't get there quicker. I finally found a spot in the back just as the helicopter was taking off. It hit me at that moment that Olivia WAS going to be ok and that we were still very blessed. Someone else was in need of Airlift and how scary would that be! We got to the ER and since this was a special ER just for kids we had absolutely NO WAIT to be seen and got right into a room. Olivia was very good during the X-Ray and really surprised me by holding very still and being very sweet. She even remembered to say "thank you" once they were finished and gave her a little stuffed bunny. In X-Ray they determined that yes the tip of her finger was broken...off in a couple of different pieces. That however is not a huge issue since it is the tip of her finger it will eventually just grow back together...I hope! The Dr. went over the process of a conscious sedation which was supposed to be better than putting her out completely but for some reason it scared me a little more since it would involve an anti-anxiety and a couple of other drugs. Dr. Cooper assured me that it was their most common means of doing extensive stitches and repair in young kids and that the risks were very minimal. We had to wait for quite a while to get going but I didn't mind. Olivia did mind though, she was hungry, and her finger was hurting, and she was tired. It was really starting to upset her whenever anyone looked at her finger. She finally fell asleep on my lap for a little bit. When they came to get her set up she was UNHAPPY and she let us know it! The IV was the worst. And she hated the monitors and the wires and kept pulling them off. Then they started the medication to sedate her and it worked SOOOOO quickly. It was kind of scary to see her go from being so active to literally just laying there. It was a fairly quick procedure and the Dr. and Nurses kept good conversation going probably to keep me distracted on purpose.
When it was over Olivia started to come out fairly quickly. Her first sign of awareness was when she looked at me and stayed fixed on me for a minute and then smiled this huge, crooked, drunken smile that made my day! She squealed, "oh, there my mommy!" The next couple of hours were actually so much fun. Olivia was hilarious. The nurses kept coming in to laugh at all the funny things she was doing and saying. She was the life of the party! She stayed on her bed and we played all sorts of made up games and pulled faces and ate that AWESOME hospital ice.
When we finally got home Olivia was overjoyed! She had been asking for her Mason all day so their reunion was a joyful one...luckily she doesn't remember who it was that slammed that door. I am very grateful to so many of our family and friends who offered prayers and help to us. So many people had called to see how Livi was and what they could do for us. The emotion of the day got to me last night as I watched her sleeping by me on the couch (I was catching up on American Idol). She could have reacted so differently to the day's events but overall she was an angel. I am sure that some of the pain that she would have felt was taken from her due to everyone's prayers and faith on her behalf. Being a parent is great but it sure has it's challenges.
Here are some pictures that I took with my cell phone while she was at her tired silly stage. Check out that HUGE bandage on her pinky...yeah that has been an adjustment today! Oh and I can't forget about the many MANY stickers all over her body!
Some of the funny things that came out of this little girls mouth that day:
Yay, the Dr. make finger better.
Oh NO! It break! (to the medical assistant about her finger...sad!)
Thas sas a good idea (said to the nurse about the way she bandaged her finger)
Oh MAN!
Oh Mayun! (a variation on Oh Man)
"Oh my" and "Oh, goodness"
Hey! It sixed! (fixed, she was way excited when she saw her finger all bandaged)
Oh no! There are spiders on my finger! (when she saw the stitches)
Look mommy a lady bug! (The second time she saw the stitches...?)
I a good girl.
I so happy (when she was coming out of the sedation)
Bounce Bounce Bounce (when she saw Tigger on the wall in X-Ray)
Yay, the Dr. make finger better.
Oh NO! It break! (to the medical assistant about her finger...sad!)
Thas sas a good idea (said to the nurse about the way she bandaged her finger)
Oh MAN!
Oh Mayun! (a variation on Oh Man)
"Oh my" and "Oh, goodness"
Hey! It sixed! (fixed, she was way excited when she saw her finger all bandaged)
Oh no! There are spiders on my finger! (when she saw the stitches)
Look mommy a lady bug! (The second time she saw the stitches...?)
I a good girl.
I so happy (when she was coming out of the sedation)
Bounce Bounce Bounce (when she saw Tigger on the wall in X-Ray)
6 comments:
So sad that I first heard about this on your blog - I wish I could have called you. I'm so glad everything turned out okay and that Livy did so well through her ordeal. You did good too! Being a parent is so hard, isn't it? Nobody told us. Good thing it's worth it! Love you!
We are so grateful for these silly kids. I'm glad she did so well. I am also glad that you did so well. It is amazing what you can do when you have to.
Good job Livi!!! I have to say that you (Livi) are SO tough! I myself have acted a lot worse in similar situations! But in my own defense- they NEVER have given me so many stickers! You must have been such a good girl!
Sally- Good job! I am sure that it was SO scary to see your baby girl so sad and hurt!
We love you guys!
I am glad that you are all ok. It is amazing what we can handle and the kids can handle when faced with a tough situation! Thanks for sharing...it is nice to know we all go through crazy things:)
Oh, that makes me cry that she said "Oh there my mommy!" coming out of the sedation. Don't you love to be the one to make it all better?
Glad she's ok, no more Migranes for you girl, that's no good. Miss you soooooo much.
Sheryl
Yay Livi! I can't believe how happy she looks in those pictures. Got to love good drugs (I know I do :)).
Little note about Darren - so not suprised about his episode (sorry Darren). When my Mom was telling me the story I saw that part coming. What is it with him and Kevin? Silly boys :) (in his defense, Blake about passed out when I was getting my epidural with McKenna)
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