I feel as if I’ve written this post before. OH because I HAVE, just with a different child.
This afternoon I was on the phone with a friend talking about kids, photography, football, breast cancer… you know, the normal stuff when I hear:
“THWACKTHUDCRASH” followed by the scream.
If you’re really lucky, you’ll never hear it.
It’s that scream that reaches down into the marrow of your bones and chills you from the inside out. The scream that sends every mom-sense you have into overload.
Into the phone, I said/hollered/scrambled; “I have to go” and threw it down onto the couch.
I was greeted with a screaming Monkey rubbing the back of his head and he was oddly covered in red.
It took a nanosecond that felt like a minute for my brain to register that the red was blood and his hand was smearing it from the back of his head to the top and back down again and that more was running down his back.
I snatched him up and ran with him in my arms to the bathroom
Where I lay him down face first, grabbed a towel, applied pressure to the blood, oh.my.good.giddy.aunt. the blood. the pulsing, flowing, flowing, gushing, blood pouring out of my son’s head. (I’m the one who is ALWAYS calm when there’s blood or someone’s injured, this time… I wavered really close to panic)
I wrapped him in an arm, pressed the towel to his head with the other and had my daughter call my husband.
“Come home NOW. Monkey split his head open and it’s a gaping wound and there’s so much blood, and it’s his head and come. home. now.”
My amazing 6 yo grabbed my purse, shut the front door and helped me get Monkey into his car seat. “Do NOT move. Keep your head pressed against the towel and don’t move”
Bless his sweet heart, he didn’t.
First, the closest medical place: a minor emergency clinic. Where I was told; without them even looking at him: “we can’t help you. go to a real ER”
I hit the ER and after a decent 30 minute wait, we were seen.
A lot of painful squeezing and pressing, some “special” soap and two staples into his skull WITHOUT any anaesthetic or numbing agents of any kind thankyouverymuch (because my kid is awesome); he was back to doing cartwheels, charming the nurses and doctors and showing off his Secret Agent Perry/Kung Fu Panda skills.
He has a bump the size of a big bouncy ball, two staples and I have blood trail through my house. He is quite recovered and as his pre-k teacher put it: “by Tuesday, this will be a fighting an Alligator story” (boy does she know him)
Nathan and I…. we may take a day or two to recover.
The offending chair and the fireplace
The hallway
The Towel
At the ER
His head
The Staples
I’ll tell y’all this much.. these were NOT the first pictures that I expected to take with the lens of amazingness that I rented for his birthday weekend.
Oh man, I have a fireplace now…
Oh mama.
I’m so sorry for your heart attack.
and SO HAPPY he’s okay.
pad. that. sucker.
and teach them with serious serious voice and eyes to NOT EVER lean back on two legs.
<3 you
thank you, mama. Me, too.
<3
..get two hinges, two short metal rods, mount those on the back of the chair so when child leans back the rods swing out and stop the chair from falling over. Or just burn all the d___ chairs and have them sit on the floor.
Oh. My. Word. How utterly frightening.
So glad you’re little guy is going to be OK.
Ow, Ow, Ow… poor Monkey! Glad he’s okay, I know how scary head cuts like that can be. Let him know that chicks dig scars.
poor little guy! the scream is always bone chilling to hear whether its your child or not (daughter fell when she was three and had to get stitches in her chin!) glad it wasn’t too bad and that he seems to be doing better from the sound of things.
I don’t ever look forward to that yell, hope I never hear it.
Glad he’s doing better!
Rachel,
I hope your Monkey is doing okay now. My little Monkey is known for his antics as well. Shortly before he turned one, the pet bunny we had at the time bit his finger and almost bit off the entire tip. We spent hours in the ER and they were able to stitch it up and save the tip of his finger. I honestly think it’s a boy thing because my daughter has yet to receive stitches or break anything **knock on wood** and she’s 10.
How horrible! I teared up at the pictures, I can’t imagine but I am so glad he is okay!
The only thing of any real value my mother in law ever told me was that head wounds bleed. Of course, didnt understand until i sat where you were tonight. Tell him auntie mr lady is getting him a brain bucket for his birthday. 😉 and maybe a mimosa or 10 for momma.
Oh dear. My tummy totally did flip flops when I saw those pictures. I know that yell of terror and pain and man, you are right, you hear it in your bones.
I’m glad Monkey’s okay. And I’m having a beer just for you. Cuz you’ve earned one.
xo
Ohh nooo…poor little guy. My husband has a scar under his eye from hitting his face on a fireplace when he was a wee one…
Oh! Every mommy-nerve in my body is tingling… So glad Monkey is ok…
Oh! Every mommy-nerve in my body is tingling… So glad Monkey is ok… I have heard the scream, but thankfully have not had to do the mad dash to the ER yet…
Oh! Every mommy-nerve in my body is tingling… So glad Monkey is ok. I have heard the scream, but thankfully have not had to do the mad dash to the ER yet… Of course now that I say that…
Oh man, I have a little boy that’s sent me running to the ER a couple of times myself, and this still made me shudder! I always thought people who bought all that padded stuff for their home out of the One Step Ahead catalog were ridiculous . . . and then I had a boy. So glad he’s okay. Has your heart rate returned to a normal number yet, though?!
I’ve been there, Mama.
I kept assuring (out of nervousness) my husband it wasn’t that bad…. and then he removed the towel from my son’s head… And oh, it was huge.
So huge that we left the house without shoes on our feet, and our boys only had on their pj bottoms- no shirts.
These boys are more than I could have ever imagined… and they scare me half to death every.single.day.
I’m so glad he’s ok.
That shaky, scared, not.in.control. feeling hurts a Mama. Snuggles make it better.
🙂
xoxox.
OMG! I almost cried when i saw the towel! I am NOT calm around blood. Poor Poor Monkey =( However, I am SUPER impressed that he got those staples without any anesthetic. Scary!! Is this my future, now that I have been blessed with a son??
Mindy, Princess visited the ER at 20 months after slicing open her wrist on a friend’s land, shredding through the tendons and nerves. She had to have reconstructive plastic surgery 3 days later.
I was impressed/shocked, that Monkey made it this long given his propensity towards crazy hyper wild exploring behavior 😉
I don’t know, all I can say.. padding. lots and lots of padding!
Oh Rachel, so sorry you had to go through this last night. Geez. I totally teared up reading the happenings and seeing your photos. But so glad that your Monkey is back to his normal self (mostly) and that nothing more serious happened.
I’m sure your fireplace is going to look lovely with the new padding you add 🙂 At this moment, I have to be thankful that we don’t actually have one here! I’m sure my almost 2yo daughter will manage to do something crazy though. We’ve had some close calls already. Then again, maybe she’ll take after her mom and not break any bones until she hits 30!
oh RACH! i’m so sorry. i can relate to the scream. when casey split his lip in half he was screaming AND my dad (a doctor!!!) was also screaming. talk about scary. wow, i’m so glad he’s back to himself already!
I love that kid! Glad he is ok.
OMG Rachel. My heart was racing as I was reading along. Holy hell.
And…oh…my…heck…head wounds bleed, don’t they? I remember my first one. Tiny little puncture, tons of blood. I’m so glad he’s okay and that he suffered no ill effects. I hope YOU recover soon.
Oh my goodness…poor little Monkey. Seems like he totally took it in stride though! And, glad they were able to fix him up!
(And, that scream…it’s the worst thing ever. It hurts your body!)
OW! So glad he’s ok. Spoil him with ice cream this weekend. 😉
So glad he’s okay. Hate head wounds! They bleed like a dang faucet was opened! Glad Princess was such a big help too.
Oh godness I got shivers just reading this. I’m so glad he’s ok!!!
OUCH!!!!! My son split his head open on Mother’s Day at a football game. I remember the sound, the blood (gah) and everything about that day. He’s now 12 and I tease him about that horrible Mother’s Day. His hair hasn’t grown over the staples (he got 2 as well).
I’m glad your little guy is okay. I’m glad the Princess was such a big help to you. My daughter was just a baby in a stroller. I almost left her at the field racing to the car. lol
I was not present when Braden split his head open. Of course I did receive a photo of him in the ER with bandages on his head. No words in the text. Imma leave it at that.
That is a lot of blood and I’ll bet you felt like all the blood was draining out of you, too! So glad he is okay, hon. The worst thing in the world is worrying about our kids being hurt badly.
xoxo
Oh Rachel, I have been there too, except we didn’t have to do staples…. same routine… paniced rushing to the minor emergency center, to be turned away and driving paniced to the ER, while blood continued to gush from my sons head! I’m so glad he is ok!! William loves his battle scare as I’m sure “monkey” will too. 🙂 Hang in there mama… our boys are so young… I’m sure there is more blood in our future for sure.
How terribly frightening for all of you to have to go through, especially your little and very cute *monkey*. Glad that everyone is getting back to normal and despite all the blood, screams and tears (and heart attack) it wasn’t even more serious. God looks out for our little angels. Your six your old *princess* was a real angel for you through this ordeal.
I’m glad your Little Monkey is okay.
Oh my goodness. I’m so glad he is okay! How freakin’ scary!
If cuts, pumps and bruises were wisdom, Monkey would be Yoda. Poor little guy! So glad he’s ok.
bumps. I meant bumps. Unless he wears high heels sometimes.
Wow that is a lot of blood, I don’t know if I would have stayed calm either. Seems like that brick fireplace gets lots of action. Yikes!
Man…you NEVER get used to that! I am calm till its over and then….WAH!!!!!
I am so glad that he is doing Ok!
WOW!! I know I would have been freaking out. Your son is a real trooper. I am glad to see he is doing great. have a bless weekend!!!
I am SO SO glad he is OK. That amount of blood is scary! Monkey will have awesome tales to tell at school, though.
Glad it turned out OK. Hugs Rachel!
OH MY I SO FEEL YOURS AND MONKEY’S PAIN. RAISED 3 BOYS MYSELF. HEAD BUMPS AND BURN I HAVE BEEN THERE. GLAD HE IS OK. MY MIDDLE SON SLAMMED HIS FINGER IN A CAR DOOR AND HAD 2 STICHES WHEN HE WAS ABOUT 3. I DON’T DO WELL IN EMERGENCY’S I FALL APART. LUCKILY MY HUSBAND DOES.
Oh my goodness, how scary! I am glad he’s okay. We have bricks and hardwood and a gas stove and things that we didn’t have with #1. I’m not looking forward to the day #2 starts crawling and walking…
My little one split open her head while I was at the Texas v Alabama game this January. NOT fun. She had three staples. Very gnarly situation according to Daddy- run in with the kitchen cabinets. We were lucky b/c the urgent care clinic is about a mile away and was able to stitch her up fine. Thank goodness it wasn’t my older daughter, who is more prone to the dramatics. We outlawed running and running with socks in the downstair level.