By the time we'd gotten underway to the hospital, the bleeding had stopped but the gash was deep and gapping so we knew he needed stitches. Luckily, I was able to leave Julianne at home with my parents, brother, and Libby and Sean. I didn't want to leave her but I realized that Oliver needed me more at that moment than she did. So, I went with him. At Children's Hospital, the kids in the waiting room were so, SO sick. I was very glad they had a separate waiting room for inured children because I would have had a panic attack in the other room.
Oliver's head had stopped bleeding when they took him into triage. First, they told us to take his coat off and to set him on the scale. He did not want to do that so he slapped himself in the forehead, causing his wound to break open and bleed everywhere again. He spent some time screaming and flailing around while they numbed and bandaged his head. The stickers they gave him were a good distraction, though. We went back to wait a few more minutes before they got him back to his room.
I'd say our wait was only about 30 minutes total before we were back in our room. We saw the doctor and, as we expected, he determined Oliver would benefit more from stitches than from glue, since it was a cosmetic concern on his forehead. He quickly observed how Oliver would react when he was made to do something he didn't want to (more flailing and throwing his head back), and suggested a sedative medication. We agreed to try to help him to calm down and hopefully lay still while he was being stitched. He got the medicine and we had to wait a good 45 minutes for it to kick in. He nursed for a good portion of that time and his eyes were rolling but he wouldn't give in to sleep. He also got very upset when he was not nursing. We kept him distracted, laying in the bed, watching Caillou on our phones.
When the time came for the actual stitching, it was pretty awful. The nurse held Oliver's head, Daddy held his legs down and I was by his body. They used a long, folded sheet to wrap his arms up so he could not use them to fight off the doctor. To say Oliver was pissed would be an understatement. I have never seen him so mad. He was screaming, sweating, saying "No! No!" and "Done. Done". It was pitiful. It took all three of us to hold him still while he was getting his stitches. It felt like an eternity! I hated hearing him scream like that and was scared he was going to make himself sick from getting so upset. I had to remind myself he was just mad at being messed with and held down. The doctor had tested whether the numbing gel had worked so we knew he was not in pain. It took 7 stitches to close the wound. We have to keep the area dry for 7 days which means some crazy looking locks in the meantime ;)
We have seriously had an eventful few weeks and I'm hoping things slow down now. In case you're concerned Julianne starved while we were gone, no worries! Aunt Libby nursed her until we could make it back home! :) We were only gone about 3.5 hours, which wasn't too bad, considering it was an ER visit. Once we were allowed to leave, Oliver was SO HAPPY to be outta there. He was loopy from the meds and he was happily waving and saying, "BYE!! BYE!!" to everyone around. Everyone stopped what they were doing to see us out and to wave back to Oliver. It was pretty awesome. Then we passed the nurse who held his head and he quickly threw both arms out as wide as he could for a big hug. It was seriously sweet. They had a big hug and she remarked that they had made up. It was a good experience for what it was and we're glad to have Children's so close by for these kinds of trips. There really is a difference in care there. I'm glad Oliver's experience ended on a good note.
Since then, he's told me the story in his jibber jabbery toddler talk, about a hundred times. The words I can make out are "boo boo, wall, and ouch"with a lot of other words thrown in there. I'm glad that's behind us but I had to share the story of how the scar came about, so we remember it in the years to come.
xoxo,
One Tired Mama
No comments:
Post a Comment