Our son is now 19 months old. For all those who took the over on his first trip to the emergency room, you win. The over/under line was set at 18 months by our daughter. That is how old she was at her first of what has been four ER trips so far.
To be fair, one of the trips turned out to be unnecessary. However, when a four year old says her head really hurts and she feels sick hours after cracking her head on the floor earlier in the day, you make the trip even if you think it's nothing. Her first ER trip though, that was something.
When Caelyn was 18 months old she developed a fascination with spinning. I was in the family room talking to my wife on the phone while our daughter was in the adjacent living room spinning round and round. It was really very funny to watch. I was laughing about it as I spoke to Kerry. I was laughing right up until Caelyn lost control and fell like a stone on to the hardwood floor.
I told Kerry I would call her back and scooped up Caelyn. She buried her head into my shoulder, clutching me tightly. I tried to move her head back so I could take a look but she fought me like mad. I decided to carry her into the bathroom to get a look at her in the big mirror. It was then that I saw the blood.
My shirt was soaked with it. Caelyn had it all over her clothes as well. At that point, I forced her head back to look at her face. It took a minute but I found the cut. It was clean, almost like a scalpel and it was deep. Her chin was split open. I called the doctor who sent us to St. Barnabas. After a quick application of a large bandage, it was off on the first ER trip.
Caelyn calmed down in the car. By the time we arrived, she was her normal self. We checked in and waited for the triage nurse to take a look. For some reason, the children's waiting area was unavailable so we were in the main waiting room. This actually turned out to be a blessing as the man next to us really needed something to occupy his mind.
He was waiting for his son to arrive while his daughter-in-law was undergoing emergency treatment after being assaulted during a home invasion. Caelyn entertained the man, even putting a smile on his face by singing, dancing and climbing up in the chairs and jumping off. You would never had know that a short while earlier she was screaming as she bled all over the place.
We eventually got called in to see the triage nurse. They took a look, instantly knowing stitches were necessary. We were moved to a private room. A toy was brought in to keep Caelyn entertained. The toy was loud and repetitive (it's a Diego field journal) but it was just what was needed to distract Caelyn as more nurses and doctors came to look at the cut.
Finally it came time for the stitches. Anaesthetic was given in shot form to the chin. Shortly after the shot, I saw the backboard being brought in. Because of her age, Caelyn would have to be completely immobilized while the stitches were put in place.
The nurses laid the backboard down and I carried her to it. The nurses and I had to hold her struggling little body down while they wrapped her in what was essentially large Velcro straps. The straps covered most of her body, leaving only her head free. She tried to thrash around but could not. She screamed and screamed.
All I could do was talk to her and put my hand over the straps holding her down. A nurse held her head in place as the doctor sewed up the cut. When it was all over, they released her from the backboard and she clung tighter to me than she had before.
The stitches came out two weeks later. It was a tense couple of weeks. I was nervous each time she popped her chin. Caelyn would get hysterical every time we cleaned the cut. Then, one week to the day after the stitches were removed, my fear came true. She busted open her chin again.
This time Kerry was home. I took one look at the cut and we packed up and headed back to St. Barnabas for ER trip number two. This time, glue could be used to close the wound. So, instead of being strapped to a backboard, she could sit in my lap and the whole procedure was over before she knew what was going on.
Since that time, there have been two other ER trips. One for a hernia that required surgery (a story for another day). The other was for the above mentioned head crack. Somehow, given our daughter's personality, I think there will be more.
