First Trip to the ER

2 years, 5 months, 23 days, and about 20 hours... that's how long Little Miss Adalia Lea made it before making her first visit to the emergency room.

Today while heading up to take her afternoon nap, Addie tripped over the hallway rug and face-planted directly into the corner of the stairs. Erik says she cried for about 30 seconds and then handled it really well. He called me while at work to tell me what had happened and that he thought it looked pretty bad, but she seemed ok and had fallen asleep for her nap already. I assumed it wasn't that bad if that was the case and went on with my day.

After I got home Addie remained in bed napping for about another hour. When I went up to get her, she seemed a bit off and she wouldn't speak to me at all. I could see the scrape/bruise below her lip, but was afraid to open her mouth and take a look. I knew if it was busted up in there it might hurt her to open up. At this point I called my mom seeing what her opinion was. She wanted me to take her in, I didn't want to waste the money or time if it wasn't all that bad.. I mean kids get scraped up and I'm not one to run to the doctor for every little bruise. I should've known what she would say lol. Once I finally finagled my way into her mouth, I could see the gash was pretty bad. I decided it was time to take her in.

Addie and I headed off to the emergency room, Bethany in tow. It turns out it was a good decision. The doctor was a bit torn on if she should stitch it up or not as the inside of mouths tend to heal quickly on their own and stitches have a habit of falling out in there. She went back and forth for a minute, reluctant to stitch, but worried about how "flappy" it was. Finally she suggested we go ahead and stitch it and then start her on the meds. If the stitch falls out, it falls out, but it eased her mind. I loved how she kept looking at me waiting for me to make the decision. I know I'm the parent, but I was expecting her to tell me what she thought should be done for sure and then I'd say ok or not ok.

Adalia was an absolute champ in the exam room. She laid there peacefully on the bed while they felt around in her mouth and looked at the gash. I know she was in pain because she refused to talk and looked the part, but she was just such a trooper. The only time she cried at all was when one of the nurses held her head for the anesthsesia. The nurses were quite prepared for the worst as they had wrapped a sheet around her arms and held her head and shoulders. Addie got a bit scared when they grabbed her head, but other than that she was great. I reached up under the sheet to hold her hand and rubbed her leg with my other hand.

2 shots of anesthseia and 1 stitch later, she was good to go. The doctor and nurses were all amazed at how calm she was and how she handled the whole situation. They also said that she was so calm because I was so calm... (haha on the outside maybe, but my heart was breaking for her poor, big ol' sappy eyes) Actually I was pretty ok about the whole thing. It wasn't an emergency, and she was fine, just in pain and a cut mouth. (Bethy was more of a challenge to manage in there than Addie was!)

Addie was rewarded for her bravery with a trip to Wal-Mart and a new coloring book, some stickers, and some pudding. (Actually I bought up on pudding, jello, and ice-cream until I can figure out what other stuff she can tolerate in her mouth.. lucky her!! lol)

She finally spoke to me about 2 hours after we got home. But she's still mostly just nodding her head or using signs to communicate. (Haha! I knew they'd come in handy and weren't just for fun when she was younger lol!)