Big Owie

Who would guess that you could snap some of the cutest pictures of your little girl just before you buckled her into her car seat and headed to the emergency room for a little impromptu visit? Not me. You would never know from looking at this photo that Brynn had moments before suffered the biggest 'owie' of her life. In fact once it happened I knew all my other plans would be swiftly tossed aside in favor of some major time downtown at the hospital. No fun at all. Upon first glance of the picture, you might not even notice that Brynn is proudly showing off her injury. It's hard to see past her happy smile and spy the tight band aid on her left middle finger.Yesterday morning, with her just out of my line of sight from the computer room, my little monkey girl, who is as swift as a cheetah and agile as a cat climbed up on the kitchen counter, opened the cupboard and retrieved a hidden steak knife that was tucked behind the stack of plates. Just like Mommy, she placed the tomato from the basket on the counter and sliced it up to eat- all by herself. Yikes. Not only did she chop up the tomato, but deeply sliced her finger tip as well. Double yikes!!

It is never easy to see your child hurt in any way. It is terrible to know they are in pain. It's not fun to see Kaitlyn pitch in, grab a rag and wipe her sister's blood off the floor, while Rich applies pressure and I cuddle her on my lap wrapped in her blanket. It's awful because you wish you could have avoided the whole situation. BUT while some things could truly have been adverted by a very watchful eye, accidents happen. Especially with kids. They are part of this mortal life. And you just have to live and learn. Both Brynn and me. Well, all of us really.

Also, I felt very, very blessed that it happened when it did. Just like Trey's broken arm, the timing of it all was quite remarkable. Rich was home when it happened (10:15 AM), he didn't have to be to the hospital until noon. He was on call, but the afternoon service he was on was flexible allowing me to meet him and he could stay with us while Brynn was worked on. I was grateful that she only cut one finger. I know how much worse it could have been. There are so many blood vessels and tendons that could have been injured and they were not. We were lucky that one of Rich's fellow residents completed a residency in ER and was able to take a peek at Brynn's finger before we checked in. And the best part of our hospital visit was finding out the pediatric ER doctor on call just happened to be our good friend Dr. Craig Carter whom we met back in September 2006 when Trey and his daughter were on the same YMCA soccer team. Rich has worked closely with him over the past 2 1/2 years and he was on call just three weeks ago when Trey broke him arm. We were all in good hands.I put the girls in the stroller and made our way from the parking lot to the hospital where I met Rich. We went down to the ER call room where Rich has spent hundreds of hours over the years. Within minutes we had an evaluation and were moved into a room with window that overlooked the construction of the new hospital. It was perfect. The girls were entertained by the action outside while the nurse took Brynn's vitals. Soon we had a room full of great people: Dr. Carter, Brian Hamon (ER doctor and radiology resident) Rich, Kaitlyn and Brynn. The mood was light and relaxed. When the ER doc/radiology resident took us back and looked at her finger he thought it needed at least 4 stitches and an X-ray. Dr. Carter had other plans. He hoped that a good dose of Dermabond (glue) and a split 'might' do the trick. I was a torn woman. I am a 'fix it and forget it' type girl. I always have a 'do it right the first time' mentality. I wasn't so sure I wanted something that had only a 50/50 chance of success. But then I looked at Brynn's sweet face, so content in her stroller and Rich's nods in agreement with Dr. Carter and knew we had to give it a shot. So after a vial of glue had been layer on top, a bit of padding, some bending of metal and a few inches of tape, Brynn was nearly as good as new. Plus she LOVED the 5 baby dolls and darling bracelet (admittance band) that she got to take home. Such prizes!Brynn was a trooper. This photo show the most worked up she got. Dr. Carter said she was in the 'zone.' And he was right. She just sat there still, silent and let the nurse take her temperature, the two doctors look at her finger, clean it and dress it. It was a miracle since she is my child that never walks, but runs. She just never sits still. Dr. Carter was amazed at how well she did and I told him it was because we said a prayer before we left. In actuality, Rich gave Brynn and blessing and I know through the power of prayer and faith Brynn really was strengthened through this ordeal. After her first initial scream, she calmly let us hold her finger, put a band aid on, bathe and dress her, do her hair (that never happens!), and was sweet, subdued and happy. She swallowed the Tylenol without any fuss and kept stating, "my finger hurt." While Kaitlyn chanted, "Brynn. BIG OWIE!!" They both were correct.Kaitlyn patiently sat in the back seat with her new prize: a big mommy and baby bunny Dr. Carter gave her.Dr. Carter was so fast and efficient we were in and out in an hour and half. That is very unheard when visiting the ER. I grabbed some pizza on the way home for the kids. I hadn't let Brynn eat or drink since she got cut just in case they needed to sedate her. She was well ready for some lunch. I was very happy to be on time to pick up these handsome devils when school got out. Note the flowers (weeds with flowers) in Matt's hand. He picks them for me everyday. My little sweetheart!Brynn was unfazed. She was happy enough to play peek-a-boo while we waited for the boys.Of course she HAD to change her clothes when we got home (this is Brynn we are talking about) but allowed me to help her (very rare) and actually stayed dressed the rest of the night. Very nice.Here she shows off her finger. Kaitlyn got too close and Brynn told her, "No touch my owie!!"I did have to do a bit of work on the split. An hour after we got home from the hospital, the splint was pulling off her finger. This wasn't helping my confidence in the Dermabond. We just need Brynn to leave it alone and keep it dry for at least three days for the glue to work. So I added LOTS more tape and Brynn didn't mind. In fact, it hasn't slowed her down one second. (Is that a good thing?) She can still suck her thumb. (Another possible negative?) And she has left it alone and dry for the first 24 hours. She just walks around telling me, "Knives scary. My finger big owie." Yes sir!The end of crazy, busy and yet blessed day. Brynn stayed a bit later with me until Rich finally got home from the hospital. All the other kids were in bed and Brynn fell asleep on the couch. After I took this photo I pulled her in my arms and held her tight until we both fell asleep. When Rich woke me up and carried Brynn up to her bed I realized that scary times and difficult events make us love our kids and family even more. Sometimes I don't know if my heart can get any fuller with love, but then it stretches to make room. It's a remarkable thing. A remarkable and amazing and wonderful and precious thing indeed.