more on raising protecting surviving boys~

Warning: Photos of a happy, but somewhat bloody child ahead.

Fair warning.

We've been very blessed around here that we've had very few trips to the ER. And only two of those events involving stitches. For some reason we've had a pile of medical stuff this year, Moriah's eye, Anna had pneumonia, she injured her foot, Caleb jumped off the roof, I had the hemorrhage, Glen and Anna diagnosed with Celiac, but in ten years of parenting, only two sets of stitches. Involving boys, Caleb and Ethan, of course..

So, my Monday morning starts off pretty normal. We're doing a little more cleaning than usual since Susie, my midwife, was coming over. We were all helping clean up, with the kids taking turns playing with Haven while the rest of us worked. Well, someone, who shall remain nameless :o) got slightly sidetracked with his (or her) turn being responsible for the little guy, and next thing I know, Haven has slipped and hit bumped cut split his head wide open on the fireplace hearth.

Now, most of our kids have bumped their heads before with no major problems, but he must have hit it just right. Anna scooped him up as she usually does (she's a little Mommy when it comes to Haven), and I went about my cleaning. A few second later, I hear, "Mommy! Mommy! MOMMY! He's bleeding really bad!" So I rush over, and I can't even tell what is really wrong as his face is covered in blood, and is eye is completely filled with blood. You couldn't even see his eyeball. It's a good thing blood doesn't bother me or we all would've been in trouble..

So I rush him off to the bathroom, get a washcloth, and press it onto his wound the gaping hole in the middle of his head. Seriously. By this time I can tell that's the only injury, his eye is fine, but he has what is literally a hole in his head. All. the. way. to. the. bone. I can see it and the split itself is a good half inch wide. And it is really disturbing. I'm okay, like I said, blood doesn't bother me. When I was younger, anatomy was my one of my favorite subjects and there were several years I wanted to be a surgeon, so I was okay. My kids on the other hand were freaking out.

I sat down, called Glen and told him he needed to get home. He was only a half hour away, so I left the kids here with Caleb (yay, Caleb!) and took Anna with me to take care of Haven in the car. I found out later that Caleb had all the kids pray for Haven after we left. I think that is my favorite part of the story :o)

By this time, Haven is fine. Completely fine. Except that you can practically see his brain. But you know, other than that. He's laughing, talking, playing, and climbing in and out of chairs despite the fact that every time he smiles blood continues to run down his face. No problem, he just wipes it away. Seriously, the kid has blood smeared all over the place, but he thinks he's on a grand adventure. We get to the ER, sign in, and here is this happy, curious little boy investigating everything in the place while sporting a hole between his eyebrows. He seems to have no pain whatsoever. In all seriousness, I completely give all glory to the Father who I know caused the bleeding to stop quickly, alleviated his pain, and was watching over the little guy the entire time.

Here are a couple of the pictures that aren't too bad.

Let's go guys!
Where's the party?

This is after the triage nurse cleaned him up a little.

So, three hours later, and some stitches that weren't exactly the highlight of the day, he taps out in the car before we even pull out of the parking lot. He took a good nap, but went on to play completely normally the rest of the day. He didn't even need Tylenol. What a trooper.

I knew I shouldn't have put off taking Christmas card photos. That's okay, I was kind of looking for an excuse to not worry about them this year.

Now, if we can just figure out how to convince Moriah that he really is her brother and not a monster baby, we'll be just fine.

(And in all fairness to the un-named responsible party, it really was one of those things that probably would have happened anyway. Don't worry, no children were spanked, disciplined, or yelled at in the unfolding of this story. ;o)

So...

Parenting Tip #12

Although not pleasing to the eye,

fireplace hearth guards are a good alternative to stitches.