Four
or Five years ago today, when Caleb was twoish, Tom and I were
getting the boys ready for bed. It was around 8:30p.m. so they were
already up past their bed time and were wired accordingly. They were
wrestling and chasing each other around the living room as I tried to
wrangle them in to get their pajamas on. Suddenly Ethan grabbed
the neck of Caleb's shirt and yanked him backward, straight into the
corner of the wall. Tom grabbed Ethan to discipline him and I
picked up Caleb and held him to my chest to comfort him as big tears
rolled down his cheeks. I put my hand on his head and gently coaxed him
to calm down. A moment later I realized my hand felt wet and I was
terrified as I removed it to see bright red blood all over it. It took
only a moment to find the deep gash in his head and realize that it
needed a hospital’s attention.
I
covered his head in a towel and rushed us to the emergency room where I
was sure a little thing like stitches would require a long nights wait.
But the ER was virtually empty and we were taken back within 15
minutes. It was awful to have to help the doctor and nurse hold my son
down as they stitched up his head. He cried and screamed the whole time,
even though they had given him local anesthetic. It was about 9:30p.m.
when he and I made it back home. After he went to bed I did too. That
was enough excitement for New Years Eve.
Fast
forward a few years later to today. When I got Vanessa up this
morning and kissed her face I thought she smelled a little, off. But I
didn’t think much of it. I got her dressed, fed her breakfast and then
held her since she was unusually cuddly. As I held her to my chest in a
chair she suddenly sounded as if she were gasping for breath and a
moment later I felt warmth through my jeans. I pulled her back and
another blast of puke erupted from her poor little mouth. She was
drenched, I was drenched and it was then that the off smell and the
unusual cuddliness made sense. After getting us both showered off I
checked her crib and she had indeed vomited in there during the night.
Now I get to ring in the new year with a sick child.
At least we ended both years with a bang I suppose.
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