Monday, January 29, 2007

What a night...

I will start off by saying I am WIPED OUT so please excuse any gramatical mistakes!!

We made another trip to the ER last night and still haven't fully recooperated!!

Yesterday afternoon (around 1:45) JD and I were at the kitchen table eating lunch. I had finished and was in the laundry room (which is right next to the breakfast area) and JD was in his booster seat (which is strapped to a chair - it's a tall bistro table so he sits like 4-1/2 feet or so off the ground) finishing up. He got his feet wedged between the chair and table and kicked off, sending the chair straight back with him strapped in. Of course, we have very hard tile floor (it's old tile with a million grout lines). I saw the fall but couldn't get to him in time - but managed to trip over the laundry basket and take a spill myself. He started SCREAMING immediatley!! There was no blood or bump, which made me nervous. I called my mom and sis-in-law and asked them what I should do. They are my "go-to-girls"! Afterall my mama's raised three kids, one being a complete accident-waiting-to-happen, so she's seen her share of emergency rooms. Aylie has two little ones so is a little more up-to-date on her info (no offense mama). They both said to keep a good eye on him for a while, but if he seems alert and didn't loose conciousness then he's probably fine. I held him forever and he finally calmed down. He seemed okay besides being a little shook up but was pretty coherent and able to answer simple questions (what color is this, what does a chicken say, where's your eyes, etc.). I kept him awake as long as possible (it was naptime already) and then finally let him fall asleep.

He woke around 4:30 and was fine all afternoon. He played like normal (maybe not quite as wound up) and was fine for several hours. Around 6:30 we got ready for dinner and I sat him at the table but he didn't want to eat. I let him get down and he played a bit more and then layed on the couch. Around 7 I checked on him and was gonna give him his vitamins when I saw how red his eyes were and could tell somthing was wrong. He immediately vommited (a bucket full) everywhere and then did the same a few minutes later. I knew this was a sign of a concussion so I kept watching him. I called my mom, Tim, and Aylie again. From then on he was pretty out of it, not lethargic but very out of it. He kept staring off and just layed on the chair in a daze.
He didn't want to take a bath and wouldn't eat or drink anything.

Jimmy and I decided to take him on in to the ER. We got there around 8:00 or so and got through triage quickly. He threw up 5 more times while we were there. They did a CT, which was a NIGHTMARE - JD SCREAMED the entire time. I don't know how my mom did it with Shannon so many times. My heart was just breaking for him. They had to mummy-wrap him in a sheet and then strap him to the table. He kept crying, "Mama Mama, hold you". After 4 or 5 attempts they let me take him back to the room, only to come get us a few minutes later because the images weren't good enough. This time it was daddy's turn - I couldn't take any more. Once the CT scan came back (30 minutes later) the didn't see any swelling so that was good. However, JD was still throwing everything he drank up and kinda in and out of it still. One minute he'd be taking and the next he'd been a complete daze with his head on my shoulder. They wanted to transfer us to Hermann Children's Hospital in the Medical Center downtown. They were going to do a second CT scan and continue to mointor him there, but in case of an emergency there would be a pediatric neurosurgeon on call (do you have any idea how SCARED I was). They advised us not to drive him and let the ambulance take him so they could continue to monitor him. Only one of us could ride with him, so Jimmy followed behind. They strapped me onto the stretcher and let JD sit in my lap. This of course was JD's favorite part and the whole time he kept saying, "Wow...lights". At one point we were talking to the EMT and driver and I asked JD, "Did you get a bobo on your head today?" He said, "Yes...No, No, No Chair...Be nice!!" It was soo cute, he had us all laughing at this point!

Once we got there is was another mess. Of course we weren't PRIORITY b/c JD wasn't bleeding or anything. For the first 45 minutes he SCREAMED for juice. We got several rude stares from the nursing staff - I was NOT happy. We were sharing a room with a 3 year old girl that had broken her leg. I've never had a broken leg so I never really knew what went on. Apparently her's was pretty bad. We got to watch them drill 2 bolts (with a yellow Dewalt drill) into her knee and then cut them with huge orange steel cutters. It was awful, this poor tiny girl! After an hour wait a doctor finally helped us let JD have so juice - PRAISE THE LORD!! He eventually trew that up as well. They did another CT at 3 a.m. (6 hours after the original) so poor JD was tortured again. After an hour of waiting we got the results. There still was no swelling, which was such a relief. It took so long for them to come and talk to us that I'd already assumed the worst. They sent us home (at 4) and told us we'd need to bring him back if he continued to throw up. I don't think I've ever been so relieved to strap my sweet boy in a car seat!!

JD woke up this morning around 10:45 and was just perfect!! He was my wild child all day today, making up for loss time!! He also had his mommy wrapped around his little fingers all day! He never threw up and ate a little better. I think he told his first fib as well. He was sitting in the kitchen coloring while I messed around in the kitchen. I heard him say, "All done" and knew he got up. A few minutes later I went over to clean up him markers and found a top with no marker attached. I went looking for him and found him in the office coloring the walls!! That little turd told me he was all done so that he could color on the wall!! I wasn't even mad, I was so happy he was up and moving around!!!

So as you can imagine, the last 36 hours have been a nightmare. I was soo scared. It's funny because as much as you want to protect your children from every bump and bruise, it's such a reminder of how much you NEED and LOVE them. I've never doubted this with JD, but it was a friendly, okay...more like a awful, scary reminder to not take a minute for granite!!!

1 comment:

Amanda said...

Oh my gosh, Stephanie, that is crazy! I can't believe all that happened! I almost started bawling at "Mama, mama, hold you." What a rough day for all of you! I'm so happy he's okay now.