Accident Prone

The mouth bleeds a lot! I knew this before having kids, but I REALLY know it now.
My kids have all tried to outdo each other to prove this fact. Among these experiences, this one stands out at the moment:

About four weeks ago, Benjamin fell out of the car straight onto his face. I watched helplessly, knowing I couldn't possibly get there before his face met the black top. As I darted around the back of the car and lunged forward to catch him, he fell head-first from our Suburban door. In the back of my mind I really thought he wouldn't escape major damage and knocking out a few teeth. I was amazed to find, after I stopped the bleeding and cleaned him up enough to assess the damage, no broken bones and no damage to his teeth. His nose was scraped underneath and bleeding and his gums were bleeding. Also, his teeth had gone into his bottom lip (but not all of the way through luckily) so his lips were also bleeding. Benjamin's poor lips blew up to triple their size, they were so swollen. Sadly it took awhile for his mouth to heal because he hit it two more times which brought on a lot more bleeding and discomfort.

So, like I said, the mouth bleeds a lot...............

BUT from what I can tell, slamming into a table with your forehead and slicing your head open to the skull bleeds a lot more. Thank you, Benjamin, for introducing me to the phenomenon of squirting blood. Last night, at seven pm, our house looked like the setting of a slasher Halloween movie.

All of the kids were chasing each other around our family room when Benjamin tripped (or was pushed) and fell headlong into our kid's craft table. I had just gotten everyone into their pajamas, herded them into the family room for scripture study, gathered up their dirty clothes and headed toward the laundry room to drop the clothes into the washing machine. I heard a thud, but that isn't unusual at our house. Benjamin's screaming (which, sadly, is also not unusual) mixed with the quiet from the rest of the kids (which is VERY unusual) made me quicken my pace back to the family room. When I rounded the corner into our kitchen, I saw Benjamin lying on the ground with his face covered in blood. I could see blood squirting and dripping from his forehead onto the carpet. He was trying to get up from the floor and as he sat up I saw that the blood was all over his clothes and around him on the floor. I was surprised his wound had been able to bleed that much so fast. I immediately wished I had RUN in to gather him in my arms as soon as I heard him scream. Guilt washed over me as I ran and scooped him up and took him into the kitchen toward the sink looking for a cloth. I needed to wipe the blood out of his eyes, nose and mouth first of all. I hugged him to me, telling him he would be fine. While I was approaching the sink, I recognized that a clean rag would be better and turned back around only to find a major blood trail. I ended up lying him on the table and using a rag to put pressure on the bleeding. For a split second, I was trepidatious to look at the split in his forehead underneath the growing blood spot on my rag because blood makes me sick and weak--something I dislike about myself. Mark, my quick thinking calm doctor-husband, was not at home and before I could even fully form any thought the reality that I had to exude CALM sunk into my mind. I didn't think about it, I just uncovered his forehead and carefully examined Benjamin's head. I looked at the split in his forehead and could see fat, tissue and some skull. I knew it would need to be stitched. I got the bleeding to slow way down and then called Mark to come home (luckily he wasn't in surgery but had left clinic a few minutes early to head to the church for cub scouts since he is the wolf den leader). I tried to calm the other kids who were still staring and mumbling about all the blood, then cuddled Benjamin, still putting pressure on his head, as I carried him to our neighbor's house and asked my kind neighbor if she could come over while I went to the hospital. She needed a minute to pull herself together but came over shortly after Mark hustled in through the door about 15 minutes later.

As soon as Mark took over with Benjamin, I just had to deal with our new carpet. I started cleaning the carpet which just seemed to spread the blood around, but I worked until it didn't seem to be spreading it any more. I moved quickly wiping blood from the kitchen floor and cupboards so that the kids could walk through the kitchen again. It was taking longer than I had hoped. Those of you who know me well, can probably just picture the frantic cleaning that went on. Mark told me a few times to forget about it and get in the car. I just needed a minute to clear a path. My neighbor, shortly after she arrived, urged me out the door with Mark and Benjamin by promising to attend to the carpet and when we left she was reading bedtime stories to the rest of the kids (she is a first grade teacher). I owe her not only for putting the kids to bed, but also for cleaning the remainder of the blood from the carpet.
Mark and I drove to Dearborn so Mark could sew up Benjamin's head on his own at Oakwood Heritage Hospital where he works. Benjamin sat calmly in his car seat (he was in shock). Every once in a while, I would turn to wipe blood from his forehead, but he took it in stride. The drive felt long to me and I couldn't stop thinking about how Mark had to drive that every day. It was my first chance to see the hospital. Isn't that sad!? Mark had just finished his ER rotation and knew the staff there, so they let us in the back door, gave us a room and a nurse even came in to help. Benjamin didn't really need to be held down. He was so brave. I was proud of my Mark as he stitched up the cut. It was the first time I had seen him stitch. I admit, I asked Mark a few times on the way to the ER if he thought maybe a plastic surgeon should sew up Benjamin's head. It was a real confidence booster for my sweetheart, so I made myself stop and put my full confidence in his abilities (after his almost four months of internship:)) and wiped the thought from my mind. Mark did a good job! Benjamin will have a nice size scar in the middle of his forehead because it was a good size cut, but he is a boy and it will just make him look tough. I am taking good care of it and hope that will help.

I am still finding blood spatter in the kitchen (under the cupboards on the mouldings etc.). I am so grateful that Benjamin is okay (something much more serious could have happened). How cool is it that Mark has the ability to stitch up his own kids?
That is really going to come in handy!

Oh, how I love this little accident prone child!