Saturday morning, Emily scored her first goals. We were all so excited! Saturday evening was also going swimmingly. It was 6:50 and almost time to call it quits for the night when I heard a lot of running and giggling. Then there was a big bang and some crying. It wasn't a screaming cry, it didn't sound too bad, and it was over pretty quick. A moment later, there was excited chatter, the fun was going to begin again. But, it didn't. Instead I heard, "Mama! ... Mama!" I started walking to the stairs, asking, "what?" It seemed as if I wasn't moving fast enough because there was another, "MAMA! Come here!" As I rounded the corner of the hallway, Daddy stepped off the bottom step, holding Emily in his right arm and holding her head with his left. She was calm, he asked for a first aid kit. I just kept asking, "What happened?" Emily wasn't crying, Daddy seemed a little panicked, and I was so confused. Then I saw it too... the blood. As Emily sat on the kitchen counter, she wasn't crying, until she figured out that there was blood everywhere. AND there was blood on her Cinderella top and skirt!!! OH NO! We assured her that it would be okay and she seemed confused as to where it was coming from. Truth be told, I REALLY wanted to take a picture. But, I waited until she was undressed and I had wiped up some of the blood.
(And I did take a picture of her soaked Cinderella neckband after I took it off and put it on a crumby plate.)
It took a minute to undo her french braid and reveal the source of the blood. A straight horizontal cut.
We discussed whether or not to take her in. I called our pediatric urgent care and the nurse said they could clean it up, assess it, and send us on to the ER for stitches if needed. We chose to go there instead of straight to the ER. Emily's biggest concern on the way to the doctor was whether or not she was going to have to get a shot. That is when she started crying again. But, she gained control and focused on her favorite thing... that her hair, with the red blood in it and the french braid waves, looked like Merida's!
When we arrived, there was Snow White playing in the waiting room and when she was having her wound cleaned...
she had a Disney character alphabet to focus on.
It was as if they knew Emily was coming! She was calm.
Everett was calm too AND happy to be out past bedtime. But he wanted to be in some pictures too so he gave a big "smile"...
and held his head very still for the side shot (since OBVIOUSLY, that was the favorite angle of the night).
A few moments later, the doctor was in and irrigating her wound with a high pressure water rinse.
It was painful and Emily's tears came back for a moment before she got lost in her costume magazine.
The verdict, after cleaning it up and having a good look, was that he was going to have to put in two staples. So, they applied a numbing cream and left for 10 minutes to let it take effect.
Ten minutes to worry about what was coming, stare at the staple gun,
and staples.
Emily went back and forth between tears and calm. She might have considered running out but we were at the urgent care which means, high doorknobs. No escaping.
Emily chose to have Daddy hold her during the staples but the worst part BY FAR was when Daddy and the nurse had to hold her down, hard. That was terrifying for her. And the staples... well, she certainly didn't like them.
She cried and yelled, "I'm all done! I want to go home! Ouch!!!!!!" But, as soon as it was over, she was scooped up in Daddy's arms and calmed rather quickly. Then, on the way out, the nurses (who thought she was sooo brave) welcomed her to take a couple of things from the treasure box!
And then we left. When we pulled in the garage and got out to walk into the house, Emily looked up and saw "the evening star" (Princess and the Frog reference). She said that she had to make a wish on the evening star like Tiana. After making her wish, I asked her what she wished for and she said, "I wished to never go there (urgent care) again."
Once inside, we had a good look at the FOUR staples,
cleaned the blood out of her hair, and went to bed. The next day, she was totally normal but we gave her some extra treats. Like, a movie before nap (complete with a towel to protect our couch from her Neosporin covered head) which Everett also got to take part in for a few minutes.
(Note that she was back in her Cinderella gear - blood free. I cleaned it all out while she put her shoes on to go to the doctor. I knew that when the pain was over, she would be most distressed by not having her costumes.)
And after nap, Daddy gave her a mani/pedi.
She was quite happy and pain free!
That night at bath, we fully washed her hair (carefully) and all was well.
The only time she complains about her staples is when she accidentally brushes her head up against something or when Everett bumped her head. I thought she would be a lot more sore! Her other big worry is whether or not they are going to fall out or be pulled out when putting clothes on or taking them off over her head. We go to have them looked at on Friday. They will most likely be pulled out then but if not, we will have to go back a second time. I have heard that it doesn't hurt at all but I think the anticipation will be pretty painful. Thanks to everyone for their concern and the phone calls to check on her! Let's not ever do this again.
