Head Trauma

There's a certain expectation that one has upon becoming a parent that you'll become an expert on bandaging boo-boos, icing aches, hugging away pains, and generally stomaching all sorts of bizarre kid accidents and injuries.  But knowing the fastest way to get to the emergency room because you've taken your one-year-old there twice already was not something I, personally, was prepared for.

Saturday morning began like any other, or maybe even better!  Natalie decided to sleep in until 8:00.  Jackpot!  I got her out of bed, brought her downstairs, and we were making breakfast, discussing our plans for the beautiful day.  Nat was playing in the cabinet below the counter I was working at, when all of a sudden, BAM!, she fell backwards into the cabinet, hitting her head just behind her ear on the edge of the cabinet (right where it makes a sharp angle).

The injury was about what I expected.  A 3.5 inch long straight line from where she hit the cabinet, and a pretty huge knot right behind her left ear.  We iced it, and she stopped crying pretty quickly (the kid is one tough character, no kidding).  Then we proceeded to eat breakfast and everything appeared to be fine.  Until about 20 minutes later, that is.  Natalie got really fussy and started crying, and desperately struggling to get out of her high chair.  Eric took her, but it was clear she wanted me, so she stumbled around the table to my side (at the time I didn't think much of the stumbling because she was still crying, but it comes into play).  I picked her up, and she proceeded to throw up all over me, her, and the floor.  Super.

I thought this odd, but then thought that perhaps it was a touch of a virus that she might have contracted from kissing kids at her play date the day before.  When we marched back upstairs to change her clothes, she immediately laid down on the floor of her room, and closed her eyes.  Crap.  Never in her 14 months has she voluntarily laid down like that.  I changed her as fast as I could, pulled up symptoms of concussion on the internet, and called the pediatrician.  They instructed us to go the emergency room right away.  But, then Natalie perked up a little.  We decided to watch her a few minutes.  She hadn't tried to walk since the stumble around the kitchen table, so we conducted a balance test, and tempted her across the room.  She didn't take the bait, instead wobbled in place a bit and threw up a second time, all over herself, me and the floor (noticing a pattern here?).  After a second change of clothes for the both of us, we high tailed it to the emergency room, me in the back with her trying to keep her awake in the car.

Long story short, the cons of exposing a kid unnecessarily to radiation a la a scan of her head far outweighed any diagnostic benefit since she never lost consciousness (thank god), and wasn't showing any other or worsening symptoms.  She did act like she was going to throw up again, so we hung out in the emergency room for about 2 hours, and were eventually sent home.

 Nat was restricted to clear liquids only until dinner time--try explaining that to a starving toddler.  And we were told she might be sleepy all day.  If by sleepy, the doctor meant, Natalie would only try to climb the stairs a dozen times and empty the cabinets twice, then yes, she was "sleepy."  We had to watch for additional symptoms of head injury, and try to keep her quiet.  Ha!  Only if the discharge plan included a straight jacket, I wanted to tell the doctor.  And, finally, we were instructed to wake her every 2 hours throughout the night, just to make sure she would easily rouse.

By 3:00 I couldn't take Natalie's throwing herself at the pantry, and gave her crackers, then toast, then a cup of milk, and finally spaghetti and another cup of milk.  She was acting like herself, just a little off balance.  She did fine throughout the night, thankfully, and only had a tough time going back to sleep once.  We were thrilled to find her just like herself this morning, maybe just a touch on the tired side, but then, who wouldn't be after we pestered her all night?

The ER doc referred to her as "Evel Knievel" during her stay.  I thought that was pretty funny, but trust me when I say that if a motorcycle and fleet of buses find their way onto her birthday list this year, fun's over!

We did decide that she will be wearing the bike helmet she has until she's 80, or we're both gone, whichever comes first.  This will serve two purposes as far as I can tell.  1. No more head injuries, and 2. No dates!  ha ha.  Nat was none too thrilled:

Here's the peanut napping in the ER: