Nick's First Big Boo Boos

When I first found out we were going to have another boy, I thought, "Oh my gosh, how in the world am I going to handle having TWO boys?!?!" Max kept my hands full, to say the least.

At some point I consoled myself by thinking, "I'm sure Gummi will be chill and relaxed; he'll be happy to just sit and watch his brother bounce around him."

Boy was I ever wrong. It turned out that Max was just a warm-up for Nick...

Wednesday evening was going as smoothly as one could expect. Alex was home, the boys were playing with our babysitter for the final few minutes before she was to leave. I was making dinner and all of a sudden we heard a BANG! From past experience, I knew it was the futon ottoman that had been the point of impact. The subsequent cry made it clear that Nick had been the unlucky participant. I reached for the Elmo Boo Boo Buddy, and went to meet Leslie as she brought the injured boy to me. But quickly it became clear that it was not just the average bump on the noggin. Nope, there was blood coming from a decent gash above his left eyebrow.

Alex and I went into action, gathering the diaper bag and making sure Leslie could stay a bit longer. We went to the nearby St. David's Urgent Care and they were fantastic! The nurse, tech and ER doc on duty were so nice and caring, we couldn't have asked for better treatment. We were home in an hour and although the stitching part was certainly unpleasant, the popsicle they gave him at the end helped make it all a distant memory.

We went home, and I was relieved that we could get back to our normal routine. We played outside for a bit and then I decided to give Nick a quick bath - in case he picked up any germs at the Urgent Care. He had a blast and flopped around in the tub like a little fish. Just as I was about to pull him out of the drained tub, he slipped and bonked his head on the side of the tub. Both boys have done this many times before, but this time was very different. Horrific. The skin above his right eyebrow split open. It was a much larger gash than the first, and I was absolutely stunned.

We scrambled to find a neighbor to watch Max while I got a hold of our babysitter. Fortunately she was nearby and was able to come over to take over with Max while Alex and I took Nick to get stitches again. It was now 8:00 and St. David's Urgent Care was closed. So we went to the Emergency Room at Seton Southwest instead. They were busy, but not too bad. Once again, it was not a pleasant experience, but Nick was a real trooper and did great. It was hard to tell if he was soothing himself or responding to our humored reaction to it, but he kept repeating "All Right" throughout the experience.

At the end he was waving good-bye to the medical staff and charming everyone. He snuggled in and passed out cold in my arms. He slept all the way until the next morning at 6:30 (which is sadly for us, later than usual for him). It broke my heart a bit when he called out "All Right" as I transferred him to his car seat and again later when I gently laid him in his bed, both while he was still fast asleep.

Since then, he has been his normal Nick self - busy, active and adorable. He has touched his stitches a few times, but generally stops when we remind him that they have to be there for a few days. The first set of stitches were done with dissolving stitches, and will last 5-7 days. The second set are to be removed after 7 days, and we'll probably go to his pediatrician for that to be done. Hopefully the hardest part is behind us!

Now we just try to figure out how we can make things safer for him, or at least hope that his coordination will continue to improve so he will be less likely to fall and repeat this experience again! I'd love to think we'll never have to go through this again, but I'm realistic... my boys are a-c-t-i-v-e, especially Nick! Definitely not a "chill little brother"...