Emergency Room...Never a Dull Moment Tuesday

Yesterday was a very rough day to say the least.  I was stretched in more ways than one.

First, I am going solo while John is working long distance.

Second, Julia and I have been sick all weekend, and Julia's cold really kicked in Monday night at around 2:45 she started crying and saying she didn't feel well.

Third, Mark had a bad fall in the basement and got his thumb stuck in the tv table and when I picked him up he got a bad cut all around his thumb.

By 8 am I was a mess!  I knew I needed to shower, find a sitter, go to the doctor, skip my Ladies Bible study class, and tend to a sick daughter and hurting son.

Thank goodness for a group of friends who were praying for me and over me and helped me pull it together as I arranged for my MIL to watch Julia and my FIL to help me at the doctor's office.  Mark was in a lot of pain at this point.  I knew something was wrong with his thumb and wasn't sure if he broke it or needed stitches.  All I knew was that every time I went near his thumb or tried to rinse or ice it he cried bloody murder.  I felt so bad for him.

My pediatrician is awesome and Mark actually asked for him the minute I picked him up from the fall.  He asked for Dr. Shih and Daddy.  (we won't say how horribly insignificant I felt at the moment, all I wanted to do was make him all better, and crawl back into bed and go to sleep.)  I made a 10:15 appt and the nurse told me to get there by 10 so she could squeeze me in early.

Dr. Shih felt the back of the thumb should get 1-2 stitches.  He suggested we go to St. Peters.  He said this was his personal opinion but that the hospital would know best what to do.

Well we went to St Peters right away and got there around 11:30...we didn't see a doctor til around 1:45...we then had to get x-rayed.  Right after the doctor cleaned the thumb (I swear she looked about 25!) she immediately said it was not deep enough for stitches.  I was relieved that we wouldn't have to papoose him, and put him through the pain of stitches but after waiting so long I felt like why couldn't they have looked at us sooner.  The ER was so full, I've never seen so many patients waiting, and most of them were infants and toddlers with high temps, eye infections, and bad coughs...get me out of there...germs were everywhere!

We were finally discharged and allowed to go at around 2:45.  I can't tell you how many songs I sang to Mark while we waited...Itsy bitsy spider, Jesus loves me, the more we get together, stirring and stirring my coffee, Blues clues, Dora songs, anything to make him smile...he didn't start smiling til about 2:30 and by then he told me he wanted broccoli and noodles for dinner and white donuts for lunch (poor guy hadn't eaten all day).

My FIL had to leave at around 1:10 for a meeting...I was a little afraid to do the stitches papoose thing by myself, but God worked it out that I didn't have to.

The hero of the day was Grandpa Jack by far.  He was with us at Dr. Shih's office, the hospital, the car ride, Mark kept asking for him as we left the hospital.  And I was so lucky to have my MIL come right over and babysit while Julia rested at home, they got dressed together, did hair, played dolls, painted nails and colored together.  And Mom made sure Julia got her meals and napped all on schedule...she's awesome!

By the time I got home at 3:30 Mark needed his nap (he got his white donuts on the ride home) I had to re-charge my phone and had about 6 missed calls, texts, and voice-mails, not to mention a gazillion emails.  I had to eat something before I passed out, call John, give attention to Miss Julia, feed the dog, and just sit down for a minute and breathe.

The in laws left around 4pm and Julia and I started dinner while Mark napped.  After dinner we did bath time and Mark let me take the band aid off and washed his thumb in the tub no problem.  He was so brave today.  I was so very proud of him.  The only time he cried was when the doctor cleaned his thumb with a bandage and water because it was so tender.  Other than that he was so patient and so still.

Grandpa Jack came over around 7:30 to check back up on Mark and the kids screamed when they saw him.  They were so happy!

I learned several things today:

1. I need to slow down.  I do too much in one day and am always going, going, going, and this is how accidents can happen.

2. I realized how blessed I am to have family so close and so willing to help me at a moment's notice.

3. I also realized that the power of prayer got me through a very scary time on such little sleep.  God was with us every step of the way.  He knew what was going to happen.

4. Toddler boys are very prone to accidents...and I need to panic less and praise God often.

5. I don't want to go to an ER again...EVER! But if I am sent there for some reason I know who I can rely on!