Subtitle: Untold (until now) Stories from the E.R.
What happens when you take this sweet, accident-prone, almost four-year-old . . .
and add this light post base right outside of Sam and Terri's church (which is so tempting for little boys to climb on)?
Yep, a visit to the local emergency room for for stitches!!
This was probably two of the worst hours of my life (Clyde likewise did not seem to enjoy himself much). After the beautiful baby blessing, we were leaving the church to go back to Sam and Terri's house when Clyde fell as he climbed down off the light post, splitting open his chin. He and I both cried uncontrollably (after I said a very bad word, which was absolutely necessary) as we headed for the nearest hospital. Quinn and Cody took baby Will to Sam and Terri's to be sweetly taken care of by everyone there while my mom and Heidi stayed at the ER with Clyde and me, both of us still sobbing as we waited in the exam room.
The absolute worst part was when they gave Clyde the medicine for the 'conscious sedation'. I honestly can't think about it without crying. It was so, so horrible to hold my baby while he gradually fell into this weird state of consciousness.
The nurse was really great; especially as the ketamine took effect with Clyde. I was seriously shaking (and trying to hold him somewhat still!) as I cried and she kept touching my arm and telling me how great I was doing. I wish I could have had one of my two favorite nurses, but Whitney was an excellent substitute.
When the doctor came in to do the stitches, I most definitely excused myself. Sam and Quinn had arrived for more moral support (thanks brothers!!) so I left Clyde safely with Sam, Grandma Pam, the nurse and the doctor. Quinn and Heidi and I went outside so I could get some fresh air and compose myself a bit.
Six stitches later, we were called back in. The nurse warned us that Clyde might be a little 'loopy' as the medicine wore off, but he did really, really well - possibly thanks to the ice cream cones that we treated ourselves to for surviving the ordeal.
Clyde's button up shirt and my nice shirt were both saved thanks to Grandma Pam following Connie's excellent tip about hydrogen peroxide getting blood out, but the white undershirt was a lost cause. Don't mind Quinn in this shot, it was tricky to photograph the wound without Clyde objecting so Quinner was trying to be sneaky :).
Clyde did SO well. He got a little grumpy in the evening, but it wasn't anything that some more Star Wars video game couldn't fix :). He finally consented to calling them 'stitches' and even helped Chuck take them out after the week was over.
As I said, this was one of the worst experiences of my life as a mother - watching your child so scared and in pain and being unable to make it stop is excruciating. This was compounded by the fact that Chuck wasn't there; he's definitely the strong one in these situations. Thankfully I was able to rely on two of the most amazing women ever:
My mama! She level-headedly (not a word, I know) drove us to the hospital so I could sit with Clyde in back and saved the day by telling Clyde Star Wars stories to help him calm down. I felt much better knowing that my mom was there (and yes, we totally posed for pictures after Clyde fell asleep).
And my BFSC Heidi! Heidi was such a doll all afternoon. I'm sure this was not something a cute 18-year-old wanted to get wrangled into, but she did not even flinch (outwardly, at least) at any of it. She sweetly rubbed my back (sitting hunched over on a hospital bed cradling a 35 lb. kid hurts!) and let me dictate texts to her so we could tell poor Chuck what had happened and she didn't think I was crazy as I cried and cried and cried.
So, now that my sons are even - one chin injury requiring stitches a piece, one leg/foot injury requiring a cast a piece, I think we should be good for a while. . . hopefully a loooong while.
In part two of the Utah trip recap, we will focus mainly on a two hour period Sunday afternoon, starting with a question:
What happens when you take this sweet, accident-prone, almost four-year-old . . .
and add this light post base right outside of Sam and Terri's church (which is so tempting for little boys to climb on)?
Yep, a visit to the local emergency room for for stitches!!
This was probably two of the worst hours of my life (Clyde likewise did not seem to enjoy himself much). After the beautiful baby blessing, we were leaving the church to go back to Sam and Terri's house when Clyde fell as he climbed down off the light post, splitting open his chin. He and I both cried uncontrollably (after I said a very bad word, which was absolutely necessary) as we headed for the nearest hospital. Quinn and Cody took baby Will to Sam and Terri's to be sweetly taken care of by everyone there while my mom and Heidi stayed at the ER with Clyde and me, both of us still sobbing as we waited in the exam room. 
The absolute worst part was when they gave Clyde the medicine for the 'conscious sedation'. I honestly can't think about it without crying. It was so, so horrible to hold my baby while he gradually fell into this weird state of consciousness.
The nurse was really great; especially as the ketamine took effect with Clyde. I was seriously shaking (and trying to hold him somewhat still!) as I cried and she kept touching my arm and telling me how great I was doing. I wish I could have had one of my two favorite nurses, but Whitney was an excellent substitute. When the doctor came in to do the stitches, I most definitely excused myself. Sam and Quinn had arrived for more moral support (thanks brothers!!) so I left Clyde safely with Sam, Grandma Pam, the nurse and the doctor. Quinn and Heidi and I went outside so I could get some fresh air and compose myself a bit.
Six stitches later, we were called back in. The nurse warned us that Clyde might be a little 'loopy' as the medicine wore off, but he did really, really well - possibly thanks to the ice cream cones that we treated ourselves to for surviving the ordeal.
Clyde's button up shirt and my nice shirt were both saved thanks to Grandma Pam following Connie's excellent tip about hydrogen peroxide getting blood out, but the white undershirt was a lost cause. Don't mind Quinn in this shot, it was tricky to photograph the wound without Clyde objecting so Quinner was trying to be sneaky :). 
Clyde did SO well. He got a little grumpy in the evening, but it wasn't anything that some more Star Wars video game couldn't fix :). He finally consented to calling them 'stitches' and even helped Chuck take them out after the week was over.As I said, this was one of the worst experiences of my life as a mother - watching your child so scared and in pain and being unable to make it stop is excruciating. This was compounded by the fact that Chuck wasn't there; he's definitely the strong one in these situations. Thankfully I was able to rely on two of the most amazing women ever:
My mama! She level-headedly (not a word, I know) drove us to the hospital so I could sit with Clyde in back and saved the day by telling Clyde Star Wars stories to help him calm down. I felt much better knowing that my mom was there (and yes, we totally posed for pictures after Clyde fell asleep).
And my BFSC Heidi! Heidi was such a doll all afternoon. I'm sure this was not something a cute 18-year-old wanted to get wrangled into, but she did not even flinch (outwardly, at least) at any of it. She sweetly rubbed my back (sitting hunched over on a hospital bed cradling a 35 lb. kid hurts!) and let me dictate texts to her so we could tell poor Chuck what had happened and she didn't think I was crazy as I cried and cried and cried.So, now that my sons are even - one chin injury requiring stitches a piece, one leg/foot injury requiring a cast a piece, I think we should be good for a while. . . hopefully a loooong while.
8 comments:
I'm glad to see I made the favorite nurses list;). And way to go Chuck on getting the stitches out.
Is this the life of Moms of Boys? If so, I suggest you start a support group!
Of course, I had to take my girl to the ER for a very delicate matter myself, so I guess this is just a MOTHERHOOD thing.
Sorry but glad it's all okay!! He's soo soo adorable.
Glad to hear Clyde and you both came out of it in the end. Not fun!
Poor guy! And poor you! ER trips with precious babies are the WORST. He looks like a little stud with those stitiches though. He'll be so cool with that battle scar! :)
Poor little Clyde. I'm glad he's doing ok. It's so scary when your kids get hurt.
I totally would have cried too, It is tough to see your kids hurt and not in their normal state. Glad he,and you, are recovering.
It made me smile when Sam told me that right before they started stitching the chin up you asked them to wait a second so you could take a picture for your blog. Hilarious.
And I am glad that he snapped out of sedation and into a super happy mood so quickly. I guess except for that 30 seconds of crying when Cody told him he had whiskers.
ohhh Sad! That sucks. And you're going to hate that I'm starting up on the Jana posts again, but it's happening, right now! This was a not fun one to start on. Poor clyders.
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