January 25, 2011

Three whiskers

Yesterday, as I am getting Twain ready for his nap, I hear some major tom-foolery going on in the boys' bathroom.

"Calvin! Ollie! Settle down! What is going on in there?" I call out loudly, stalling for time.

I hear running water.

And laughing.

And lots of strange banging.

I'm getting antsy but before I can get to them, I hear Ollie's frantic screaming. I quickly put Twain down and come running out to meet Ollie.

His cheek is gashed under his eye and blood is squirting out. His skin is spit open and gaping and I can see his flesh beneath. I know right away that this is not our typical boo boo.

"What happened?", I interrogate Calvin.

"He fell into the bathtub", Calvin replies.

"Was he standing on something?" I inquire, quite doubtful that a tub could jump out and attack a child.

"No, he just fell in..." Calvin replies.

I quickly scan the tub. There is no water in the tub, just some toys laying at the bottom. And I do not see any blood in the tub.

I grab some napkins and apply pressure to Ollie's wound and bright red blood begins soaking the napkins.

Ollie cries hysterically and screams "bloody boo boo!"

By now I realize that I am no match for this cut and I start making phone calls. It is no easy feat dialing phone numbers with one hand, and applying pressure to the cut with the other hand.

And I am shaking a bit because the cut won't stop bleeding.

I call the pediatrician's office and am very blunt. "Ollie is cut and needs stitches. Do you do that in the office? Or do I need to go elsewhere?"

They tell me to go to the ER.

I call John's mom at work and on her cell. No answer.

I really don't want to drag all the kids in to the ER if I can help it. Especially Tweetle.

I call John's dad at home. No answer.

Finally I call John's work and tell him to meet me at the ER.

Calvin is the only one dressed. I load Ollie and Twain into the van in their pj's. I wore leggings to bed the night before(cuz they are SO comfy!) and throw some boots on...and a shirt and sweater.

The ER is busy but Ollie's cut has stopped bleeding profusely and now it's just oozing blood. The skin is still gaping open. I predict 2 or 3 stitches.

Ollie is chatting happily. "Fell in bathtub" he says when I question him what happened. Ok, the bathtub story it is!

We wait and wait. Twain is growing restless and keeps throwing his orange kitty on the diseased floor and then screams and demands that I pick it up again. Oh the joys of the waiting room.

Finally we see daddy gliding down the corridor in his blue dress shirt and orange striped tie.

Twain kicks his legs happily in his stroller. Clutching his kitty, he yells "Hi daddy!" It is very cute, considering our circumstances.

Daddy is smiling. We are all happy to be together. I am thrilled to have John as company with my restless children.

Ollie is called back for vitals and Twain comes along...destroying everything within his path.

After vitals, we are sent back to wait. It's almost time to pick up Finn from school. Perfect time for John to escort Twain and Calvin home...and they can pick up Finn.

As we say goodbye to daddy, the nurse calls out "Oliver?"

It's our turn.

Ollie sits on my lap as we wait in our little room for our impending doom. We wait for a long time and Ollie points out every single item in the room.

Stitches. Hm. Never done this before. I always wondered how Ollie would do in this type of situation. He is super sensitive. This could be ugly. But I knew we just needed to power through.

Finally a hip, friendly doctor comes in and puts me right at ease.

"Nice boots" he comments to me.

"Thanks" I reply.

Then,
"Aren't you grossed out?" I ask, pointing at Ollie's face.

"No!" he declares happily. "I love putting people's faces back together! I find it very exciting!"

He disappears for a while and eventually comes back with some needles and bottles.

They raise the table really high and hoist Ollie onto it.

"We are going to wrap Ollie like a burrito", he explains, as he wraps Ollie's arms and legs down with a white sheet.

I am instructed to hold Ollie's chest down.

The nurse is gonna hold Ollie's head down.

And the nice doc is gonna do his thing. I look away, but hold Ollie tight.

He gives Ollie's cheek a shot of lidocaine. It stings. Ollie screams hysterically and I cannot calm him down.

"Shhh it's ok. Mama's here..." I feel strangely calm. Thank you Lord.

Just gotta power through.

Ollie screams for a while as the lidocaine numbs his cheek. He is just plain freaked out.

And then, he suddenly stops crying.

I cautiously take a peak at Ollie's face out of the corner of my eye. And this image will forever be burned into my brain: His eyes are serenely closed, his cheek is orange from iodine and he is all wrapped in a white sheet like a mummy.

Sweet little Ollie.

The doctor starts stitching Ollie's cut...amazingly Ollie is calm and just whimpers a bit.

One stitch.

Two stitches.

After a few minutes the doctor says, "let's do one more".

Ollie fusses a bit and tears stream down his cheeks.

Three stitches total. Three whiskers.

After they clean the boy up a bit, they unravel my little burrito and hand him back to his mama.

She is so proud of her little boy. He grabs his mama and hugs her tight for dear life.

A little over 3 hours in the ER...and we finally get to go home.

We witnessed a lot of pain and agony from other patients there and so I was grateful to get home.

Home sweet home.





If you look close, you can see my reflection in his eye.

I was honored to be around for this whole little ordeal. Remember last time?
I chickened out and made John take Calvin in for his broken arm.

Percy was also along for the thrilling little ride to the ER.


Percy is Ollie's favorite toy this week.






I did not expect to be in the ER yesterday dealing with needles...kind of ironic, considering my last post.

A mom of ALL boys...

Have mercy.

22 comments:

  1. For some reason, I knew the exact voice you used for each sentence of this blog post. Love Ollie's sweet little cheeks.

    P.s. That blue is perf if you know what I mean.

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  2. As I was reading this post I was thinking about your post from yesterday. Poor baby! Glad he was able to get through the stitches so well. And that Percy got to hang out too. :)

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  3. Katy, that's funny you said that, cause that's exactly how I felt!

    Praying for Ollie!!

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  4. I'm sorry this happened to Ollie. Stitches can be so scary! I love your photos Davi and the editing. Someday when you get the boys in school will you teach a photography/editing class? I'd love to learn from you! Now, go tell those monkeys to keep their feet firmly on the ground.

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  5. poor boy!!
    wouldn't it be nice to find the exact "how did he do this"..lol..that would drive me crazy!!

    bless your heart.

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  6. So happy to see how clean and tidy they look! And to see he is not traumatized by the ordeal! Also, I love the color of the door-- that is the door right?!

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  7. He looks very handsome, and not too traumatized by his encounter with the needle! Are the boys thrilled with his whiskers?

    And uh-HEM. You were supposed to send me pictures of the blue door!

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  8. What a sweet, and brave little boy!

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  9. Oh boy, so not looking forward to days like that. Can you please give lessons on staying calm, in addition to the photog/editing lessons requested above?? I would have been a mess! So glad Ollie is doing well!

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  10. OK, so Eli has a scar on his cheek from the same thing!!! Noah fell not too long ago and injured himself on the TOILET!!! We took E to the urgent care and left with a butterfly strip...not the best. Noah...I used super glue and skipped the Doc. EEEK!

    You did everything right mama & faces love to bleed and look worse than it is!!! Yah for Ollie being so brave and knowing it OK to cry a little!

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  11. Eek! Stitches! I am not looking forward to entering this stage!

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  12. you stole the words right out of my mouth.

    a mom of three boys.
    HAVE MERCY!

    and a i agree with katy. where's the blue? it's so purty. LOVE!

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  13. poor little guy, but hey at least he looks REALLY cute with his "whiskers"

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  14. What's a band of brothers without a battle wound here and there? Glad the 'lil dude is o.k.

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  15. Ha, Katy, you and your abbrev.'s kill me. thanks

    Suzanne! Your pictures always look so lovely and wonderful. I don't think I could do any better! I do like to use Lightroom for basic lighting etc and photoshop for rounding corners and collages!

    Lindsay and Molly June, the blue is on my pantry door. I'll show better pics once it gets a door knob! Oh and Molly, what happened to my 4th child?, LOL.

    Sally- you seem like you would have a great head in emergency situations!

    Kara! You really used super glue? Wow, you are my hero!

    Jess, I will show you a picture of something cool instead to make up for it!

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  16. Wow! I was hanging on the edge of my seat hoping he'd be ok! So glad it all worked out and that he was smiles that evening! That would be so hard to watch as a mommy!

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  17. aw, stiches! So sad, but SO cute!

    ***I can't get over HOW GORGEOUS your boys are. They seriously take my breath away.

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  18. NO FUN, but he is pretty darn cute with his whiskers :)

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  19. Okay... I thought I would come out of the blogstalking closet and confess that I love, love, love your blog and watching your family grow! I'm Kristen Onaindia's sister. :)

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  20. Oh my, I would have been a mess. You are so brave to take him in and help hold him down. The poor little guy! I hope his cheek heals up and that you don't need anymore trips to the ER!

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  21. poor ollie! love that the Lord calmed him and you both and gave you peace in the ER. he does look darn cute with those stitches, though :)

    can i please have a coffee date with you and katy?
    thank you :)

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  22. How horrifying for you. I'm so glad that God gave you peace. It's so awful to see our babies scared or hurting.

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