Our first trip to the ER for the kids.

Thursday morning started out rough.  Brigham decided it was time to wake up & play about 6:30, which is more rough for me than him!   A few daycare kids came at 7:30 and by 8 o'clock, my boys and 2 daycare kids were already at the kitchen table playing with clay!  Our basement was being worked on all week, so I was entertaining kids upstairs, which was a bit of a challenge.  Brigham loves to sit at the table like a big boy, so we have hardly used a booster seat or high chair in the last few months.  I was washing up some dishes and turned to walk towards the table just as Brigham slipped off the chair and literally dove to the wood floor.  He hit the very top of his head straight on.  I honestly thought the crying was more from his neck hurting, than his head hurting.  He clung to me and cried off an on the entire morning.  I couldn't put him down, so I had the daycare kids watching Rudolph and a few other little ones taking their morning nap.  Brigs and I snuggled, and he dozed off and on briefly, and then would just cry again.  He was not himself, so around 10 I called his pediatrician.  They told me that in instances like this, they usually have the parents watch for vomitting, pupils dialated differently, and lethargy.  The nurse said if any of these things happen, they wanted me to take him straight to the ER for a CT scan. 

About 11, I was holding Brigham in the kitchen when he started to cough and then throw up.  I panicked.  Puke was all over the two of us, the floor, and I had 5 extra little ones very curious about what was going on.  Thankfully, I got ahold of Derek immediately and told him to rush home.  I then called all the daycare parents, who ALL answered right away, and within 15 minutes the daycare kids were picked up and Derek and I were on our way to the ER.  After Brigs threw up, he was still very clingly, but did not cry.  He looked very pale to me, and just sort of 'dazed' a bit.  A minute or so into the ride to Avera, he started to fall asleep.  The nurse I talked with on the phone had me so paranoid about letting him sleep, so I tried talking to him and nudging him to keep him awake. 

We got to the ER before 11:30 and were taken back to a room right away.  Brigs was alert and awake and really seemed to perk up.  There were lots of strange tools and things in the ER room for him to check out.  About a half hour later, we were taken back for a CT scan.  Poor Brigs did not want to lay still, but what 21 month old would?  Poor kid had to be strapped down to a board for the scan.  Luckily, he did lay still long enough for them to get the images they needed.  About 15 minutes later we were told the CT scan looked fine.  They sent us home with instructions on how to care for a concussion. 

Brigham ate a little food once we got home, and then took a 2 1/2 hour nap.  After his nap, he played and seemed to act ok.  I did give him some pain reliever just in case he had any head or neck pain.  He slept great through the night too, which was a good sign he was going to be ok.  They had warned us in the ER that kids with a severe concussion would be very fussy, and not sleep well because of the pain to the head.  We did have to go in and check on him every 3-4 hours during the night, but we did not fully arouse him and wake him up because we were pretty confident he was fine.  We just gave him a little nudge to make sure he would squirm around for us. 

He acted completely normal yesterday.  Right back to climbing and being rambuctious!  He pulled a chair over on top of him, and managed to fall off the toliet seat, all before 11!  I am overly paranoid now so I feel like I am constantly following him around to make sure he isn't up to something!

It was very hard to see Brigham hurting.  I just had that gut feeling that something wasn't right all morning, but I didn't want to rush him in if he snapped out of it.  You feel so helpless as a parent when you can't make them feel better.  As I stood back to watch Derek and the nurses holding him down for the CT scan as he screamed and squirmed, I stood and prayed to God that everything would turn out ok.  I also thanked God for two (normally) healthy children, as I couldn't imagine a hospital setting as a daily or weekly occurence.  One more thing to be so incredibly thankful for this holiday season!

 

 

Brigs dozing off an hour or so after the fall.

 In the ER waiting on results.  Perked up and saying 'cheese' for the camera!
Weight:  22.6 pounds with a diaper on.  Such a squirt still!