Yesterday was the day of the week that M has OT and J has speech. We drive all the way downtown in the afternoon every week. $20 in gas. Anyway...
I got up yesterday morning and set about my usual routine. Struggle to get out of bed, take vitamins/medicine (J and I are still wheezing!) and feed everyone breakfast. Just as I was getting everyone cleaned up and starting to get everyone dressed, I heard a thud. Followed by a cry that you immediately know means someone is hurt.
I was just a few feet away in the hallway when L somehow hit her face on the (round, wooden) coffee table. This is not the same (round, wooden) coffee table that scarred J's face 2 years ago. A similar effect though. This time glue would not suffice so stitches were in order.
Since Jason is in language class right now I can't reach him. He can't bring his cell phone into the building he works in because of the security clearance issues. Because he wasn't in his regular office I didn't have any other number to call. I called a friend who saved the day. She quickly rushed over and stayed with the other 3 kids while I drove L to the ER.
When we arrived at the hospital the stork parking spots were all taken (of course!) and I don't have my handicapped permit yet. I had to park all the way at the end of the row-at least a 1/4 mile walk to the ER. It was near 100 degrees yesterday. I strapped L into the MT carrier and put her on my back. By the time I reached the ER waiting room I was covered in sweat and wheezing. They tried to take ME back to be seen! I told them I was fine, not in labor, and that I was there for my daughter. We all had a good laugh.
Eventually L was brought back and I had to restrain her as the doctor irrigated her cut. Her bottom lip had a 3/8 inch cut that went almost completely through her lip. She has a small hole on the inside but the outside was a wide, gaping cut. She also had bleeding around one of her top front teeth. The doctor saw the way L reacted to being restrained while he cleaned the cut and said she'd have to be sedated. This is when the fun began!
L only weighs 22 lbs (fully clothed) so they started her out with a 20 mg dosage of ketamine. They inserted an IV (after blowing the vein in one arm) and there was no effect. They gave her 10mg more. Nothing. They gave her a dose of versed. Nada. Over the next 2 hours they gave her over 100 mg of ketamine and several doses of versed. She was never sedated. She would not (could not?) be knocked out.
Nurses from other areas were coming over to see her and everyone was talking about her. They couldn't believe this tiny little girl was metabolizing these drugs so fast. One male nurse laughed and said "she sure won't be a cheap date!" The doctor said her liver was just metabolizing the drugs too quickly and there was nothing they could do except keep pushing the maximum dosage until it started working. They were telling me about an adult with a broken leg who had been knocked out with 1/3 of the dose Leila was getting.
After 2 hours L was barely showing signs of being doped up. She was more relaxed but still talking coherently ("I want pizza for lunch Mommy") and kept sucking her lip in as the doctor tried to stitch it. However, she was out of it enough that she didn't cry. They had also given her a topical anesthetic so I'm sure she was completely numb by then. She was watching them the entire time as they stitched up her little lip.
She got 4 stitches and 3 hours later we were home. In all I spent 6 1/2 hours at the hospital. Jason took the boys to therapy and took S with him. When I was strapping L onto my back as we were leaving, I noticed that she felt warm. I figured it was the heat. After we were home I realized that she had a fever.
Today her lip is crusty and oozing a little. It's not red and it doesn't look infected really. Her fever is gone this afternoon. She is complaining that it hurts so I gave her some more Tylenol. She has pulled at the stitches a few times too. Poor girl!
We spent the morning at the pool. I met up with a friend and her 3 kids. We had a great time swimming although we did leave with 4 scraped knees and a bloody elbow. That was just my kids though. I discovered that the girls have no fear of the water and sometimes they lack the ability to patiently wait for their turn as I catch them jumping off the side of the pool. They each went under once but were still laughing and having a blast. I will never try to take all of them myself as it was exhausting keeping up with them even with help!
Before
Before
After
After
I couldn't get a good picture of her boo-boo because she wanted to suck her fingers. But you can get an idea of where it is on her lip. It crosses over from her lip to her skin and the doctor said she will definitely have a scar. I guess now strangers will be able to tell the girls apart. I'm so sad that this happened and that my sweet little girl is going to have a lasting mark because of it! Thank goodness she's still nursing though, because this was a lot less traumatic than it could have been. For both of us.
