That Boy Needs A Helmet

We have only been in Virginia for 2 weeks and Joshua already has his second head injury. This one was bad enough that a call to the doctor resulted in a dreaded trip to the ER. Despite the fact that he had no signs of a concussion, they wanted to make sure had no bleeding in his brain.

Seriously, WHY ME???
These pictures don't even begin to do it justice. This hematoma was a bit bigger than a golf ball and stuck out 1 inch off of his forehead. He got hurt on Tuesday night but by yesterday the swelling was down to just 1/2 inch off of his forehead and about the size of a ping pong ball.

On Tuesday night Joshua was going upstairs to bed. He hadn't even gone up one step when I saw him slam his head into the wall at the bottom of the stairs. Right on the corner too. Ouch! As soon as he turned his head to look at me, I could see the hematoma already formed. It was instantaneous. He cried for about 60 seconds and then laid down because his head hurt too badly. I checked for signs of a concussion and debated a trip to the ER. Because it was at night and the babies and girls were already asleep, I decided to just call the doctor in the morning.

We have never seen our new doctor but I called to see if they'd take a look at Joshua's head. They told us we had to go to the ER. So yesterday we headed in to introduce ourselves. "Hi, I'm Heather and this is Joshua. He is a repeat offender. More than 3 dozen head injuries to date. Staples, stitches, Dermabond, black eyes, and hematomas... he has done it all." They asked if he'd had a CT scan before and I told him he did have one last year. His neurologist appointment last summer only proved that he just has a BIG head.
The ER doc seriously suggested discussing the use of a helmet. We have joked about this before, but really? Would it help? We have to follow up with our new doctor and see what they recommend. Poor Joshua is feeling better now but is embarrassed that he got hurt yet again. His big head is just too heavy! His head is really, really big. Bigger than mine. Above the 99th percentile. It was 16 inches in circumference when he was born and it was 22 inches last year. That is just huge!
And in other news, I have decided that my children are like poop-slinging monkeys. Uncontrollable! Sarah's poop incident on my bed (see my Twitter updates) has me wondering if she'll ever potty train. And whether I will ever have 6 children that can wipe their own bums. Calgon, take me away!