Surprise...stitches!

Never a dull moment in the Zabikow family...

 

While Ben has gymnastics class, Nathalie and I usually run a few errands and then come back for the last 20 minutes to watch and play in the waiting room with other little brothers and sisters.  On Wednesday, October 16th, Nathalie was running to get a toy from the bookshelf, slipped in her socks, and went headfirst into the bottom shelf.  With all of her weight going into the fall and the start of the "silent cry", I knew this couldn't be good.  I picked her up and turned her over, and blood was everywhere!  Oh my!  I couldn't exactly tell where it was coming from, but a quick check showed me that her nose didn't appear to be broken, and all of her teeth were present and accounted for.  We ran to the bathroom to start mopping up the blood that was now dripping from her hair.  Naturally, class was ending and girls were coming into the bathroom.  "Ewww...blood!"  Sorry gals!  Another mom had gone on a hunt for a bandaid and some help.  The cut was definitely on her head, near her hairline, and finally stopped bleeding long enough for us to get a close look.  Yikes!  It looked like a deep cut, not to mention she had hit her head with some force.  I was definitely going to want to take her to the ER or urgent care.  While I was calling Greg, another mom was so kind to stay with us to help round up Ben and check on ER wait times.  Gave a quick accident report to the gym coach, and then we were on our way to check out Calgary's emergency health system.  :)

 

Now that she was bandaged, I had a few minutes to breathe while we drove to urgent care.  Except...she wasn't making a lot of sense and looked like she was falling asleep!  So, what does any good mom do when they are worried that their child may have a concussion and doesn't want them to fall asleep?  Keep a constant supply of snacks and candy coming...anything that I could find in my purse and in the car.  And, crank the music and sing along like a crazy lady.  :)  It worked, and we made it to urgent care awake. 

 

Here is the photo as she greeted Daddy...doesn't look too traumatized, huh?  She is a seriously tough little girl!  I guess it helps to have a big bro! 

 

Talked with the doctor, and great news, there was no skull fracture or concussion.  He thought stitching the cut was a better option than gluing, so here we are waiting 30 minutes for the numbing medicine to take effect.  He also mentioned that Nathalie could bruise on her head or even all around her eye, looking like a black eye.  Guess we'll be cancelling those family photos we had scheduled on Sunday...

 

The After shot...Nathalie was now the proud owner of 5 stitches and feeling great!!  Mom on the other hand was about ready to pass out.  It was almost 8:30 pm, I hadn't eaten since lunch, and I had just watched a man sewing my daughter's head.  Ugh... 

 

We drove home, with a stop for dinner and milkshakes for our brave girl and patient boy.  I think the worst of the night was yet to come.  Nathalie was in desperate need of a shower to get some of the blood out of her hair, and I wanted to ice her ouchie to avoid a least a little of the bruising.  Oh my!  Who knew a shower and ice could cause so much trouble?  Poor girl...I know she was exhausted and probably in pain.  So here are the "leave me alone and stop taking pictures while I'm in pain" pictures...what a night!!  I'm sure we'll all be laughing about this someday, just maybe not anytime soon.  :)