Kira In Stitches

Today we had a little adventure. It included tears, blood, and a trip to the ER.

We had a busy day planned today because our PHA formal was being held tonight (more about that later). The kids and I were at the church building helping with the preparations (at least, I was helping; the kids were running around and playing), when I got a call from my mom telling me that it was time for us to come home because Michael was awake. I started gathering my stuff and taking it out to the car. I figured I would let the kids play for a few more minutes while I did that. After I was all loaded up I came back inside and called for the kids. That was when I noticed Kira in tears.

From what I eventually gathered, everyone was playing tag and Kira accidentally got shoved into the corner of the wall.

She told me her head hurt and that was when I noticed the blood. At first, I thought she had scraped her hand, or her ear, or something. It only took me a few seconds to discover it was much worse than that. I think it was the amount of blood that tipped me off.

I picked her up and sat her on the counter where I could get a better look. As I pulled her hair back I could see that she had a deep gash, about the width of her thumbnail, on the side of her head. I figured she was going to need stitches.

It was at this point that I realized how lucky I was to be surrounded by friends. I must have gone into shock because I couldn't remember where the closest hospital was. Donna said she would take us. Then Michelle told me not to worry about Christopher and Briona, she would take care of them. I called my mom back and told her we wouldn't be home for awhile and asked if she could take care of Michael until we were done.

Everyone was there helping me get Kira taken care of. Someone handed me a cold, wet towel for her head. Someone else gathered Kira's shoes and coat and handed them to me as we got into the van. Donna dropped us off at the emergency room and then parked and came in and waited with us until they took us back to a room. I don't know what I would have done without everyone's help and compassion. After the fact, as I look back, I don't even know if I could have found my way to the hospital (even though we were only one exit away). Donna reassured me later that I handled the whole situation very calmly. I raised my eyebrows at her and then admitted that on the inside I was a mess. I didn't realize that I was actually in shock until after Kira's head was sewn up and I felt myself get dizzy.

The time at the hospital was typical. They took down Kira's information and said they would take us to the pediatric unit shortly. Luckily the ER wasn't busy. They had me put Kira in a wheel chair, which she wasn't to happy about (she felt more safe in my arms). The whole idea of going to the hospital was pretty scary for her. I think it was mostly the fear of the unknown. When they actually started working on her, she was very brave and didn't fret at all.

Daniel made it to the hospital in good time, we had only been back in the room about ten minutes. Then the doctor came in and assessed the damage. He said that stitches would be best. They numbed her up using this gel stuff first and then gave her shots after she was already mostly numb. Thank goodness for that gel. I remember the first time Kira needed her head sewn up, and they didn't have that stuff. It was awful! They cleaned her head (no shaving needed, another blessing) and gave her three stitches.

I was so proud of my little girl. She handled the whole ordeal very well. She even admitted that stitches weren't that bad.

Dan here: Later, after we were home, Kira told me that she was actually glad she had gotten stitches. "That way," she said, "when my kids need stitches, I can say 'I had stitches when I was a kid, and it wasn't too bad!'" What a girl. :-)