Stitches

Well, we had our first case of stitches. Chin stitches. Unfortunately, it doesn't have a great story to go along with it. Simply a case of....oops! It was about 6:30am. We had a HUGE storm the night before with lightening and it was easier to get the kids to just go to sleep in our bed instead of having them in their own rooms and hearing the pitter patter of little feet heading to our room not long after. The boys usually end up in the middle and Robby and I bar them on either side, ourselves hanging on to the edge of our Queen sized bed. Definitely a good night sleep for all of us. This morning was a Thursday, so Robby had already headed to teach his spin class. Ladybug had just woke up for me to nurse her and I had settled into the rocking chair. I was in plain view of Rookie, as he was on my side of the bed. Then it happend. A stretch. A twist. A roll and off the bed he went. Right in between the bed and the night stand. I was sure he had busted a lip and I immediately put Ladybug down as Rookie came staggering to me in tears and still half asleep. I took him to the bathroom so that he wouldn't wake Ace. Opening his mouth, I saw nothing. Then he touched his hand to his chin and I saw a small amount of blood. I lifted the chin and there was the injury. I couldn't really tell how bad it was at first and just had him put a cloth to it while I looked for a bandage and made the necessary call to my mom and dad. Yes, I was trying to figure out what to do considering I ALREADY had well-check visits scheduled that day for Ladybug and Rookie. Should I wait until the appointment time or scrap the days plans for an emergency visit? After discussion and finding butterfly bandaids, I realized that the wound needed to be pulled together and butterfly bandaids were NOT going to cut it for the long haul. So, I made a call to the doctor. The nurse and I decided to keep their appointments and just proceed with stitches at the same time. Wonderful. Luckily our appointments were at 9:50a, so only a few more hours. It was definitely a day for morning cartoons.

Once at the appointment, everything went rather smoothly. The cut was actually already healing, but Dr. Pope felt that my butterfly repair wasn't as pretty as his stitches could be. Fine, if you must....not that I've had much practice! So, it had to be reopened. The nurses were very kind to take Ace and Ladybug during the times I needed to really focus on Rookie.

First he placed a numbing liquid on the wound and I read books to him upside down so his head could stay back. Second, was reopening and numbing. This called for mommy's hands to hold his and a nurse to hold his head. We had your typical crying for such a procedure, but it was amusing to see how quickly he stopped when they were done and a piece of guaze ventured over his mouth requiring intense blowing and spitting to get it off. Funny boy. Then, we waited. And waited. And waited. Finally, Dr. Pope came back in to put in the stitches. Rookie took them like a champ. Lying perfectly still, not a sound as he put in 3 stitches. Then the drama began. As Dr. Pope was showing me how to clean it and put neosporin on, Rookie decided to have a full blown tantrum. He must have been forced to stay still for too long. I tried to hold him because I didn't want to break open the stitches, but finally I couldn't hold him any longer and he broke loose. Once away from me, he settled down rather quickly and then calmly got back on table to receive the bandaid to cover the stitches. So crazy.

So, we have been nursing 3 stitches in the chin for the past week that only got bumped once by a wrestling match. Not too bad! This past Thursday, he had them removed and the cut is healing nicely. Just in time for swim lessons! ...as long as the weather holds.