March Came In Like a Lion and Ended Like a More Ferocious Lion

You know that saying, "March Comes In Like a Lion and Goes Out Like a Lamb?" It wasn't quite accurate here. March was a whirlwind, and on the last day of the month, we were in the emergency room with Lily and her broken arm. To top it off, the month ended with the coldest night we have had in weeks, complete with freezing temps and sleet. Yeah...I'm not falling for that saying!

I have so many posts to publish...SO MANY...but I'll just start with the most recent news. Lily fell victim to the dangers of jumping on a trampoline, and ended up with a fractured elbow. Needless to say, my husband is ready to burn that trampoline! My thought? Kids will be kids and stuff happens!

It definitely wasn't the best way to kick off Spring Break, but thanks to our l o n g night at the hospital, all of our kids started their Spring Break one day early. We didn't get home until early morning, and none of the kids slept long enough.  So here we are, shivering from the sudden return of Winter, physically and mentally exhausted, and REALLY hoping that April is going to be kind! Here's the scoop on the second broken bone in our crew...

Knocked Out: A Parenting Fear Come True

I had my evening perfectly planned out. A friend offered to take Dylan to basketball so I didn't have to take three other kids. A night at home is rare and I was thoroughly looking forward to it! I put on my pajamas and cooked a delicious dinner. While I cooked, I also worked on my planned blog post for tonight on fun Halloween play activities. I wanted to finish it early so my husband and I could spend more time together after the kids went to bed and so I could go to bed before midnight. Grant even made it home from the office earlier than usual. We were just getting ready to sit down to eat dinner when one of my parenting fears came true...

First came the thud, then the bloodcurdling scream.  I turned around to see Lily face down on the floor at Grant's feet. Blood was spraying everywhere. The moment that I dread every single time one of my children falls face first actually happened. There was no sigh of relief this time. There was only Lily shrieking,  "MY TOOTH IS GONE!"

I scooped Lily up off the floor and as we ran toward the bathroom, I noticed it. I immediately thought her other loose tooth had been knocked out. WRONG. She was missing her top front tooth which wasn't even loose at all.

I yelled out to Grant that her tooth was knocked out and he ran in to take over. I'm a wimp. I can't handle blood and I can't handle tooth gore. Even wiggly teeth make me cringe.  As I dialed Lily's pediatric dentist's emergency number I kept reminding myself that it was just a baby tooth and that it would have fallen out in a year or so anyway. But still...to have it come out that way is so awful!

Our plans for the evening changed completely. Instead of enjoying a relaxing evening at home, we spent hours in the ER. The truth is, nothing goes as planned when you have four kids and there's literally never a  dull moment! Accidents happen. Lexie and Lily were just playing and Lexie bumped Lily and sent her flying to the floor. Lily's tooth got knocked out and Lexie felt awful. It was just one of those things that I always feared would happen but honestly didn't really expect it to!

Dylan was coming home from basketball just as Lily and I were running out the door so he came along to help. Thank goodness because we couldn't get the blood to stop and Lily was panicking!  He was able to hold the towel on her mouth and calm her down while I drove the short distance to the ER.

We made it into a room quickly and by that point the bleeding slowed a bit. The wait to see a doctor, however, was unusually long and it resulted in one little girl who was exhausted from the traumatic incident.

The doctor finally came in and said that everything looked okay. The tooth somehow came out with the roots still intact. There weren't any tooth fragments left behind, her jaw wasn't broken and the cuts in her mouth and on and around her lips would heal quickly. It was such a relief to hear that! The only lasting effect would be the fact that she quite possibly will have a hole in her mouth for over a year before her adult tooth finally comes in.  That definitely made me a bit sad, but I was relieved she was okay. It could have been much worse!

Just in time for Halloween, Lily has a Jack O' Lantern smile! (And a swollen nose and lips!)

As soon as she was discharged, I took her straight to the convenience store and bought her a slushie. It was the least I could do! Rumor has it that the tooth fairy also needed to get some cash back...

By the time we got home, Lily was back to her vibrant, outgoing self! She's definitely tougher than I am. Most adults can't even handle getting a tooth pulled without pain, but she was acting like nothing ever happened!

That baby tooth was bound to come out in a year or so. It just came out (much) sooner than expected. At least she has an exciting story to tell one day and the word on the street is that the tooth fairy is going to leave her a larger amount than usual tonight. That tooth is a BEAST with those roots still attached. (EWWWW!) Those knocked out teeth just deserve more money!

Ironically, my friend came over for dinner on Monday night and we started reminiscing over the time when 11 month old Lily hit her face off of a ceramic floor while on vacation. As we ran toward her, we both expected her top two baby teeth to be gone. They weren't, but since that moment, I panic every time my kids fall face first.

 

Seeing one of my kids get a tooth knocked out has always been one of my top parenting fears and it was every bit as brutal as I expected. There was just SO MUCH BLOOD. I keep reliving that moment over and over again and it makes me cringe every time. We were just lucky up until tonight. I guess we are technically still lucky because only a baby tooth that would have come out in about a year got knocked out. It would have been much worse if it was Liam, Lexie or Dylan's tooth! And Lily took it like a champ!

Farewell, cute little baby smile that was still there just a few hours ago...

...and hello, toothless!

Stay tuned for my Halloween content tomorrow! My blog is just about more than Pinterest-worthy content and sponsored posts. I started it to document my life with my kids 8+ years ago and I'll never give that up. Sometimes life happens and scheduled blog posts have to be pushed aside for real updates. I plan on sharing my family as much as I can from the good to the bad to the downright disgusting moments!

Here's to a MUCH calmer weekend! (I hope.) (Fingers and toes crossed.) (Please?)

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The Saga Continues...

I've been MIA all week long.  It was quite a week to say the least!

My last post was about Liam falling on Saturday, going to Urgent Care on Sunday, and getting sent to the Children's Hospital ER in Pittsburgh. The doctors didn't think his nose was broken, but we were supposed to wait and see...

Well, things took a turn for the worse.

On Monday morning, Liam woke up fussy, which is very unusual for him.  While I nursed him, I noticed he felt very warm.  Sure enough, he had a fever.  I gave him some medicine to bring it down, but he seemed to be "off" all day.  The only thing that made him happy was sitting outside in the sun.

At that point, the swelling from his injury spread above and below his high.  Or so I thought.



Within a few short hours, the redness had spread and his fever was above 105.



I knew something was wrong, and figured he had some sort of infection from his injury.  As soon as my sister picked my nephew up, Liam and I headed to our local ER, which is less than 10 minutes away.  We were taken back quickly, and a doctor was in the room before the nurses even finished taking his stats.

It only took a few seconds before he said he was fairly certain Liam had Cellulitis.

In Liam's situation, it wasn't just a mild case.  It was spreading rapidly, and it was on his face.  There weren't any visible cuts near the area, so the doctor was mystified. The best guess is that when the doctors in the ER were examining Liam's injured nose on Sunday with a scope, which caused his nose to bleed, bacteria entered the cut inside his nose and entered his bloodstream.  It resulted in a very serious case of Cellulitis, and the doctors were very concerned, because it was over his left eyelid.  If the infection got into his optic nerve, it could go into his brain, and the results would be absolutely devastating.

They immediately put in an IV, gave him medication to bring down the fever, ran some blood work, did and xray, and started him on IV antibiotics.



Grant was at home with our kids, but I was very surprised when my dear friend, Steph, walked into the room.  It made the long wait a little less scary!  Grant eventually showed up once his mom came over to watch the kids, and it was a good thing, because we found out we were going to be transferred to Children's Hospital.

Once the medication kicked in, Liam had a few smiles to share with us.  It was temporary. It only brought his temp down to 102,  and the infection just kept spreading.



Once we heard they called for an ambulance, Steph followed Grant home so he could drop off his car, and she brought him back to the hospital.  She stayed with us until after 3 AM, even though she had to wake up at 6.  We were so thankful for her help and support!  She left just as the paramedics arrived.

I rode in the ambulance with Liam, and Grant followed behind in my car.  It's a short drive to the city, and Liam slept through it.  It was my second ambulance ride EVER, both times were with him, and both instances happened within a 3 1/2 month span!



We arrived at the Children's Hospital ER around 4:30ish (honestly, I lost track of time!), and the doctors agreed it was Cellulitis.  They administered more medication, and he ended up getting a CT scan around 6 or 7 AM to check for any fractures in the nose or abscesses under the skin.  Thankfully, he slept through that, too!

They decided he needed to be admitted, and we had to wait for a room.  We were exhausted and starving, so we helped ourselves to the snack pantry, and ended up having Cheetos and chocolate milk for breakfast.  Trust me, it's even more repulsive than it sounds. We didn't go upstairs to a room until after 8:30, and by that point, we had been awake for 26 hours.  Liam had been sleeping since just before his CT scan, so Grant and I tried to sleep.  Within 5 minutes, another doctor came into the room.

Basically, they decided to treat him with strong IV antibiotics every 6 hours, and watch his eye very carefully.  We were told that we couldn't leave until the redness and swelling decreased.  Right after the doctor left, the nurses started another round of antibiotics. 

Grant and I were beyond stressed.  We had a REALLY sick little boy, and the location of the Cellulitis was very unusual and worrisome.



After the IV treatment was done, we managed to sleep for about 2 hours before Liam finally woke up. Grant ran downstairs to pick up some pastries a sweet friend had dropped off for us in the lobby, and to get some caffeinated drinks for us.  I tried to feed Liam, but he wasn't very interested.  His fever spiked again, so they gave him more medication, and he slept some more.



It was a really long day filled with IV antibiotic treatments and visits from doctors and nurses.  During all that, he got moved to another room, and we tried to keep him on a normal routine.



Later that evening my sister, Kelly, came to visit.  Shortly after she arrived, our close friends, Gary and Tracy, came by with dinner, snacks, tons of drinks, and toys for Liam.  They were so sweet and so generous, and it was very much appreciated!

After everyone left, the exhaustion and the impact of the situation hit us.  Luckily, Liam's fever had finally broken, and he blessed us with a smile.



The Cellulitis, unfortunately, continued to spread.  The doctor said he would get two more rounds of antibiotics, and if it hadn't improved by morning, we would have to change the treatment method.  Liam was so feeling much better now that his fever was gone, and decided to stay awake until his midnight IV treatment.



We all fell asleep after the nurses unhooked him from the IV stand.  We got a little bit of sleep before his 6 AM treatment.  He was still asleep, but his face didn't look as bad as it did just 6 hours before.

Sure enough, when he woke up, he was back to his joyful self!  His face was still red, but it was definitely improving! He had some breakfast, explored the room, and played with some toys.



When the doctor finally came into the room, she agreed that it definitely looked like he was improving.  She said she would happily keep him in the hospital and continue IV treatments until the Cellulitis was completely gone, or she would allow us to take him home as long as we picked up his antibiotic and medication from the hospital pharmacy before leaving and were absolutely certain his pediatrician would be able to see him the following day.  She told us that he wasn't out of the worry zone yet and explained what symptoms would warrant an immediate trip back to the hospital, but she was confident he would continue to improve.

We decided that it would be best to take him home and let everything go back to normal.  He would definitely get more rest at home!   When the nurse came in with all the discharge papers and instructions, she was shocked that we were going home.  She said he was the sickest kid on the floor and they all expected him to stay the week, but he ended up being the first child to receive his discharge papers. She said the doctor obviously trusted our judgement. We were all thrilled about how quickly he improved!



It took a few hours, but we were finally able to leave!.  It was SO nice to go home, take a quick nap, and to finally be reunited with our other kids!



Liam looked so much better yesterday! He got a great night's sleep and woke up so happy.   His pediatrician said he made drastic improvement based on the timeline photos, and that we absolutely did the right thing by taking him to the closest ER.  Liam is expected to make a full recovery, with no complications!



We are beyond thankful for all the love, support, good thoughts, and prayers!



Thank God our beautiful boy is back to his healthy, joyful self!

ER Take Three

We're only 4 full months into 2015, and we just had our third ER visit this year. Just for the record, we did go almost 3 weeks between visits. Apparently, Liam thought we were due for another visit!

Unfortunately, I was partially to blame for this visit, and I feel AWFUL.

On Saturday evening, I was sitting on the couch, and Liam was on my lap. I had my hands around Liam's waist. I had to go make dinner, so I leaned forward to sit Liam on the floor, and he threw himself forward.  I didn't have a tight grip around his waist, and was unable to catch him before his face slammed into our hardwood floor. 

He immediately began screaming, and when I picked him up, blood began spurting out of both nostrils and out of his mouth.  We ran to the bathroom, stopped the bleeding, and assessed the damage.  In less than 5 minutes, Liam was sitting up, smiling. His nose looked a bit puffy, but he was acting completely normal.

Even though he was back to his happy self, I felt horrible. 

Shortly after putting him to bed, I noticed his breathing sounded noisy.  He still had a cold, but this was a bit different.  When he woke up, his nose was so swollen.  It was at least twice its normal size, and the swelling was starting to cover the corner of his left eye. His appearance was altered, and his profile was almost unrecognizable. 

We ended up stopping at the Urgent Care, which is only 5 minutes away, for a quick check. 



The attending doctor was concerned because he had so much swelling, and bruising was beginning to appear around his eye.  He didn't have the proper tools at the Urgent Care for a pediatric xray of the face, so he sent us to the Children's Hospital ER in Pittsburgh. 

Grant stayed home with the older kids, because there was homework and projects that needed to be done, so my dad rode into Pittsburgh with me.  When I got there, I assumed we were in for a LONG wait, because the waiting room was packed. 

Liam was the only injured child there.  Everyone else there was for fevers (I'm sorry, that annoys me! Save it for a pediatrician and make space in the ER for emergencies and injuries!).  Because of that, he ended up getting bumped up to the first on the list, and we were called back within a few minutes.

A doctor came in quickly.  After a very painful exam of his nose, which involved lots of screams, more blood poured out of his nose.  Another doctor came in a few minutes later to do a second exam.  Thankfully, they couldn't feel any breaks in his nose.  Because of his happy demeanor and ability to breathe through his nose, they felt that it was unnecessary to sedate him and expose him to radiation for a scan.  They decided that the wait and see approach was the best choice for him.

The staff was wonderful, and we were in and out of the ER in one hour!

Now, only time will tell.  He obviously has significant swelling and bruising, and is having some difficulty breathing due to the swelling.  We have to wait 5-7 days for the swelling to go down.  If his nose still looks different or if he's still having trouble breathing, we have to make an appointment with his ENT, and they will proceed from there.  I'm praying it heals quickly, and no further treatment is needed!

On top of all that, the poor little dude has an Upper Respiratory Infection!  He got sick earlier in the week; most likely from all the visits to the doctor for Dylan's leg. He ended up passing his germs to me. I was sick with a fever, sore throat, and body aches all weekend, so I now know just how awful he felt earlier this week.  He made it almost a year with only one respiratory infection, and is now dealing with all this at once. Fortunately, he's tough!



I still feel awful.  I know it was an accident, but his poor little nose!  It's almost unrecognizable, especially from the side, and the swelling and bruising just keep getting worse.  Tonight, it looks even worse than it did in the ER.  It's a normal progression, but I sure hope it heals quickly!



It looks awful, but no big deal!  He's still smiling!



It was a long day for my sweet boy.  Hopefully tomorrow is a MUCH better day!



I think-HOPE- we reached our ER visit quota for the year!

First Big Boo Boo

Let me tell you something about my two year old. She may be feisty, but she is cautious. She's not much of a daredevil.

That is, until today.

We were playing outside, and Dylan and Lexie decided they wanted to ride their bikes. They were riding around in our backyard, and Dylan asked if they could ride them in the driveway. When I said yes, Lexie took the opportunity to push off down the hill that leads to the driveway.

I watched in horror, running just a few steps behind her, as she gained speed down the hill. I couldn't stop what was about to happen, and knew she was going to get hurt. It was just a matter of how much she would get hurt. Sure enough, Lexie's tricycle hit the rock wall at the bottom of the hill, and I swear, my heart stopped, as I watched her sail over the handlebars, fly several feet through the air, and land with a thud, in our driveway.

All I can remember is screaming, "OH MY GOD!" as she landed. I was expecting the worst, because it looked terrible. I thought for sure she was going to be knocked out, bleeding profusely, or have a broken bone or head injury. I have never been more relieved than I was when I heard her cry. I know several people witnessed it, but I was oblivious to them, and just scooped her up, and ran into the house.

It could have been a lot worse. I'm not quite sure how she didn't get hurt worse than what she did. I thought that we'd be rushing her to the hospital.

I am so thankful that she is okay.

Lexie continued to cry for several minutes. Her entire left arm was scraped up, and her cheek was rapidly turning purple. I stuck her in the tub, so I could rinse off the dirt, and assess the damage. My poor baby had "road rash" from her shoulder to her wrist...the worst scrape was on her forearm, where all of the skin was torn off. I am cringing as I write this, because it looks so painful. At first, I didn't notice her cheek, because it was just red at the time, but it started turning black and blue, and is now swollen.

Luckily, she bounced back quickly, and was ready to go back outside in 20 minutes. Nothing appears to be broken, but she is complaining of the scrapes on her arm hurting. I'm sure they do!

I took some pictures, but they aren't the best quality. The lighting was poor, and...ahem...I have yet to figure out Photoshop. It's been on my computer for a week, and all I really know how to do is crop. These were taken shortly after the accident, but she looks a lot worse now. I'm particularly worried about the large scrape on her forearm. It is really swollen and bruised.

I am feeling horribly guilty that I couldn't reach her in time to save her from the pain. When I look back on the situation, I remember the look on her face as she coasted down the hill-she was oblivious, happy, and having fun. Little did she know what was going to happen several seconds later. I know boo boo's are a part of life, but as a mom, I just wish I could shield my children from pain.

At least she waited 2 years before she got an injury. Dylan started at the age of 1, and never stopped!

I hope my baby girl heals quickly!