There’s nothing like a close shave to remind me how friggin’ lucky I am to have a healthy whole child. (currently knocking on wood)
Avi fell plummeted off the back of the couch today. A two and half foot free fall flat on to her back and, consequently, her head.
Within minutes she was lethargic, yawning and complaining of pain in the back of her mouth. Twenty minutes later she was curled up on the kitchen floor after puking her guts out.
Her pupils were fine, but she was clearly not. The doctor told me to watch her (duh) and if she vomited again, bring her to the ER but otherwise just hang in there until we could get in for an appointment.
It was a very long two hours. For me, anyways.
I finally got her moved to the couch to watch a movie where she promptly fell asleep.
I struggled with myself for a few minutes as I watched her breath. If it’s a concussion, aren’t I supposed to make her stay awake? But the doctor didn’t say that and my nurse-to-be roomie said she would be fine sleeping as long as I could wake her up in a couple of hours. But her dad told me I wasn’t allowed to let her sleep.
Fortunately, her dad called me right at that moment to tell me I could let her sleep. He’d double checked. He told me I should look it up too to make myself feel better. I decided not to. I’d rather trust the people around me and my gut which told me she really needed to sleep.
Over the course of the next hour and a half, I watched her face puff up in her sleep. A small puffiness. A little blotchiness. No one but one’s own mother would notice. But I worried anyways. I left her side long enough to get a cup of tea and my knitting basket. And then there I sat wondering if I had a long road ahead of me of watching my child scream through lab tests and get drugged up for CT scans and then I grew thankful for the fact that she has been so healthy so far.
She woke up on her own. And within minutes was munching goldfish and giggling at the TV. She was back to her old self and bravely said “ahhh” to the doctor when asked.
And did I bother to remind her of the lesson she learned about climbing on the backs of couches? Of course not. I was too relieved to remember to lecture. Her dad took care of it by asking “What lesson did you learn today when you fell off the couch?”
To which she replied that she should not climb on the back of the couch.
To which he replied, “Yes, but more importantly, if you do climb things, you always need a spotter.”
So true.