Allie's First Emergency

One of the "firsts" I knew would come, but didn't look forward to, was Allie's first injury/emergency. I, myself, have never had stitches, never been in a cast, etc. The E.R. is unfamiliar territory for this mama, and I pray it stays that way.

About a week and a half ago, on Friday, August 20th, I was making some baby food for Allie Joy. Just like almost every day, she sat on the counter top in her bumbo chair to watch as I mixed, stirred, and blended her zucchini. What I didn't know, though, was how strong she'd become. While on the phone with a friend, I turned around for a split second. When I turned back around, Allie had one foot underneath her, and was catapulting herself out of the bumbo and straight down on to the kitchen tile. I was hysterical. I immediately began screaming, as guilt washed over me. Face-down on the tile, Allie started to cry. When I went to pick her up, I expected to see blood and broken bones. Evidence of God's hand of protection was already in place, as neither of those things were present. She wasn't bleeding, she didn't appear to be seriously injured. Still - I was hysterical. (Thankfully, my sweet friend Gabby talked me down for a minute before I called Adam, who immediately left work to pick Allie and I up and head to the doctor's office.) It was about this time that I noticed a big, purple goose-egg beginning to swell up on Allie's forehead. She was still crying. Frantically, I grabbed her diaper bag, loaded her in her car seat, and we met Adam in the Wells Fargo bank parking lot, where he took over as the driver. He said he'd called the pediatrician's office, and they told him to take her to Cook's Children's Hospital downtown.

He must have been driving 100+ miles per hour. While on the way to the hospital, I looked down at Allie, and she was falling asleep. This was the most terrifying thing I'd ever seen. I'd alwasy heard that anyone with a head injury of any kind should be kept awake until they're examined - just in case. I was a complete basket-case in the back seat, sitting next to her little car seat. I was sobbing, singing, clapping, and doing everything I could to keep her awake until we got there. I can honestly say I have never been more afraid in my life. When we got to the E.R. at Cook's, they did a quick evaluation, and said she seemed okay, and they'd take her back in a minute.

Poor Baby Allie with her big purple bump :(

They ran a few tests, and decided to take her for a CAT scan. Poor baby. They swaddled her up tight, placed her head in between two supports so it couldn't move, and all we could do was watch. It was so heart-wrenching. All I could think of was how blessed we are that we have a healthy baby. Some parents have to do things like that on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. I can't imagine. Little Allie Joy was so calm and brave through the test. They handed Adam a light-up toy to hold up for her, so she wouldn't move too much. When she still moved too much, they asked him to feed her a small bottle of Pedialyte to keep her head still for the scan. After it was over, we went back to a room and waited for the results.

When the doctor came back in, he said there was nothing to be concerned about, and gave me a serious, "No more bumbo seats on the counter-top" speech - as if I needed it! I was ready to light the bumbo seat on fire when we got home!

We are just so thankful to God for protecting our precious girl, and for healing her body so quickly. In less than a week after the accident, you couldn't even tell she'd been hurt. God is SO good!