Lynda Loveland: First kid ER visit!

I knew it was just a matter of time. Well, the time has come.

Last weekend, we all went to the gym to work out. My husband and I dropped the kids off at the gym’s childcare and proceeded upstairs to attempt to better ourselves for swimsuit season. We were about 20 minutes in when our names were called over the speaker system to come to childcare. We were taking bets as to who got in trouble over what. But we get to the door, I see Caiden’s face and it all changes. He’s sobbing and clutching gauze to his chin. He looks terrified.

I run through the front door and practically bust through the little security gate to get to him. I take one look at the gaping wound on his chin and know we’ll be heading to the ER. He’d been playing soccer with his friend and fell on the floor, chin first. It wasn’t pretty.

All the way to the hospital, Caiden kept saying, “I don’t want stitches!” To which Campbell replied, “Oh, you’re sooo going to get stitches!” She always has a way of making stressful situations so much more ….. um, tolerable. Yeah, that’s it. (Is there a font for sarcasm?)

Once we’re back in a room in the ER, the doctor needs to numb Caiden’s chin. Well, you know how that’s done, by inflicting pain, very tenderly of course. The nurse and I are practically laying on Caiden to try and hold him still. No good. They call in the big guns, a big dude, very nice smile. It takes three of us to hold down a 5-year-old, 48-pound boy. It’s amazing what fear and adrenaline will do.

His face was bright red against his blond, soaking wet hair. It was one of those moments when you would do anything to trade places with your child and take away the pain. I was fine up to a point, but than my voice cracked while I was trying to console him, and the dam broke. Way to be strong for your kid right? I just couldn’t help it. Luckily he didn’t see me, since the big dude had his head in a vice like grip.

After two internal stitches and seven external, he was finished. Caiden sat up, soaked with sweat from head to toe. But he was whole again and I had no problem holding him close.

As of today, he’s doing well! No problems, physically, to report. That Elizabethan collar looks kinda silly, but it should come off tomorrow. (Insert smiley face here.)