A Stitch in Time

Well, 8 stitches in time...

Yesterday Grandma handed Lucy off to me at school while I finished up watching a movie with my dancers. Lucy was having a blast running around my classroom and away from me. Unfortunately, she is almost 17 months old and in between shoe sizes. The action: a clumsy toddler in too big shoes running full speed toward a metal platform. The result: 8 stitches to her forehead.

Thankfully we were at school and thankfully there is an athletic trainer 30 seconds from my classroom so down the hall we ran with her adorable (now bloodstained) grey sweater pressed to her forehead. He cleaned and taped her up and sent us off to the Pediatric ER. You may remember that ER from such cousin blog posts as Joey and Clara: The Perils of Popcorn.

They saw us right away and as we waited for the numbing agent to kick in, we were treated to toys, a free binky, and our selection from a number of DVDs. The closest we could get to Diego was, sadly for me, Dora. Lucy was amazing throughout the ordeal. She understandably screamed when things hurt or made her uncomfortable but she was unbelievably cute and adorable all the times in between. The "Kid Helpers" at the ER were so supportive of both her and me; I am so grateful. Grandma showed up to back me up until Tom was able to get there from rehearsal. Grandma and I were so blown away by the loveliness of the experience, she even captured a video of the doctor and Child Life workers singing to Lucy and blowing bubbles to distract her while they put 8 stitches in her head! I can't imagine the pressure of stitching up a baby's head with her mother's face an inch away; that doctor was awesome!



I kept myself together by cracking jokes. I called Dora a nitwit. I requested a sedative for myself if I was going to have to watch four consecutive episodes of Dora. I hoped out loud that Lucy would now have a negative association with Dora because of the pain she experienced while watching it. (I don't like Dora)

The view this morning when I changed her bandaid. There is still some dried blood around this which makes it look messier than it was. It is actually a really straight, clean laceration and should heal really well. Also a scratch below but thankfully no bump.


She'll have a big bandaid for several days while the stitches heal. We'll need to religiously put sunscreen on the scar for at least six months. But the nurse said that by the time she starts school, we'll be the only ones who will ever notice the scar. If not, she can just grow her bangs out! She's in a great mood today and it doesn't seem to be bugging her at all.

As we left the ER we mentioned to the nurses and doctors that we thought we'd surely see them again sometime. Lucy, we believe, is going to give us a run for our money.

Go Sharks!