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For most of the day yesterday, my 4-year-old daughter complained that her eye was hurting. I inspected it several times, but failed to find anything in her eye that might be irritating it. By late afternoon she was crying and rubbing until half her face was red and puffy. I knew she was tired after a busy weekend, so I put her to bed early, figuring a good night’s sleep was all she needed.
I was wrong.
At 9:45 PM she woke up screaming. By 10:15 PM I was carrying her into the emergency room. And at 12:15 AM I was carrying her out of the emergency room with a prescription for her corneal abrasion.
This was not Little C’s first trip to the ER. Nor was it her 2nd. Nope, not her 3rd either. This would be #4. In less than 4 years. Guess I should expect an ER visit every year with this one.
My son saw his fair share of ER docs when he was a baby, but that was for normal issues like late night high fevers and ear infections. My daughter seems to come up with more unique reasons to visit the ER.
Oddly enough, Little C’s first ER visit was also for a scratch on her eyeball when she was only a year old. She was trying to keep up with her big brother and his preschool friends on the playground, when that same big brother tossed a stick behind him without looking. As bad luck would have it, that stick landed in his sister’s eye. Off to the ER.
The second time around, Little C hitched a ride to the ER in an ambulance. It was Big C’s opening ceremony for t-ball. It was really hot. Nap time was overdue, and I didn’t pack enough snacks. I held Little C in my arms as she threw the mother of all tantrums. And then I watched as her eyes rolled in the back of her head, her body went limp, and she passed out. Someone called 911, an ambulance pulled into the crowded sports complex, and I left my son with a friend as I climbed in next to my not quite 2-year-old who was strapped to a stretcher. Diagnosis? My child knows how to hold her breath until she passes out.
The third visit was the bloodiest. She tripped over her own feet at school and landed face first on the corner of a table. Five stitches right between her eyebrows. I think I was almost as traumatized by the experience as she was. I never want to see a 3-year-old in a papoose with a mixture of blood and soapy water dripping into her eyes ever again.
We have no idea how this latest injury occurred, and neither does she. It’s definitely the most boring of her ER stories. But when it comes to reasons to visit the ER, I guess boring is good.
So I sit at home today with my daughter who is watching tv with one hand over her bad eye. And I’m thankful we got this year’s ER visit over and done with. It gives me a whole year to plan for the next one.
Do you have a good ER story?
My husband just went to the hospital a few weeks ago with a corneal abrasion. he hit himself in the eye with his jacket zipper as he was putting it on…ahem..i mean…he was fighting a polar bear in our backyard. yeah…that was it.
Oh ER stories….My oldest was 2.5, DS was 7 months old, Husband was deployed and I had 4 daycare kids over plus I had just received my nephew as a emergency placement from the state. Nephew and DD were playing when she climbed into the play shopping cart with her sippy cup in her mouth. Blood curdling screams then filled the house. The shopping cart had slipped and she had tumbled out with the cup in her mouth which had laid open her top gum all the way to the bone! I was frantically calling the parents of the daycare kids (all siblings) but they would not answer – load 7 kids into the station wagon, drop daycare kids off at their grandparents, unannounced, rush to the ER. They tie DD down on a papoose board, 2 medics, 1 nurse, the DR and the oral surgeon, along with myself and enough meds to knock out a grown man and she still fought us! 16 stitches in her MOUTH and 3 hours later we get to go home….fast forward 14 years and we are paying $5000 to continue to fix her gums and jaw bone!!
Sounds like my life…glad she is okay!
Oh, I'm so sorry for your little one. I hope it heals up fast! I don't have the stomach for minor scrapes and bruises much less major ones.
The few trips we have made to the ER were for swelling (found out my daugher is allergic to amoxycillin) and a case of hives. I usually get all weak and wobbly and feel like I'm going to pass out when they have to draw blood. Thanks goodness those visits are not a regular occurence!
I love how people always assume that boys are accident prone 🙂 My little girl is right there along with yours. L thinks she can do anything and probably should have ended up in the hospital countless times. But I think God, is really watching over her and me (so I keep my sanity).
I feel awful that your little one has all these ER trips. I hope she heels good. {{hugs}}
Oh my! She knows how to keep you guys on your toes!
We've not had too many ER visits but our son gave us plenty of scares before he was even a month old. We took him to the dr. because he was a loud breather and ended up in being sent to the ER of the children's hospital. His airways weren't fully developed and he ended up having to be on oxygen and an apnea monitor until he was 1. He is also our child who had 4 black eyes by the time he was 18 months, one being at birth. Yup, kids love to make things exciting!
I hope Little C is feeling better soon. And I hope that she stays out of the ER for quite some time!
I hope she recovers quickly!
I don't have kids but I had to take my then 2 year old pit bull to the ER because he couldn't digest my suede handbag. He ended up having emergency surgery to remove said handbag and a few smaller items. (He's a trash compactor) It was 5:00 AM on New Year's Day so I went to the emergency vet which is far more organized than the ER for humans. And of course hubby was deployed. Thankfully the dog is well and no more purses as snacks.
Ouch! Hope she's feeling better soon!
No ER trips with my 4-year-old DD or the twins (almost 11 months), but DS has been three times — once in the middle of the night for croup, once for a broken arm, and once for a broken foot. Every other year for him, though.
Hope your little one gets to feeling better soon! Don't worry though, I think eventually they grow out of their accident proneness eventually. My younger sister had to be taken to the ER at least once a year in her younger days. So much so, I think my mom was concerned they were going to have the authorities look into her parenting abilities. I don't remember when exactly, but she eventually grew out of her need to visit the ER frequently.
Aww poor kid!!
My poor mother had to take me to the ER when I was 9 because I thought it would be a good idea to ride my wagon down a massive hill like Calvin and Hobbes. Hellooooo concussion!
Oh my goodness! I hope she is doing better now!! That has got to be scary.
When I was 4 my dad wasn't paying attention to me so I went to go play with some other kids at the playground and some kid thought it would be funny to tell me to get on the swing and then whack me in the back of the head with it. Well, I didn't pass out or cry but I was stuttering so bad I couldn't formulate a sentence. I was stuttering like that for over a year and then magically it got much better. I still stutter from time to time now but not as bad! 🙂