Three weeks ago we had a fluke Saturday when it rained and the weather was cool (like 75 degrees). It was glorious. After I spent most of the day working I felt guilty for not spending more time with the kids so around 5 pm I yelled for the kids to join me outside to play. Dad who had been working most of the day had just left for an evening obligation so I though it playing outside would be a nice way to end the day.
As we got outside the boys immediately started playing baseball, Isabelle was riding her scooter and Madelyn was playing by me. The boys went to throw the ball from one end of the street to the other and I told them not to throw the ball. "Gabriel, don't throw it that far, you'll hit something or someone." Of course Gabriel told me so how silly I was to think such a thing and that of course nothing would happen. Three more times I yelled for him down the street to just walk it back and not to throw it.
I'm sure you can tell where this is going. Just like you see the movies, as I shouted for the 4th time, "Don't throw that ball!" he threw the ball. Michael who was in the street near Madelyn and me reached up to catch it with his glove. He missed it and the ball bounced in the middle of the street and then came with full force and a direct hit, right to Madelyn's head- hitting her smack dab in the middle of her head. It hit her with so much force that she fell backwards but because I was so close I was able to catch her before she hit the ground. I immediately screamed and threw my phone which was in my hand, scooped her up and ran to get inside the house. By this time she was screaming like the worst thing in the world had just happened to hear. I started yelling at the boys...
This is Exactly why I said don't throw the ball! They felt back you could tell as they knew they were in trouble and immediately as obedient as could be. I screamed for them to call dad. They got dad on the phone and handed the phone to me. I was worked up with seeing what had happened, Madelyn was screaming and I'm sure he was having a hard time hearing what I was trying to tell him. Finally I got it out and told him he needed to come back home. I needed his help.
I hung up with him on the phone and called our emergency pediatrician number. They told me they'd call back as soon as possible. As dad was pulling into the driveway Madelyn was still screaming, I tried to give her a drink of water and do anything to get the screaming to stop. I knew she had to be in pain. Dad pulled in and we both made the decision we needed to go to the ER. The way the ball had hit her, she had to have a concussion. So Dad got back in his car to head back downtown and the 4 kiddos and I made a trip to the ER. The entire ride there Madelyn was crying, and I was lecturing to the boys that they need to listen to me, that they may think they know better, but they don't and that this is exactly why I told them not to throw it.
As we pulled into the ER we walked in and I told the big kids I needed them to be on their best behavior. They all three went and sat down. I could tell Michael was praying and I knew Gabriel was well aware he had made a BIG mistake. Isabelle sat quietly, they knew Mom couldn't take much more.
The triage person looked at Madelyn, took her vitals and they said we will take you back right away.
The four kids and I followed the nurse back to the room and we explained again what had happened. By this time Madelyn had quieted down but was not asking like her normal self. She's continued to burst into tears and her forehead was deep red.
They assessed her, then a physician came in and said they were concerned that because she wasn't acting like herself they wanted to keep her longer and observe her. They decided to give her some pain medicine to see if that's the reason why she was so out of sorts.
Within 20 minutes of giving her medicine I was able to see a change in how she was acting. They said if she didn't respond to the pain meds by returning to her normal behavior they would do a CT scan and admit her to stay overnight for observation. They said no matter what she had sustain a concussion and that she'd need to be watched for the next few days.
Thankfully she returned to herself relatively quickly and decided she was hungry. They all were, it happened just as I was making dinner and we hadn't eaten since lunch so by 7:45 in the ER all of the kids were whining they were SO HUNGRY, they were going to keel over.
By this point, what I can only describe as a crazy coincidence happened when I had gotten a call who I thought was from Mrs. Stacey. I couldn't take the call because it happened in the midst of the craziness of getting to the ER, but I texted her when I had a minute and said, "Sorry can't talk... in the ER" Moments later she texted back and asked me if we needed help. I said, "I think we'll be okay," knowing spending the evening in the ER with 4 kids was less than ideal. When the doctor told me we'd be there for some hours so they could observe her, I decided to text her back and say, "Can I take you up on your offer?" She willingly came and grabbed the big kids, took them to McDonalds (to their joy) and then took them home to tuck them into bed.
One of the nice nurses got the okay from the doctor it was okay Madelyn have some juice and some crackers. Three juice boxes and 4 cracker packs later, Madelyn had made a great friend in the nurse and knew herself where to find the rations. She may have gone and helped herself.
After enough time had passed and the doctor was confident there was no skull fracture, and that she was acting normal, we were allowed to be released. I was thankful and just wanted to get home. What a way to end the day.
Even though it was super late as we walked out Madelyn decided she needed to wear her shades. I told her that her bruise was still visible but she didn't seem to believe me. :-)
When Madelyn and I finally returned home, Aunt Stacey had been waiting for us. We sat at the table and talked about how we need to get together more often and that's when she said, "Angie, you know I never called you tonight." I said, I'm confident you called me. I saw it with my own eyes on my phone as it rang. I looked on my phone and saw that for sure it had to have been her who called. We smiled and she said, "I think your little boy was intervening when he knew you needed help. I didn't know what else to say. I think she was right.
I'm thankful Madelyn was okay and we hoped that it was the last of our ER visits for a while. While we hoped, we were wrong. Less than three weeks from Madelyn's visit, the kids and I made yet another trip to the ER with a head injury. This time it was Michael's turn.
Always something in our house. Stay tuned another ER story coming soon.
Until next time,
Angie
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