Boo-Boos and the joys of parenthood

I think one of the hardest things as a parent is seeing your child get hurt or suffer. I remember when Ben was little, and that poor kid would hit his head left and right. He found himself in the ER about 3 times before he was 4 years old, and we had very nice Firemen visit us at the house once because I wasn't really sure what to do. He had Stitches once in Hawaii, a concussion another time. (Not to mention the time I accidentally dropped him on his head in Costco and we had to get wheeled out in the ambulance. In my defense, He was 2 1/2 and already potty trained. He had to go pee, so I had to hold Hannah in one arm and Ben in the other arm while trying to walk/run to the restroom. I tripped on something and down went my little guy. It surely was a sad day and boy oh boy, Parenthood is a tough one.)  I have always felt that his brain got knocked up enough to make him such an intelligent boy that he is today.

Ahhh....The life of a first time mom. Amazing how things just don't seem as traumatic with the second child, and how I feel like I may be too laid back with the third. Thank goodness we aren't having any more kids because that child may never see a doctor and it could just be too late.  Poor child I will never have. I already feel sorrow for her and happiness that she will never be here to experience a mom that is lackadaisical.

Our little Ashton has had a black eye when he was 1 years old, (hit the side of his head on the corner of a chair at Ben's tournament one summer) but I think last night takes the cake for big Boo-Boos. Ben and him were playing football in the house. (Yes. You just read the word "house". We have the nice soft nerf ones, but perhaps it is time to take it outside now.) Somehow Ashton went to tackle Ben and Ben grabbed a chair to make sure he didn't fall on top of Ashton. The chair came down and hit Ashton right on the forehead.  Poor thing. Luckily he screamed and seemed very alert and crying his head off because that meant he didn't loose consciousness. One always hope crying means it hurts and he will be ok.  Of course I had to keep my cool on the outside because the big kids eyes were looking back and forth at me for reassurance and Ashton in sadness.

I must admit I called the nurse to confirm I needed to wake him up every 4 hours. Doctors rules seem to change every few years, that you never know what they have discovered recently. Like with CPR, you do not have to administer breathes anymore. And laying a baby on their side in the crib, versus laying them on their back had changed from Ben to Hannah's birth.  The doctors office wouldn't even answer my questions. They said with any head trauma I need to go to the ER where they can evaluate him with better equipment. Boy oh Boy. I have been there many times and done the waiting room and CT scans many times to know that a child hitting their head happens all the time, and I just need to watch him closely for a while.So I didn't want to take him in, and yet should I?

Would you if you saw a bump like this one:

Well, I decided to call my friend who is a first time mom and send her the picture and ask her what she would do. She seems reasonable enough to make a good motherly call. She agreed to just wait it out and see how he does in the next few hours before bedtime. I called "daddy" at work to make sure he was good with that decision too.  He came home right away and babied Ashton a bit more, and decided he seemed normal enough because he kept asking about what football game was on tomorrow night. 

I am happy to say that he woke up this morning with only signs of a bruise, and the big golf ball size bump seemed to have vanished.

We do have family pictures this Saturday. I wonder if I will need to borrow some of Hannah's makeup to hide the bruise. Our Poor little guy.