A Month of Gratitude: Day 5

Day 5: Hugh Being Okay

As a parent, there are a lot of fears and unknowns, but one of the biggest things that scares any mother, is the fear of your child being hurt.

Oddly enough, I feel like I had a premonition about what happened this morning, about an hour before it happened. I can't explain it, but I will say that if it ever happens again, I'll listen to it and not ignore it like I did today.

So this morning, around 10:00, Hugh was playing on the main level of the house. He usually crawls from the livingroom to the kitchen, through the kitchen and into the dining room, then into the foyer, and into the office and comes back up the hall to the livingroom. Everything is baby-proofed, so there's nothing that he can get into that can hurt him. Except for one thing.

I had this random premonition that he was going to fall down the stairs just before needing to be outside to get Gus off the bus. It was a random thought and one that I quickly dismissed because the door is usually almost totally closed, and he hasn't gone near the door.

Well... I should have been more diligent and removed him from the office. Instead, I let him keep playing and then right around 10:55, just as I was needing to get Hugh and go out to the bus for Gus... I hear "THUMP.... THUMP... THUMP................." and then the most God-awful cry I've ever heard.

I knew immediately what had happened.

Hugh fell down the basement stairs. From top to bottom. I'm guessing he flipped over several times and then landed on the tiled (not carpeted) floor. :-(

I ran to the stairs and looked down and saw him. I started crying. He was screaming, I was so scared and shaken. I picked him up and tried to comfort him. He immediately clung to me for dear life and I could tell he was so frightened. I couldn't tell if he was hurt or not.

I rushed him upstairs and then sat on the couch and tried to look at him, but he was still screaming. I hugged him and kissed him and tried to calm him down, and finally I was able to get a look at him. He appeared okay, but had a HUGE knot just above his right eye.

It immediately turned a purple color and swelled up. He has a bunch of redness and bruising on the left eye and then his necklace cut his neck during the fall.

I was trying to get my BabyHawk prepped so I could wear him outside, but he was miserable and only wanted to be held. I finally got him settled in and he was lethargic. I was able to text and call Steve to let him know and he said to look online for signs of a concussion.

We waited for the bus (it was later than usual today) and got Gus off the bus and we headed inside. Hugh was very clingy (which he is anyway right now) and kept crying. I didn't know if he was in pain or was just shook up, or hungry, or all three.

I talked to my friend Kathryn and she suggested that I call her mom (a pediatric nurse) and thankfully, she was able to help. She told me to check his eyes and make sure they were dilating when light was on the pupil (they did). She said to put some ice on his bump and that he would be okay to go to sleep, just to touch him every 15-30 to make sure he stirred. She said if he threw up to take him immediately to the ER.

She said babies are very resilient and not to beat myself up over it. 

I feel terrible. My poor sweet boy.

However, he took a nice nap and when he woke up, he was VERY happy and was back to his usual happy self.

I am SO thankful that he's okay. It could have turned out much worse and I can't allow myself to think about the "what-ifs" because they'll get me all upset and it's not worth it. I'm just grateful that he's okay, and so thankful for Kathryn's mom for talking to me and helping me feel better about my sweet baby.

I'm guessing that he'll probably look horrible tomorrow and might be super sore. I'll give him some Motrin in the morning before playgroup and then I'll make sure to give him snuggles all day long.

There's a gate on the door, but it's not working as it should. I'm hoping that Steve is able to take care of it so that I don't ever have to worry about something like this ever happening again.