Micah's Turn!!!!

WARNING: Pictures contained in this post may be semi-disturbing for those with weak stomachs.

Contains blood.

Mr. Micah has a cold. And has been a bit grumpy because he isn't feeling well. He also isn't sleeping well thanks to said cold. (Perhaps it's a "hot" instead of a "cold" since it's summer?)

This morning, after having been whining in his sleep last night, he got up at 6:00 sharp. Always the best when you've gone to bed after midnight (me, not him). So, neither one of us was in the best of moods. But, we had some out of town company to distract us today. Uncle Mike was visiting Aunt Pat and GG from FL and they all made a quick jaunt up to MI (from OH) to see us! We were having tons of fun, and I thought I would go grab a quick run before it got hot since they were forecasting 100* today. (In MI! And yes, We did hit 100 and set a new record high!)

So I am just about to put on my shoes, when Micah comes in the kitchen, I hear a thunk and then crying. Not horrendous screaming, just normal "I'm grumpy and I bumped my head" kind of crying. I calmly walk over to him and pick him up, only to see the blood dripping onto the floor. Of course terror always seizes a mother's heart in the moment between knowing this could be very bad and actually identifying where the blood is coming from and that all limbs and teeth are still attached and accounted for. Oh, and the eyes, let's not forget the eyes. I'll stop, as I'm making myself queasy here.

First glance, mouth is not what's bleeding. All teeth are intact, and tongue and lips are still in once piece as God intended. Whew.

Gaze moves further up the face, not the nose. Momentary relief followed by....uh-oh. There's a lot of blood here, if it's not the nose, it must be the...EYES?!?!?

WHEW. NOPE.

So that leaves the...yep. Forehead. And that much blood coming from the forehead can mean only one thing...

This one's going to need to be stitched.

Mr. Micah at 7:45 this morning, just moments after having his face cleaned up. Really, doesn't look too bad. Until you think of the scar that will leave if not treated.

Well, there were a few giant blessings this morning in dealing with this. The first is that my family was here visiting so I not only had a car to use (as Bryan was 30-45 min away at work) but I also had 3 capable adults to leave the other 3 kids with! (Can you even imagine how bad the experience would have been taking all the kids in to have Micah stitched?)The second was that I had convinced Bryan not to throw away the extra carseat chilling in the garage, so I didn't have to drive not only illegally but also unsafely with a child not in a carseat! The third is that Bryan called as I was leaving to say that he was coming home to work at home today as the A/C wasn't working in the office (remember the 100* discussion above). This is particularly significant as I had offered to watch a friend's four kids while she went to a dr appt this morning. I felt less stressed knowing that Bryan was there and there were now 4 capable adults to mind 7 children until I got there. And fourth would be that I had not yet left on my run! I never take my cell and probably wouldn't have even thought about it this morning.  That would have been horrible for everyone!

Doesn't seem so bad when you realize all the things that went right!!

Mr. Micah on the way to Urgent Care realizing his head really does hurt!

Looking a little worse for the wear waiting for the doctor, having given his head a couple rubs.

All stitched up and headed back home...and making sure the invisible man next to him isn't going to steal his treat!
Got himself his first sucker and I was in a panic with him holding it while I was driving. I am so afraid him choking while I am driving, but he wasn't really eating it anyway, just holding it.

The finished product. 3 stitches later and he's almost as good as new. Scars build character and make great conversation pieces anyway...right? RIGHT?? As a mom, it's hard to see my still perfect and smooth baby's face marred but it's all a part of growing up...plus, it could have been far worse- see above.

And, to conclude, yes, stitching the face of a 19-month-old is a very unpleasant task. Actually, I do believe the doctor had it the easiest. He just wrapped him up in a sheet so he (in theory) couldn't move and then made the nurse hold his head still and me pin down the rest of him. FUN TIMES, let me tell you. And saying he screamed would be quite an understatement. Luckily, there was only on other patient waiting to be seen, and she was very sympathetic to the poor little guy when we left. Glad there weren't any kids in there waiting, they would have likely left. With or without their parents.

OH! The story!! Not so interesting but he wasn't even running. He has a toy car that he (or someone else) had pushed across the floor and he chased. It stopped at the kitchen island. He bent down to pick it up- and apparently misjudged the size of his head. (In his defense, it is quite large.) He smacked his head on the edge of the island which appears to be quite sharp! So you can't even blame it on anything that he shouldn't have been doing. It was just one of those things.

Glad we have that behind us, now I just ask for your prayers that we avoid infection...not ready for that experience already again! (Doctor said 5% become infected and oral antibiotics used to prevent the infection have not been proven to make any difference at all. In other words, not only is there nothing really we can do to prevent an infection, but there likely wasn't anything we could have done differently with Jonah a couple months ago to avoid it either. So, that leaves prayer!)