Stairs, Gates and Stitches

Hello all!

Today has been a day and a half! Let me start with yesterday. A lovely day, no real stressful points except that the kids were pretty crabby so I packed them up and went to do some errands. One errand that I wanted to do was get a baby gate. Some may think, a baby gate now? There are no more babies. True true. But there is a dog. For the life of me I can't figure out how to fully house break him. Now, this is all fine and dandy if you live in a house with lino or laminate but a house with wall to wall carpet, a little tougher situation. So, my mom has a little machine called a Little Green. It is a handy little thing for usually cleaning small areas on rugs or furniture but because of the situation and wanting the carpet to be really clean I decided that scrubbing on my hands and knees would ensure the job was done right. So, needless to say, this has been a lot of work. But finally I have the kids rooms done and the hallway done. So, I decided that after all that, I don't want the dog up there anymore as under beds seems like the perfect bathroom spot. Hence the baby gate. I brought the gate home and Adam and I agreed that after a long day we would just lean it against the wall and install it tomorrow. It is a wood gate that you attach to the wall so that it swings open and closed.

Okay, so today I was leisurely chatting on the phone with my friend Jenny. Ahhh, so nice! We were catching up on our Christmas info and such. Joel came down the stairs, bouncing down on his bum, in a box. Okay, so I said to him, "Joel, that is dangerous, don't do it anymore!" And went on chatting as he took the box back up stairs. Next thing I see it Joel coming head over heels with the box tumbling after. The conversation ended something like this, "Jenny, I've got to go right now!!!" click. I ran to Joel who had hit his head on the leaning gate, right on the metal hinge. Blood was dripping off his head by now and I ran him into the kitchen. I got a damp cloth and blotted the blood away. As I puled the cloth away, I realized that this was much worse than I thought. It was really deep and I started shaking really bad. I must have gone into shock, although Joel didn't. I grabbed a cold pack from my freezer and put it on the wet cloth and got Joshua to grab the phone. Adam had the van so I called my mom to come. She came in a flash and I was off to the hospital.

So glad I went as Joel was in need of 5 stitches. No pictures as it is bandaged now and there was a little too much going on. So, the doc came and I could not believe how brave Joel was when they put in the freezing. He never screamed one and sucked back as much tears as he could. I held his hands and a nurse held his head and they put in a couple or so needles. So stressful. Afterward I just lay my head on his little tummy and cried. I couldn't help thinking about all these things...

-if only I didn't wash the carpet then the box wouldn't have been out there on the floor.
-if only I didn't want this dog, the carpets wouldn't have needed cleaned.
-if only I hadn't bought that gate yesterday, he would have been fine.
-if only if only if only. And then the Lord said...
-remember it could have been much worse a child falling down the stairs and
-I kept him safe

Right Lord, You are always keeping us safe. Thank You!

So, when the doc came back to do the stitches I confirmed with him that Joel wouldn't feel a thing of pain because of the freezing and he assured me so I told Joel all about it and that it wouldn't hurt. But as the doctor started the third stitch of 5 it was obvious that Joel was feeling something. He started to cry. Again he was trying to suck it back but it was obvious that there was pain. The doctor said that he had probably pulled a hair or something and went on to the fourth. Then Joel couldn't hold it back. He was really tense and squeezing my hands really tight. And the tears were coming down his face. He was quietly crying and the doctor realized that this one he was feeling. He apologized but there was really no point in putting in more freezing at this point so I told him not to worry about it, just to finish. I told Joel it was the last one and just to be brave and then he could have a Popsicle. He was awesome. Cried but recovered well, and quickly. I was so proud of him. He got his Popsicle and then I stood up to get our stuff and was suddenly really weak. So I told the nurse I didn't feel too well. "Time for Mommy to lay down" and I did. Just a few minutes and an apple juice and muffin later and we were ready to go. We went to the vending machine where Joel wanted peanuts and we left. Of course before going he thanked the doctor who looked a little surprised after all the pain but Joel was back to his old self... 5 stitched, 2 butterfly stitches, and a cool Spider man bandage later! Pictures when it has healed a bit. Doctor was awesome, Nurses were awesome. I felt so taken care off.

Hope all of you are safe and happy today.

God bless!