Bumps and Bruises

Life with a son is drastically different than life with a daughter.  Both pose their own challenges. Dramatic daughter vs. calm son.  Fearless son vs. cautious daughter.  Even at their young ages, the differences are glaring.  But one of the major differences is Micah's injury list vs. Abby's.  In fact, I can't even think of Abby ever being injured (which is a good thing, don't get me wrong.)  However, Micah has had stitches, busted those out and had to be glued back.  He has had two black eyes and now another trip to the emergency room can be added to his resume.

On Thursday night, Micah fell hard into the corner of the bench in the living room and he immediately fell to his knees, screaming and holding his head.  (I would like to mention that Micah rarely cries when he falls.)  I was standing on the bench trying to get a balloon down that had floated to the ceiling.  In the amount of time it took me to step off the bench and pick him up, his head was swollen in the exact shape of the edge of the bench.  The spot was sticking out of his head about 1/2 inch in less than 10 seconds.  I looked at Josh and he said "We should go!!"  Of course, this was bed time and the kids were only in there underwear/diaper, no pajamas yet.  So I quickly dressed Abby and scooped up Micah and we were out the door.  Abby was very confused and scared about the situation, but she cooperated quite well.  We dropped her off at the Andy and Jessica's (the best neighbors ever!!) and headed to the emergency room.  We planned on going to CareFirst, but they do not check head injuries.

Once we arrived at the hospital, we began to second guess our decision because his head was looking much better.  However, we decided to go ahead and have him checked out.  It was a very quick visit.  We were in and out in less than an hour.  In fact, the nurse practitioner was in and out of the room before vital signs or insurance information was even taken!   Needless to say, everything was fine and by Friday, his head was simply a bad bruise.  We are generally not parents that overreact.  In fact, we are pretty laid back about all injuries.  However, when it is an injury involving the head, I become very concerned.  We may have overreacted but I would rather be safe than sorry!!!

Micah has definitely had his share of injuries, bumps, and bruises, but he handles it all very well and then loves to show off his battle scars!!!

Here are some pics we took with Josh's phone!!

 Micah playing at the ER.  He hated the ankle bracelet he had to wear.

 Close up of the bump.

 The swelling is gone, but the bruise is pretty ugly.