But I didn't anticipate this...
So as you know, the morning started out chaotic as it often does. I eventually got round to making my own breakfast and then I set off cleaning up the house. I was hoping to have a friend over later in the day, so I put the smelly knickers in the laundry instead of on the floor and I mopped up a few days worth of spills off the floor. (Do you have any idea how hard it is to sweep a floor with a 1 year old? He seems to think the pile of junk is an all you can eat buffet, which is also especially fun to roll in and scatter all around).
I was in the middle of cleaning up when I hear Zoe crying. I didn't rush to her, as this is a common noise in my household. It sounded like she and Lana were fighting. I put down my cloth and started to slowly make my way to her. Then I heard Lana apologizing to her emphatically and my alarm bells started ringing. Ok, if she's so sorry then she must have really hurt her. Lana's not always speedy on the whole remorse thing.
Zoe and I met in the hallway and she was holding her face in her hands and covered in blood. Apparently Lana closed a door on her, I can't figure out how. I sat Zoe down and got some tissues to start dabbing at her face. As soon as I cleared off the blood and saw the source, I realized I'd be spending some time in the hospital today. Her lip was bust wide open, gaping and oozing. And as she talked it continued to split further open.
I needed Rene. I am no good at handling these situations because I am way too emotionally attached to be objective. I went to call him. Turtle started screaming his head off because he was ready for a nap and didn't like me setting him down and walking away. I finally found Rene's phone number and went to call him but our stupid phone won't hold a charge. So it didn't work. So I scooped a crying kid up in each arm and knocked on our (awesome) neighbor's house and asked her if I could use her phone. She took Turtle and cuddled him and gave me her phone. I called Rene and he came home. Our (did I mention awesome?) neighbor looked after the two big girls for us and the four of us headed to the emergency treatment place.
As soon as they saw her lip they told us they wouldn't be able to fix it, because she might need to speak with a plastic surgeon to avoid scarring.
So off to ER. Zoe was so brave the whole time. She didn't cry at all in the car, and when we got to ER, she complied completely with the staff there. They gowned her up, weighed her, took her temp and checked her oxygen. She was being so sweet, with her lip gaping at them all and her eyes trusting them. She did whatever they asked and hardly uttered a sound. They put some numbing gel on and she tolerated it very well. She was like a completely different child from the one I live with!
Then came the shot. They gave her a shot to knock her out (more like space her out as her eyes stayed open) and her precious face changed. She felt the injection penetrate her leg and her little mouth dragged downwards at the corners and her mouth opened with shock of betrayal and unexpected pain. Her eyes widened with fear and she cried silently. My heart broke. She looked so scared and I wanted to scoop her up and take her home. She looked at the nurses she had trusted and pleaded with her gaze. They covered her face and began to sew. Just before the needle made its first move into her skin, the drugs kicked in and she became still, and breathed a big sigh and her body went limp.
They sewed her up and I cringed at the sight. 3 stitches was enough to cover it. He said she may very well scar, but it shouldn't be too noticeable as most of it was on her actual lip. Then there will be a small scar just at the top of her lip. It shouldn't be too bad.
We spent the next hour waiting for her to wake up and become responsive. She had her eyes open the whole time but was just not there. It was pretty spooky actually. We talked to her, held her hands and stroked her face. Eventually she started to look more present and she sat up and said, "Hey mum". As if just meeting me after being gone for a while. When the Dr came in he asked her if she was ready to go home. She nodded. He said, "ok then. I'll send the nurse in to get you signed out and get these monitors off you". But Zoe didn't intend to wait. As soon as she heard the word "home" she took off her gown and started ripping the monitors off her tummy, and she even figured out how to yank off the blood pressure monitor. She was ready to go!
The RN gave her some bright colored bandaids to take home, since Zoe had liked hers a lot. They said she wins the award for best patient ever. We had been warned that on waking from the medication she might have anxiety and be grumpy, but she was as angelic as she had been the whole time.
So we got her home and rescued the neighbor from Kaya and Lana duty. She has 3 stitches which will come out in about 6 days. Meanwhile we have to convince her to stop pulling at them and remember to put neosporin on them.
And she's getting a bit of extra pampering from us.
So yeah. I knew it would be a bad day. But that took me by surprise.
