Emergency

Thursday was a day that I wish to never ever repeat. I am assured, however that this is just the beginning of days like this.

Around 9:30 in morning I heard a loud cry coming from my mothers kitchen. In my regular annoyance these days, I figured Matthew and Levi had just done yet another silly thing and hurt themselves in a minor way. I was quite mistaken. I arrived to find Matty's right thumb stuck in between the window of the screen door (you know those glass doors with two moving windows held in by a metal frame?). I quickly lifted the window to find a very terrifying looking thumb.

Blood, tears, shaking... I am so thankful I wasn't alone. My mom grabbed me a wet towel that I wrapped his finger in and we just set to trying to figure out what on earth to do. I knew stitches were needed but how does one do that with a nursing baby and an almost two year old...

We finally decided to call Tara who could come and watch the other boys while my mom drove Matty and I up to the hospital. Then if Ewan lost it out of hunger my mom could run back and get him from Tara, who would have to load Levi and Ewan up in my car and drive to the entrance of emergency.

They processed out entrance really quickly which gave me the false hope that we were going to be seen quickly. We went to the closest hospital instead of the childrens hospital because we figured it would be faster and we might just get stitches quickly since he was only 3.

My mom and I waited until we were finally given a room. Once we had a room we waited and waited some more. Finally the dr. came and then got pages so had to leave within minutes. He didnt come back for at least 30 mins. Then he came, took a look at the finger and told us we needed to go for x-rays. He put some freezing gel on Matty`s thumb and off we went to get the pictures. I was assured they would save our room so that once we got back we could set right back up in the room and not upset Matthew too much more.

I was the fourth person in line for e-rays and while we were waiting we got the dreaded call from Tara saying Ewan was losing it and that she would be by soon to drop him off. Off my mom went to meet Tara and grab the baby.

Now there are 4 of us waiting for pictures. I nursed Ewan and he was as happy as a clam. cooing and giggling and everyone walking by wanted to take a peek. Matthew and I went to go for the x-rays and he was a champion. I sang to him in between and he had eyes only for his mom. It was precious.

Once thos pictures were done we headed back into the ER waiting room and low and behold they had given our room away. My almost three month old, my mother, Matthew and I were now stuck waiting in the presence of all sorts of illnesses. Can any one day `terrified`

I found the nurse and asked why we didnt have a room and they sorted it out and got us back in (he didnt normally work there and also had a son around Mattys age and hated seeing us there so he was so helpful to us). Then the waiting began again.

It turns out Mattys little thumb bone was broken so they needed to wait on the childrens hospital plastic specialist to call and tell the dr what the best move was. They didnt know if they should stitch him up or not.

Once the call came it was decided to stitch up his finger and wait to get an appointment at the childrens hospital for a specialized eye to decide what next. Here began the sad part. I lay down beside Matthew while the Dr. set to work. I sang Psalms to him, told him stories and tried to distract him while the Dr. put the needle in his little finger to freeze it. He cried and wanted to kick his legs so I snuggles him close and sang louder. I stroked his hair to calm him and as I did he cried but was so much calmer. He understood that it was going to help him even if it hurt.

I told him my version of Goldilocks and the three bears. He was so captivated. He had never heard the story before. I cried on and off while his finger was being touched but mostly out of fear. Then we were done. His finger was wrapped up and he was ready to sit up and get going... only we were made to wait more.

Yup, they needed to get us a copy of the x-rays to bring to the hospital once we got an appointment and we needed a prescription for infection but didnt know Matthews weight. A wonderful nurse who was on her very first day at the hospital helped us by finding a scale and getting Matty weighed. Then another nurse came by to give us the prescription but told us we needed to wait for the x-ray disc. We were done waiting.

I went to the front, waited for someones attention and then asked if i could come back the next day to get the x-rays. Matty so desperately wanted to leave. They gave a call to the x-ray people and foind out that the disc was ready and I could go up and pick it up. Can you believe that I would have be waiting for another hour or so just to get them to bring that disc downstairs...

Anyways, we paid for parking and headed home. Matty got some special cars from Grammie for being so brave. And may I just brag a bit... I think he deserves it. Matthew was the best kid on the earth. He obeyed everyones instructions even though it hurt, he calmed down when i asked him to even though he was scared and he put everyone else to shame. The Dr. even said he wished Matthew could show every other patient how to behave ( I guess it was a pretty busy day with many difficult people).

We got a call yesterday from the childrens hospital. We go for our appointment Monday afternoon. I will admit that I am still for terrified. What are we going to have to go through yet... my poor, brave baby.

I changed the dressing this morning too. I am still shaking. I dont handle blood well. He was a trooper.

Pray for us please.