...that's one word you don't want to hear in reference to your 10 month old. But that was our morning yesterday. It was a morning like any other...I worked the night before and was totally exhausted. Alex took Charlie to school and i took Aaron out of his highchair to let him crawl around while I cleaned up the breakfast dishes. In a matter of seconds after putting him on the ground, I heard a terrible thumping sound and realized very quickly
that it was him. I verbally
assaulted myself for not checking that the gate had been closed behind Alex. I got to the stairs in time to watch him flip down the last 5 steps of our 15 carpeted steps, only to land on ceramic tile, legs over head and neck. I fought back the urge to throw up and scooped him up as he cried. *Note: this is not what you should do. You should leave your crying baby as he fell and get the phone and call 911* but my medical knowledge went out the door (or down the steps with Aaron) and I picked him up and fought the urge to call my mom first (she always makes everything better, maybe she could make this
ok too!) and I called the pediatricians
emergency line. The nurse told me quickly to lay him flat and hold his head straight and call 911 IMMEDIATELY. I lost it but did that. At that point, he stopped crying and stopped moving really and just
laid there. I was certain I had paralyzed him. I unlocked the door and waited an
excruciating 1.5 minutes for the ambulance to get there. They were great but didn't have a collar or spine board small enough for him so they scooped him up and we got in the ambulance.
Somewhere in that time, I had called Alex and told him to get home now, an ambulance was coming for Aaron. Also of note, there was an effing van blocking our driveway so the ambulance was in the middle of the street.
The drive to CHOP seemed to take an eternity and I fought off the strong urge to get sick all over because I get terrible motion sickness. I was also sobbing and wondering why Aaron wasn't moving or crying. The EMT kept telling me he was scared and in shock. I was freaked though. The driver was saying things to the hospital like, "trauma, 10 month old baby, full flight of stairs, head trauma, visible trauma, ETA 5 minutes, vitals stable..."
Long story a little shorter, we got to CHOP, they were incredible, they were so relieved that he looked good, and as soon as they pulled out the penlight to check his pupils, he smiled and tried to grab it. He got a head CT which was totally fine. It showed
alot of blood between his skin and skull on the forehead where he has a large
ugly reminder of his fall, and some large bruises on the back of his head, but his open
fontanel missed any major bumps and his brain was clear. They also cleared his neck and we sat for 3 hours while they watched him act more and more normal and we were on our way home.
Writing all of this is somehow therapeutic. Now it's out and I don't have to keep it all in my head. I will never forget this, I will always feel terrible about this, but hopefully I can get the more vivid, vomit provoking images out of my head! I feel badly that for a little guy who has been through SO much in 10 months (not to mention the 8 months he spent in my belly that was wrought with stress), I should have really prevented this kind of thing from happening. But he is fine this morning. I verbally assure that the gate is closed now...any time I put him down on the ground I say, "gates are closed" as I look at them and it helps me make sure.
Thanks for listening, reading, etc! I needed to get this out!
We have an aquarium in our house and it provides Aaron with his only consistent form of entertainment. He'll lay in Alex's arms (above) for several minutes (an eternity in Aaron's life)staring at the fish. He will also sit still on the floor (miraculous!) and stare at them if he catches a glimpse of them as he's racing past.
Well, yesterday, Charlie decided he needed to make a sign for the fishes. He re-did the sign several times before deciding that it was best like this (above) and he put it on the ledge of the aquarium stand.
I asked him what it says, and he replied, "well, it says 'no more fishes jumping out of the aquarium, or else', that's what it says mommy, can't you read it?" I was laughing pretty hard!
Aaron turned 10 months old on January 4th. He's getting so big and so old so fast! When he was a tiny screaming miserable sickly little newborn-6 month old, I really couldn't wait for time to speed up so he could get past whatever was making him so sad...but now time is flying by and I can't believe he's been with us for so long!
We went to Waterloo New York this past weekend to visit Alex's mom's side of the family...his mom passed away when he was a young boy but he's still very close with his Aunts and cousins up there. it was COLD! and it was snowy, but lots of fun. Alex took Charlie sledding one day...it was too cold to stay out for very long but he had fun!
Charlie and Aaron with Aunt Louisa
Aaron being adorable...
Aaron looking very old and chewing on his second sophie giraffe...the first has been lost forever we think, so Alex surprised us all by producing sophie2 before we left for our 6 hour car trip on Friday...Aaron was super excited!
Charlie thanking Aunt Hilda for his xmas gifts...
My boys...Aaron was upset that his sweater clashed with the shag carpeting in Aunt Hilda's basement!
he boys relaxing in the hotel...
Aaron saying goodbye to Aunt Hilda...Charlie was in a mood and couldn't be bothered for a picture!
Charlie does. He told my dad he wanted to go camping so he could roast marshmellows...my dad rigged the BBQ and bought marshmellows, and took him out to roast them. Love you dad! You ROCK! My boys are so lucky!
