Maddi gets stitches!

So, it was bound to happen. A trip to the E.R. for stitches. Looking back I realize how lucky my parents were that the first time they took a kid to the E.R. for stitches was when I cut my finger as a teenager. We made it 4 years-not bad considering other parents' records. :) So this is the story: After camping with our family we stayed at my grandparents' house in Rupert Sunday night. Monday morning we were getting ready to leave. Ryan was out in my grandpa's shop helping him and I was packing everything up. I left the house to go tell Ryan that we were going to need to leave soon. (We had the framer coming to work on our house...a later post) As I walked in the house I heard Maddi crying. I figured she had gotten another "owie" that we would add to the long list. Some real, some not. My grandma said Maddi told her she had hurt her leg. So, I pick her up and rub her leg and tell her she will be okay. She cries a bit and then says, "But mom, look..." as she turns her head. And this is what I saw-

Okay, so this is a real owie. I show my grandma and she goes and gets Ryan while I try to not freak out. I knew she would have to get stitches, but I didn't really like looking at the cut as it was gaping open and quite deep. Surprisingly there was little blood so we didn't realize at first that she had done it. She had hit it on the brick fireplace, but we didn't find this out until we got back from the hospital and she was calmed down.

My grandma stayed with Brynnley and my grandpa drove us to the hospital. Maddi was still crying, but more out of shock than anything. She actually calmed down at the hospital until the nurse tried to put the little monitor on her finger for her pulse. :) Once she decided that the nurse wasn't going to hurt her she let her do what was needed. She didn't really like the doctor squeezing the cut, but she didn't cry and was so brave. They gave us some cream to help numb the area before giving her the shots and stitches. We had to wait 30 minutes for that to work so we watched cartoons in the lobby.

It worked like a charm. She was smiling and completely relaxed when the doctor came back out. I was nervous for how the stitches would go since you hear horror stories with kids. We went back into the room and only one of us could stay with her. Maddi chose me-great. I was glad to be with her since I didn't want to leave, but I didn't really want to see it all either. They strapped her into this papoose thing and then swaddled blankets around her. They did not want her moving. We joked about being wrapped up like a baby and she was okay with the whole thing. Then our dramatic child surprised us all. She didn't move, cry, whine, or anything the entire time! She laid there so still and calm while the doctor stitched her up. She had 12 stitches total. 3 inside and 9 outside. What a trooper she was! All the nurses and the doctor were quite impressed. She was definitely glad when it was all over and was excited to leave.

They had told us that she would need her booster for her tetanus. However, once we got to the health department and looked at her records we realized that she was fine. She enjoyed playing with the toys there though.

We kept the stitches in for a week. She showed them off with pride and joy. When you ask her what happened this is her reply "I was being a horsie and I fell down" This was the exact answer she gave the doctor when we went to have her stitches removed. Again, I was nervous about how she would do, but she was amazing. The doctor came in and explained what he was going to do and then left to get something. I started to tell Maddi what was going to happen when she told me, "I heard what the doctor said Mom!" Oh, sorry. (She's getting way too big) The doctor said she was a perfect child and asked Maddi what it was like to be a perfect kid. Ha! If only...She did do so awesome though. Her doctor put the little tape strips on and so she now has those on until they start to come off. Her doctor also said the E.R. doc did an amazing job with her stitches and so she shouldn't have a bad scar. Thank you doctor.

I'll have to put up some pictures once its healed a little more. It was a crazy experience and one I hope not to repeat. But, it was made much easier by our brave little girl. Way to go Maddi!