Lets just start with the beginning. Adam and Bruce made a clean getaway while I took the boys for a wagon ride around the neighborhood. Once we got back everyone headed to the new playroom above the garage to play. Avo was playing with Ethan on the floor while I was reading a book on the couch to Noel. Noel decided to stand up and walk to the other end of the couch. I had gotten up and was walking around behind the couch to get him. Not 45 minutes after Adam and Bruce had left to go to the airport; thinking that their sons were in safe hands with a loving grandmother and an experienced Pediatric ICU nurse, Noel decides to take a header off the couch and slam his forehead on the hardest wood coffee table I have ever seen. I thought he just hit his head (Hard), but Avo screamed he is bleeding! Sure enough, he was all over my brand new Hugo Boss jeans, (btw if the blood doesn't come out you owe me $89, gottem on sale). Noelly Boo had a 2 centimeter laceration above his right eyebrow. So, I scooped up the screaming child and we headed to the bathroom to apply pressure with a rag. With the pressure it only bled about 2-3 minutes. Surprisingly, Noel stopped crying pretty quickly and was more interested in looking at himself in the mirror, that's such an Adam thing to do. I took off the rag to take a look and sure enough it was pretty deep and I knew it was going to need stitches. Rita and I looked at each other and I said, "Son of *****!" With the bleeding and screaming stopped, I knew this was not an emergency. So, Rita and I formulated a plan. First, we decided not to call Adam and Bruce because they would just turn around and come back. Second we asked Claudia (the nanny) to stay late and put Ethan to bed. Third, we had to find the insurance information. After scouring the house from top to bottom looking in all the places I thought someone would logically put a power of attorney and medical insurance information, I came up empty. So we decided to just pay cash and worry about the rest later. So off to the hospital we went. Myself, calm, cool and collected, one very frazzled grandmother and one very chilled out toddler in the back seat. After talking to one of my coworkers at work I decided to go to Medical City so we wouldn't have to wait as long. Good call on my part if a do say so myself.
I drop Avo off at the front entrance because her foot is in a ortho boot, and I park the car and bring the self inflicted trauma patient in. The doctor comes out in the waiting room to look at Noel. Noel was soooooo good he just sat in Avo's lap watching another kid play. After he left I decided I would take a picture of his cut. And I swear to the baby Jesus as I'm about to snap the picture I get a text from Bruce asking for "One last picture before we leave???" Me and Rita looked at each other and I said "Oh hell no!" And we had a good giggle over it.
So they take us back after maybe 20 or 30 minutes and put us in a exam room. The nurse practitioner came and looked at him and again he was super chill. Noel was like an Australian surfer, "No worries mate." He sat in Avo's lap and didn't move, didn't cry and didn't make a peep. And no he was not brain damaged. So, they gave him some Versed to keep him calm. They only had half the dose and needed to get more from pharmacy so they went ahead and gave him what that had. Then they put some numbing ointment on the cut so they didn't have to stick him. They taped it to his forehead and left it, again not a peep.
The nurse practitioner (female) and this big (but not to shabby) looking guy came in to help sew him up. This is where I thought Noel would finally lose his shi*. They wrapped him up with a sheet like a papoose and placed the sterile drape over his face with just a little opening for him to look up at Avo and I. The big but not to shabby guy held his arms from moving while the PNP sewed him up. He didn't move, didn't cry, didn't moan or fidget. His dads would have been sooooo proud of him! In all of my years working with kids I have never seen a kid do so well with being restrained and someone working with a needle around his eye. I was really proud of him too. After placing 4 very thin dissolving sutures made of sugar, he was done.
He ended his first visit to the ER by blowing kisses to all those involved and said "Peace out."
After heading home it was about 10pm and Avo and I were hungry so we went to Whataburger. Noel stayed up and ate a cheeseburger and fries like nobodies business. He finished his night with half a hot apple pie. Head trauma makes you hungry. He deserved it.
To finish off the night, Ethan woke up about 2am crying. He had wet the bed. I changed him and the bed, then went to put him back to bed and he wouldn't let go of me. So, I sat in the chair and he jumped in my lap and laid his head on my shoulder while I rocked him. I figured he would go right back to sleep. Wrong! I tried to put him back 3 times and he was still awake and would start to cry. So, I took him to my bed and laid him down. He was so snugly! He just laid there wide awake for about 30 minutes before finally falling asleep. I put him back in his crib around 4am and he slept until 7. Ethan has been unusually clingy to me and I have loved every minute of it. I love hearing Ronnie Ronnie Ronnie Ronnie Ronnie Ronnie.
After all of this I did find the letter allowing for medical treatment on the master bath sink. You know, where everybody keeps them. :)
Closing shot: Following morning, watching Yo Gabba Gabbo with Avo and Ethan . . . if we comb the bangs forward just enough, it's like it never happened!
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