Last week we got a recall notice from Toyota about our Prius. I was a bit busy what with finding a babysitter for the Supply Corps Ball (post about that soon to come) and taking Ela for her one year check up. So yesterday, I tracked down a Toyota dealer and got an appointment. The fix was supposed to take an hour, so I gathered up books and toys to occupy a one year old and we headed off.
We managed to find the dealership, and most of the hour wait was completely uneventful. Ela charmed the other customers and toodled around doing her thing. We had enjoyed 40 normal minutes when I noticed Ela looking at something on the floor. I looked closer at the something and discovered it was a razor blade. I immediately got up to grab it and set it on a counter, out of range of little fingers.
I was too slow.
Ela picked up the blade without cutting herself, miracle of miracles. I grabbed it and tried to pull it from her hand and somewhere in the struggle, she sliced open her right index finger.
She only cried for a second. I pulled baby wipes from my diaper bag and started wiping her up, but she was bleeding pretty bad. A Toyota employee noticed my plight, and went for a first aid kit. Together we made several attempts to put a band aid over the cut, but 1) it was a bloody mess and 2) Ela kept pulling away or pulling off our attempts. Four band aids and a lot of blood later, I decided that I was going to have to take her to a doctor, and the sooner the better.
By this time, my car was done. The guy who had serviced the car took up the cause of helping me with my bloody baby, and I think the manager even came over to survey the damage. I figured I was close enough to the clinic where Ela had gone for her one year check up, I’d just go by and ask for a consult on the finger. They don’t do emergency care there, but I didn’t know for sure that she’d need stitches. What little I could see of the cut didn’t look super bad, I just wanted to make sure.
So I paper toweled the back seat so that the blood would be contained, and got Ela into her seat. The drive was probably the worst part of my day. I was frantic with worry and I didn’t really know where I was going, so I got lost twice before I found the place. Every time I’d look back to check on Ela, I’d see all the drying blood on her hand and get even more worried. Thankfully, Ela was completely calm when we weren’t messing with her hand. In fact, having smeared blood all over her face and arms, she fell asleep in the car (which only worried me more).
She was awake again when we got to the clinic and I took her in. Unfortunately, the doctor was not in, but the two nurses who were in the pediatrics were happy to have a look. Ela played happily as the nurse took her vitals. I had way too much nervous energy, so I worked on cleaning the blood off of her (and everything she touched) while they worked. The first nurse thought she’d be okay with just a bandage, but then the head nurse took over and, an hour now since it was actually cut, the darn thing was still bleeding pretty constantly. This, she said, was not a good sign. So she bandaged it up and gave me directions to the nearest hospital.
This whole mess started at 2:00ish. By now it’s 3:30, so I call Zack to tell him we probably won’t be home when he gets there. Zack doesn’t do blood. Period. He hates the stuff. So I mention bleeding and he kind of loses perspective. Despite my assurances that the baby will survive, he begins worrying himself silly. Ela falls asleep in the car again. Still completely unphased. I love that little girl.
She’s still asleep when I arrive a the hospital, so I enter the emergency room in a bloody shirt carrying a comatose child. The nurse in triage didn’t even let me get the registration form, she called me over to make sure the baby was okay. Ela opened her eyes to see what was going on, and sat up for me, which reassured the nurse.
We filled out some forms and then we waited. The triage nurse got us registered complete with hospital bracelet. Then we waited some more. We called my Mom to pass the time. Zack called us to lower his blood pressure and make sure Ela still had some blood left. At 4:40 we finally were taken in to see a doctor.
By this time, Ela is cranky from lack of afternoon nap. I’m a little wiped out from the adrenaline rush that is long gone. The doctor takes the band aid off, and miracle of miracles, it’s not bleeding any more. She suggests some Dermabond. For those of you who don’t take regular trips to the ER for bleeding wounds, it’s like glue for skin. I was delighted that no stitching would be necessary. She went to get the stuff to stick the cut back together.
Of course by the time she returned, the cut was bleeding again, and if it’s too bloody, they can’t glue. Ela was wiggling like crazy trying not to pass out, and nursing her to get her to hold still wasn’t working anymore. Somehow, we managed to get her locked into a still enough position to wipe her cut clean again and glue it. They put on 3 layers of the stuff and then set me to the task of keeping her still for 10 or so minutes until it could dry.
It was a long ten minutes.
Finally, the glue was set and we were ready to go. The doctor said we didn’t need a band aid, which was good news since it’s hard to keep Ela in them. However, she also wanted me to keep the finger out of Ela’s mouth. Yeah, right. She told me just to do my best and go with whatever worked.
So we got back in the car and Ela screamed for most of the ride home through rush hour traffic. Five minutes before we arrived at home, which was right around 6:30, she fell asleep again.
Completely drained, I arrived home to the smell of dinner cooking. That was when things started getting better. Zack had made us steak, potato and broccoli. Ela woke up when I got her out of the car, but was quite happy to sit in her high chair and eat a late dinner. Because the dermabond isn’t supposed to get too wet, we skipped bath time and she went to bed fairly easily all things considered.
Zack told me about how he had to call the help desk at work because there’s a mouse living in his desk. It would have been funny any day, but on this day it was hysterical. I laughed and laughed and laughed, so I didn’t cry.
Lots of deep breaths, and one strong drink, later, I finally calmed down and we all slept really well.
This morning, Ela was picking on her Dermabond, so I put a band aid over it. The glue is supposed to last about a week. I called the doctor to make her a follow up appointment. She pulled the band aid off. Before I could get another one on her, she pulled the Dermabond off, too. That stuff lasted 16 hours. Sigh.
The cut started bleeding again and I got to practice more calming techniques as I put another band aid over it. I needed a shower, so I decided to do that, then investigate. By the time I got dressed, the bleeding had stopped. The nurse, who called to follow up on our visit, said that as long as it’s not looking wide open or bleeding too bad, we don’t have to go back to get more glue. So that’s a relief.
So for the next few days, I get to try to convince a one year old not to keep her right index finger in her mouth or to take off her band aids. It should be good fun.
Just another chapter in the parenting saga.
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