I worked at the rehab hospital on Saturday. At one point during the day I got this text from Jon...
"Annabel just fell and busted her lip." I figured it wasn't that bad since he'd taken the time to take a picture and send it to me, but for some reason I still said, "Is she ok? Does she need to go to the ER for stitches?" His reply was, "No. It's not that bad, just a minor setback."
Well, I guess we jinxed ourselves because it was only a few hours later that we
were in the ER, but for our other child. We were cooking dinner and just about had it ready to go on the table. The girls were running around like crazy like they tend to do in the evenings. Adeline walked right up to the barstools, grabbed one, and just pulled it over. The seat part of it fell right on her big toe. I ran around the island and saw blood everywhere. Jon snatched her up and ran to the bathroom to assess the damage. I'm cleaning up the blood when he yells over her screams, "We're going to have to take her somewhere!" Then I knew it was bad. My very calm, cool, and collected husband hardly ever recommends going to the doctor, especially not on a Saturday evening at 6:00.
I volunteered to take her since we didn't want Annabel sitting in the ER as she was still getting over her strep throat from the previous week, and I didn't want to be getting updates from a man. You know what I mean. Men don't offer nearly as much detail as a worried momma wants. So Jon wrapped up the toe in paper-towels and a sock and we headed to the ER. She screamed hysterically all the way there. I called a friend who is an ER nurse and thankfully happened to be at work at that time. She sent someone out to meet us to assess the toe. I think she thought I may have been overreacting and wouldn't need to hang around at the ER, but that wasn't the case. The nurse thought it definitely needed to be seen by a doctor and needed x-rays because it looked like it could possibly be broken.
The ER was pretty crowded and we had to wait quite a long time. Adeline was very upset and was crying loud enough to make everyone else in there concerned about her, but we had one family there who I know was sent there the same time as us to bless us. The mom (I didn't even get her name) first sent her daughter over to give Adeline a juice box which calmed her down greatly. Then when she started to cry again, the little girl came back over and offered her their portable DVD player with a Barbie movie playing on it. It was all I could do not to burst into tears too. I later learned the little girl's name was Annabel. Now don't tell me that wasn't planned by God. That family truly knew how to let God use them and love on others like He would. I wish I knew their last name or some way to get ahold of them.
Jon fed Annabel and then took her over to our neighbors' house, then he met us at the hospital. I wanted him there if they were going to have to sedate her for a cast or to remove the toenail. Thankfully, nothing was broken and the doctor recommended leaving the toenail on to protect the nail bed. Jon brought the iPad and snacks when he came, so she calmed down a little.
They soaked her foot and bandaged it up and sent us home with instructions to do the same twice a day. It looks worse than you can imagine. I've seen a lot of gruesome stuff at work, but I think this is just so much worse because it's my baby. I'll spare you pictures of the actual toe, but the toenail is barely hanging on and the whole tip of her toe is smushed and bloody.
I know it hurts so so bad. She doesn't get up to play very often, and when she does, it doesn't last long.
I took her to our pediatrician today for another opinion. I just kind of wanted a check-up on the progress and make sure we're doing everything we can do for it. I'm so glad I went! As soon as she took off the bandage she informed me that it's infected. She put her on antibiotics and explained that this is probably why she's in so much pain. Hopefully after a couple days on the meds she'll be feeling a lot better. I told her I'd asked the ER doctor if we could do antibiotics as a precaution, but she had said no. Our pediatrician said she was surprised the ER doctor didn't prescribe them because an injury like this is highly likely to become infected.
I ordered this Green Toys flower garden thing at the perfect time. She loves to play with it while she stands with her foot soaking.
It seems like it's never ending with illness and calamity at our house, but I know this is just a normal part of having small children. We are so blessed and thankful for God's provision. It could be so much worse.
