the most horrible sound in the world is of your child screaming in fear & pain, crying out your name, and there is nothing you can do about it.
it is a sound that is hard to describe unless you were hearing it in person.
and could see the horror in their face as they try to comprehend what happened to them.
out of everything that happened, that is the part that almost made me cry.
backing up....
i was sitting in
Young Women's, getting ready to read my scripture in the last ten minutes of church, when i see Elijah's nursery teacher's face in the door window. he points to me and motions me to come outside.
my first thought is, "what kid did Elijah push down now?" but instead he begins by saying,
"Elijah needs you. he needs to go to the emergency room. he's going to need stitches."
all of a sudden i realize i hear screaming coming from the hall.
the wailing i had only barely registered when walking out of the room, thinking it was the cries of another kid who Elijah had hit or something, i suddenly understood that those harsh cries are from my own son.
i look up to where the teacher was leading me to see Adam pressing a bloody paper towel against a tear-stricken, uncontrollably screaming Elijah. as soon as i realized what was going on, i ran over to Adam to ask what happened and tried in vain to calm down my little boy. Adam calmly confirmed that we will needed to take Elijah to the hospital. i ran, shaking, back into the classroom to get my bags and i can only imagine how frazzled and dazed i looked as i quickly picked up my things so i could race my hysterical son to the nearest emergency room.
from what we understood for how it happened, Elijah was running around in nursery when someone opened the door and Elijah accidentally hit it. my really good friend happened to be there {which we were so so grateful for! if we couldn't be there at least someone Elijah trusted was there to comfort him} and she described the hit as "wood on wood," just a hard bang. she picked him up and saw that his head had a deep gash and they put pressure on it immediately. she also said he didn't cry at first and didn't even seem to register what had happened to him until a little bit later. tough guy! :)
another small blessing was the fact that we live in a ward that has a large number of student doctors so a few of them, including the nursery teacher, was able to look at Elijah and tell us exactly what to do.
Elijah finally started to let up his crying as we got to the hospital and got in line {a line!!} to check him.
he was still obviously very upset and whining, pushing Adam's hand away if he tried to wipe the blood away. he did NOT want to be touched anymore.
but then Elijah asked for his mama,
me,
and reached his arms out to me.
he stopped crying, put his head on my shoulder, and
rubbed my back.
as if to say,
"it's okay now, mama. i'm okay. i'm with you."
after that, we both calmed down.
2.5 hours [most of that just waiting around... waiting!!! my kid's head was gashed open!],
9 Elijah breakdowns including a stern "scolding" and a few cries out for mama,
7 nurses,
12 "how did he get hurt/what exact time did it happen" questions,
4 good belly laughs,
1 queasy mama,
1 toddler burrito/swaddle,
2 steri-strips,
1 tube of glue [because his cut was in a straight line he didn't have to get stitches and had it glued instead],
and 2 toys
later we had a
happy, energetic little boy again.
he actually started running around the hospital walls while we were waiting to get discharged and Adam and i were freaking out he was going to bust his head open again right there in the hospital.
{that would be just our luck!}
Elijah was back to his normal, crazy self in no time besides the fact that he's terrified of doors & the church building now.
he also keep pointing to his head, especially when he catches his reflection, and will whine and say,
"Zaza boink his head. on da doors. wid da kids. don't tuhsh it. waaahhhh!"
{interpretation: "Elijah bonked his head on the doors with the kids. don't touch it. waaahhhh!"}
it would be the cutest thing to hear him recall the story if it wasn't so sad.
i think i'm truly inducted into the "parenting boys" club now.
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