We had a party at our neighbor's house this evening for her daughter. It was a birthday party/get-together/haven't seen our neighbors since the weather got cold sort of thing. We're very close with our little set of neighbors. There are six houses in the corner lot here with kids under the age of 4. In the summer, we all sit outside and let the kids run around and just generally have a good time. I enjoy their company, immensely, and look to the moms for advice in child rearing. Anyway, we walked next door a little after 4:00 and were chatting away. As the house started to fill, kids starting running around and pretty soon I heard Heather (our neighbor) calling because Ethan was hurt, pretty badly. My husband got to him before I could because I ran around the opposite side of the house with the kids' plate of food to put in the kitchen (because I couldn't leave it sitting where it would get spilled). As I got to them, there were plenty of, "Oh my goshes" and "that's going to swell." Jason walked back into the living room with me following and Ethan screaming and reaching for me. At first glance, it appeared as though nothing was terribly wrong and it was just a head bump. Then, my husband's face whitened and he said, "Oh, honey." I grabbed Ethan and was in shock at what I saw. I kicked into mommy drive and scooped him up and headed for the kitchen for ice. My neighbor was frantic, I feel so badly because I think she felt just terrible about Ethan. I took Ethan upstairs to the bedroom and sat with him in the rocking chair, trying to soothe him. Ice is a terrible thing, but a necessary evil. I put the ice pack under my shirt and laid his head against my shoulder, singing to him. He was screaming much like you would expect a child in pain and having ice held to his head would scream. Thankfully, our other neighbor got there shortly after this happened and came up to check on us. I just love Kristy. She's a smart cookie with several years of biology and other training under her belt. (Plus, she has two rambuncious boys.) Everyone felt the injury didn't warrant a trip to the emergency room, so I agreed to sit for a few minutes with Ethan and see what happened. The swelling seemed to decrease and it didn't seem to have any effect on his eyesight. He did, however, cling to me for the next hour and a half and didn't have much to say to anyone. This is what his eye looked like after an hour and a half...
The pictures don't really do it justice, but you can get an idea of what it looks like. The red spot is not an open wound, so stitches would not have been necessary. My only concern was that the swelling seemed to be causing an issue with his vision, but there is nothing that they could have done for that. Concussion-wise, he maintained full consciousness for three and a half hours before bedtime and didn't seem to have any lasting effects. He was playing normally by the end of the evening.
Still, I find myself second guessing the decision to stay home. Everyone around me was convinced I shouldn't waste our time at the urgent care clinic or emergency room and that it was your everyday, run of the mill, boys will be boys accident.
*sigh*
This mom thing is hard, sometimes.
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