A "Stitch" In Time

My baby girl is 18 months old! For her 18 month birthday on Friday, Sophie decided to surprise her Momma with a trip to a place neither of us had ever been - the new Wesley Emergency Room on the west side of Wichita!

Sophie was shopping at Shoe Carnival that afternoon with her Momma and Aunt Katie. While my sister was trying on some shoes, Sophie was just walking around the store being silly. Before I knew what was happening, she stumbled and landed face first right on the corner of a wooden display case. At first I thought it was just a normal bump. I picked her up to console her and realized she was bleeding. So, I asked the clerk for some tissue. I quickly began dabbing at the blood on her head, and once it was cleared for a moment I realized that the cut looked too deep.

SO, off to the ER we went (I did try her pediatrician first, but they were closed). At the ER my poor, sweet girl cried and cried and cried some more. We finally were taken into a room where we put on a cartoon and she quickly drifted off to sleep on her Momma's lap. I laid her down and they put some numbing gel on her face, which took about 40 mins to take effect. Here she is sleeping on the hospital bed (low quality pic from Katie's phone). You can kinda see the blood above her left eye.

Of course the poor girl woke just before they sewed her up. So one nurse did a "big girl swaddle" to hold her arms while another held her head, and the doctor artfully applied two stitches to Sophie's face. Watching the stitching wasn't hard, but having to stand by while she was held down and screaming was the worst torture possible. She kept repeating, "Momma, momma" in the saddest little voice you can imagine.

It was really amazing, because the doctor told us if they weren't able to hold her still enough, we'd have to stop and sedate her. I was a little concerned and of course began asking God to let it all work well. Both times the doctor got close to her eye with the needle, she completely stopped crying and was extremely still! Once he pulled the needle and thread through, she would start screaming again. I know God was there helping to calm her in those moments!

Here she is after we finally left the hospital and were back at my mom's house. Wow, what a week! Granddad passing Sunday, lots of extra family in town to spend time with all week, finishing up at work before our trip to Utah, Christmas, Granddad's viewing Friday night, the service this morning, and leaving for Utah tomorrow morning (Sunday)... let's just throw in a trip to the ER while we're at it!