My kids are pretty well versed in the horror realm. Mommy loves them, Daddy loves making Mommy happy, so we have seen a lot! They have done haunted houses at Busch Gardens…AFTER family friendly time is up. But as a parent, I’ve had some scares with each of the boys. Here are my most heart stopping:
COREY-He was about 11 months old, and he was easily our most precocious child. He learned to climb out of his crib around this time, and I swear he delighted in scaring me. I was doing laundry one day, and just going about my business, when I realized it was time to get him up from his nap. I walk into his room…and look into an empty crib. I figure he just climbed out, so I go into the living room…nothing….bathroom, nope. Kitchen, nope…I start tearing around the apartment, tears coming to my eyes. Where is he? And I hear giggling. I stop and try to hear it again…nothing, so I go back to throwing open cabinets, and I hear giggling again. This time I know it’s coming from the back of the apartment…I go into my bedroom, and hear it again. Closet? I rip open the door and there he was, sitting on the floor in my closet…brat!
JOE-When Joe was born he had a small strawberry hemangioma on his cheek. It was never a big deal, until one day is started to bleed…and wouldn’t stop. It was so scary. I just held him as he bled all over himself and me. Eventually, it stopped but I realized something needed to be done. We spoke with his doctor and he suggested a small surgery to remove it. After two more episodes of bleeding, I decided to have the surgery. Watching them take him away on a gurney was truly one of the worst experiences of my life. He was about 2 years old, and he looked so small. He waved at me, nothing but trust in his eyes. As they took him away, I threw up. The next 45 minutes, I sat there sick to my stomach, finally, the nurse came in to get me and take me to see him in recovery. He was fine, but I don’t think I put him down for a week.
ADDI-Addi was premature, so that was enough for a scare, but Roy and I were assured that things were going to be ok. They kept him in the hospital a few days after I was discharged. I will never forget seeing Roy try to sleep on a tiny loveseat-arm on the floor, legs dangling everywhere, but I didn’t want to leave Addi. Finally, we were allowed to take him home, and for the first few days things went well. He was hungry ALL THE TIME, I think he was trying to make up the lost pounds. He was a good baby, as long as one of us held him, and he was happy. The first time we could give him a real bath, Roy said, he would just bring him in with him. I sat by the tub, and we laughed as Addi splashed his tiny feet in water. Roy drizzled warm water over his belly, and it seemed to soothe him, and then he sneezed! Addi had an umbilical hernia, but we didn’t know, and when he sneezed it just pushed out of his tiny belly….I was sure something was wrong, so I ran to make an appointment, he was fine, and luckily it closed up on it’s own…but whoa!
HAYDEN-Easiest pregnancy ever. I coached swimming until I was almost 39 weeks. Delivery, relatively smooth. I was adamant about him staying with us in our room. He nursed like a champ, and he loved when Roy swaddled him (I NEVER got the hang of that). They took him the next day for routine tests, and came back and asked to speak with us. They told us he had a small heart murmur. All I heard was heart, everything after that sounded like it was coming at me from under water. I held Hayden tightly to my breast, and stroked his small cheek. Roy later told me, that a cardiologist was coming in the next day. There were two scenarios-either he would need surgery or they would monitor him and most likely he would grow out of it. I figured it was silly to get worked up when we didn’t have details, but everytime Roy said something my breath caught, and I felt dizzy. We were lucky and Hayden was fine, but it was a hard 24 hours.
DEAN-Rough pregnancy, easy delivery. I was ready to go home after 12 hours. First few years flew by…our family was complete, and things moved right along. One day, of course Roy wasn’t home, Dean was bouncing around. I repeatedly told him to stop jumping on the sofa. He would stop and then as soon as my back was turned start up again. It was almost time to go outside to get Hayden, and I got up to throw something away, and then I hear a crash and Dean screamed. I paused, afraid to look, and then I snapped out of it and ran into the family room. Dean was laying on the floor between the sofa and coffee table. He was screaming and crying loudly, but I was afraid to turn him over….I prayed and just kept saying,
“Please, Please, PLease….”
I shoved the coffee table away, and didn’t know what to do. What if it was his neck? Should I move him? And then he got up. He had a bad gash over his eye, and blood was just pouring down his face. I ran to get him a t-shirt, and remembered Hayden would be home before Corey. So, I called my friend down the street and asked her to come down to get Hayden and wait for Corey. Four stitches. They asked if I would be ok with him when they put the stitches in…I said yes, and they wrapped our baby up like a burrito so he couldn’t move, then they asked me to lean over him so he could see me, and hold his head while I talked to him. I kept it together-no tears, no panic. They nurses remarked at how calm I was…HA, only because Roy wasn’t there, and I had to be!
In reading over these moments, I realize we are lucky.
I’m knocking on wood…
