Monday, April 20, 2009

mercy

On Friday, Luke made his first, and more than likely not his last, trip to the emergency room. We had just made it to Lille's birthday party at a local park. I've been to this park a few times before for other parties, but Keith had never been.

It was so sweet how excited he was to show Luke around. Since we had just gotten Luke a slide toy for his birthday, Keith thought it would be a great idea to take him down the slide. Luke loves the slide at home, so a bigger one here would be better. They never even got to go down the slide. As Keith was sitting down, Luke's shoe caught on his belt. Keith didn't know this and kept going. He heard a loud pop and Luke started screaming.

After only being at the party about 10 minutes, we were off to find the E.R. I already knew that the pediatrician's office was closed and I have no clue where the closest urgent care is, so we made our way to the hospital near our home. They were nice enough when I gave birth there, why wouldn't they be equally nice to treat him, right?

Luke calmed down pretty quickly and Keith and I started second-guessing whether we had made the correct decision in leaving and going to the hospital so we took him home first. When we set him on the ground in a sitting position, he was fine. Normal smiley happy baby. As soon as he started to crawl or put any weight on his foot, the screaming started again. Definitely going to the hospital now.

The staff at Mercy Gilbert were wonderful. Even the others in the waiting room were nice to us. Since Luke didn't have to stand there, he was his usual bubbly self. He laughed, he talked loudly, he squirmed, he watched. When we went back to the triage area where the doctor checked him, I think he thought we were crazy. He didn't flinch when the doctor touched his leg or foot and let him move it around. Luke just watched him with a stink-eye making sure he didn't make any sudden movements. When the doctor asked us to have Luke walk from Keith to me, he finally understood why we were there. Luke crumpled to the floor, a sobbing mess again.

After some x-rays, some Motrin, and 2 and a half hours in the E.R., we were set to go home. Luke has a sprained ankle and just needs to rest it. We verified the diagnosis with the pediatrician today and Luke is well on his way to a full and speedy recovery.

Of course I took pictures.

smiling while not standing

standing now...not smiling

Happiest in Mom and Dad's arms

Seeing your child hurt is one the worst things I think a parent can go through. I know I had a hard time dealing with it and seeing a baby that was once so happy and carefree turn into a crying, needy guy was tough, but Keith had it worse. Hopefully next time we'll be able to handle it better, but we'll just have to see.

4 comments:

Heather said...

It makes me happy that you take pics no matter what or where. Glad to hear he is healing fast!

Karen said...

Poor baby! Hope he gets better quick! :)

Jessi said...

Glad the double check came out just the same! Here's hoping for fast healing!

Belinda said...

Good to hear he is going to be just fine!