This morning we had a 'first' that I could have very well done without. Kyle was playing with Nicholas. He was crawling around and was carrying some chunky baby toy keys. Nicholas left the room, but when he came back, he came back running to bump Kyle. He was going faster than he intended I guess, because he bumped Kyle's bottom, sending Kyle into a face plant onto the toy keys. I was sitting directly to the side of Kyle and watched in horror as the whole scenario played out (very fast). Kyle cried and so I picked him up to comfort him. As I picked him up, I noticed he had a cut on the left side of his forehead. It was bleeding a little but upon first glance it looked deep. Nicholas was also looking in horror as he saw the bleeding cut on his brother's head. He felt really bad. I grabbed Kyle, had Nicholas grab his shoes, and off we went to Urgent Care. I figured it needed to get looked at ASAP in case it needed stitches. I was hoping I was being overly paranoid, but better safe than sorry. We got to Urgent Care, checked in, and were seen within 10-15. The nurse who saw Kyle said it was a very small cut, but that it did look deep. The doctor who saw him said that it would indeed need stitches. He said that given the shape of the cut was not quite straight, it needed actual stitches and not glue. They applied some numbing agent and we had to let it soak in for 15 minutes. The doctor said if we could not keep Kyle still, he would have to send him to the Emergency Room, where they would have to fully sedate him to get the stitches in. We all hoped it would not come to that. They swaddled Kyle and he complained quite loudly. I told them that he had not enjoyed being swaddled, even as a newborn. They lay him down. The nurse was going to hold his head and I was in charge of holding down Kyle's arms in the swaddle so he did not escape or interfere with the stitching. The nurse warned me that Kyle was going to probably cry a lot but assured me that it would not be over pain. I nodded, but little did I know what was coming. The doctor put a needle with more numbing medication into the cut itself in three locations. I could not watch this. I can look when they draw blood from my arm, but this is totally different when you are watching your child get poked. The doctor started and Kyle was very upset. He was desperately trying to struggle and I was holding his arms tight so he could not move. The nurse was keeping his head very still. All of this was frustrating him, so he was crying BIG time. It was only two small stitches, but in the end I cried. I tried hard not to, but I couldn't help it, a few tears escaped. My baby was crying and unhappy and I had to hold him down for his own good. Turns out, my poor heart probably could have used some numbing agent as well.
When the doctor was done and had cleaned the area, applied antibiotics, and bandaged it, I was allowed to pick Kyle up and comfort him. Once he was free from the restraints and in my arms, he was okay. The doctor gave me instructions on how to care for him and the wound.
We drove home and all is well. Nicholas still has a guilty conscience, which I'm hoping will help him to see that he HAS to be ever so gentle with his brother. I'm sure it helped seeing the whole process and hearing all the tears. He has been trying very hard to be much gentler, but thankfully they both still really want to play together.
Before this, Connor was the only one who ever got stitches and they were when he was 2 and 4. Nicholas has managed to keep from getting any stitches. Kyle now has had his first stitches. The joys of rough and tumble boys! :) Here's hoping this will be the last stitches my kids will ever need.
Nicholas and I have had many conversations about what happened today. He mainly wants to know why God made us so fragile. I told him that we are all fragile to help remind us to be gentle with one another. Hopefully it is a lesson he has learned well today.
