Thursday, April 14, 2011

Trauma in the Harris Household

I think I have been nominated for the most horrible mother award! On Sunday, when we got back from our trip, I decided to take the rail off of Kristen's bed to see if she could sleep without it. She sleeps on the couch and does fine, so I thought that we should try it. I knew she would fall out of her bed at some point. We all have and I can remember one time specifically, so I wasn't so surprised when I heard the big thump at 11:30 last night. What did surprise me was the shrilling scream/cry that came after it. When I went in she was holding her neck, but I didn't pay much attention. I got her and held her while we sat on the floor for her to calm down. She never quit crying completely, but I asked her if she wanted me to go get her a drink. I had her lie down, went and got a drink (all the while she was still crying), came back. She didn't drink anything but didn't even want me to touch her or lift her up. She kept pointing to the right side of her neck saying it hurt. After 10 minutes I called Paul and told him I thought I was going to take her to the hospital because she seemed to be really hurt. I am going to note that I do not do well in traumatic situations. Most people think of everything that needs to be done, well, my brain just shuts down. Nothing...notta...zilch. That's what I have going through my head. Paul told me not to move her and call 911. Of course this would happen when he was at work, which he only works about 5 nights a year and it happened to fall on that night. I hung up and called my parents. Asked them to come over then called 911. I needed moral support. At this point, Kristen is crying, Lauren is crying and the dog is whining. The 911 operator told me to keep her as still as possible, which really wasn't a problem because she refused to move. During this time I was explaining to her that some people would come and try to make her feel better. She wanted to know if it was going to be girls because she like girls better than boys. I didn't gender specify on my call, not that I would have given the circumstances, so I was pretty sure we would end up with boys. I tried to calm her fears saying that the boys would take care of her just like the girls do. It took them forever it seemed like, although my parents were pretty impressed with their speed because they were here before they got here. Sure enough, when the knock came at the door there stood two men with blue gloves. I thought I could use the blue gloves to my advantage, because that is now her favorite color. My mom took Lauren and Kristen seemed to calm down as the men were assessing her. She sat up, started moving her head and was temporarily healed by the men in the blue gloves. We decided not to take her to the hospital because she said she was all better. They left and then we realized that maybe she wasn't all better. We went back and forth for a little bit on whether or not we were going to take her to the hospital. I came to the conclusion (which I am not a medical professional) that I would get up and make an appointment with her pediatrician. I was planning on making an appointment anyway to get another prescription for her eczema medicine. She slept good, it was only certain positions that she would say it hurt so I was beginning to think she was just bruised. Luckily, Dr. Little was able to see her. She sent her for an x-ray and...she has fractured her clavicle bone. Ouch! I feel so bad for her and wish with all my heart I could switch places. It just makes me feel horrible, because if I had kept that rail on her bed she would be alright. She is going to have that rail on until she is 16 now. Anyways, below is a picture of Kristen in the contraption they have her in. She hates it. She has a break down because of it every hour or so. I feel bad for her. She has to wear it for two weeks and then we go back to the doctor. I pray these two weeks go by really fast, that she heals good and is not in a lot of pain during the healing process. When we said our prayers tonight, after we were done she said "You know, God doesn't like it when I'm hurt. He wants me to feel better because he loves me." It made tears come in my eyes. I love that little girl so much and if I could I would switch places with her. I am going to put my girls in bubbles until they are grown ups.


This was at dinner tonight. The only smile I got while wearing her brace.



This actually turned out to be a good picture to show exactly how the brace works. She didn't want her picture taken, so as I was snapping it she started walking away. This was right after a melt down.



I took this picture because I thought it was the only picture I would get of her in the brace because she did not want to wear it or keep it on. I hope with time it will be a little less annoying and we will be able to put it on and keep it on without any melt downs. It will be a long two weeks.

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