Saturday, February 2, 2013

Our trip to the ER

There has to be a first time, huh? So I finally had my Kramer vs. Kramer moment. Only Bumpus didn't fall, or get burned, or choke. His stupid red vascular mole under his eye burst and would not stop bleeding. So, I put my big girl pants on and called 911.

It was so ironic because I had just that day taken him to see the pediatrician to check out the mole, and they told me pretty much nothing but to get a referral to a dermatologist. When we got home I went to change his diaper, he flipped over as he always does, and when I turned him back around his face was covered with blood. Then came a couple of hours of screaming, squirming, and flailing as I attempted to staunch it - and this blood would not stop. At first I thought the mole had just "burst" and I was happy that it was probably going away; but when the blood kept coming I knew that wasn't the case. Still by the time B, I, and the entire bed were covered with blood I was able to stick a piece of toilet paper on it and it at last stopped bleeding.

We had a pleasant evening, I opened for registration, dealt with emails and bank accounts, and went to bed. At about one AM he woke up, fussing - covered in blood. I tried again to staunch it, but this time it was really pouring out. The poor guy was so tired that after a prolonged period of screaming he would fall asleep as I held a tissue, or his PJs, on his face. Then he would scream again.

At one point I looked at the bloody sheets, the pile of soaked tissues, and the blood covered baby in my arms, and said to myself, "are you crazy? Fucking call 911!" So I did. A bunch of nice firemen came into my house as I sat there in my underwear with Bumpus. They took me to the nearest ER and gave some medicine to stop the bleeding, then after a couple of hours put in a stitch, and by 4 AM sent me home.

He was actually ok during this process - I knew he wasn't in pain (he actually smiled and flirted with the nurses), just tired and scared. It's funny how all other functions get forgotten in times like those, too - I completely forgot that he might have a wet diaper or might be hungry. My main concern was how the hell are we going to get home? Thank GOD one of my single friends ran her dance club tonight and was awake; she came by, got my keys, and went to my house to pick up my carseat and back to the ER. I seriously owe her a lunch! But situations like this really make me think, so you wanna be a single parent, huh?

I put B to bed around 4:30. At 8:00 he woke up, covered in blood again. I don't know if he swiped his face in the night or if it just started on its own. But thankfully I was able to get it to stop after a few minutes and he fell back asleep. I left the blood all over both of us and the bed. I was just too exhausted to care.

The contractor called to say he'd come work today so I asked him to bring some small round band aids. I don't feel like I can relax until this thing has some kind of cover on it so he can't pick it and start the floodgates all over again. I hope I can get in to a dermatologist this week and I hope we can talk about removing the mole which is frustratingly still there in all its glory. I certainly don't want to spend B's entire childhood having to go through this every few months! I am officially out of sheets and pillow cases.

So I would like to put out to the universe a request to please stop kicking my ass now. I've pretty much had it.

Opening night registration went well, though. So there is that.



12 comments:

  1. Yikes, that sounds scary! Glad to hear it has stopped bleeding now.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Poor guy! And so scary for you. Hope it's all cleared up soon!

    ReplyDelete
  3. OMG, that sounds terrifying. Hope that he feels better and that you got band aides.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh man. What an event. I'm glad he's okay.

    (And hooray for firefighters!)

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a horrible night! And I can't believe the little mole is still there after all that bleeding.

    Poor Mama and poor Bumpus!

    ReplyDelete
  6. How awful for you & B! So scary!! Sounds like you handled it way better than I would have!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh my, how very scary! Hope he is doing better now and you can get a dermatologsit appt next week.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh YUCK. I'm so sorry you had to go to the ED, and in the middle of the night! I work in a pediatric ED, and it's no fun. But of course I haven't been there on the other side yet - as a parent! I hope Bumpus is doing better, and that you're able to get the mole removed soon and easily. BTW, on the off chance that you're ever back in the ED, ask if they have a child life specialist (that's what I am). Hang in there! The universe will make it up to you soon...

    ReplyDelete
  9. Glad he tolerated it so well. That makes it a little less traumatic, right? I hope that there are no more bleeding episodes; all that blood had to be terrifying. (And I will be sure not to pick at mine.)

    ReplyDelete
  10. congratulations on a good first day of registration! i seem to recall that this was not a good day last year? or at least, you were very worried about it.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh no! Hope the little guy is feeling better today. I know it must have been incredibly scary; good for you for getting Robert where he needed to be.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Ugh, what a nightmare. I hope the dermatologist can just remove the mole sometime soon. Hang in there!

    ReplyDelete