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I started my new job on Tuesday, so today was my 3rd day. I got home from work, and the kids were outside playing with the neighbors while Derk was inside starting dinner. I came in and helped him finish up, and then he went out to call the kids in for dinner. As I was setting the table, I noticed Derk walking into the house carrying Asher. It took my brain a minute to process what was going on. My thinking went something like this: Derk is carrying Asher, that’s weird. Derk says to me in this very calm but strange voice, “Do NOT freak out.” Why is Asher making that weird whimpering noise? I see red on Asher’s shirt… Derk lays Asher on the table. More red. LOTS more red. Huge gash on Asher’s forehead. The red is blood!
I processed it all very quickly, but it really went like that in my head…like my brain was protecting me and filling me in with baby steps or something? Once I realized Asher had sliced his forehead open (slingshot the neighbors were playing with out front), I had to quickly turn away and walk out of the room to gain my composure. I really didn’t want to scare Asher any more than he already was, and I knew I needed a clear head. It was SO scary. Head wounds bleed a ton, even when they’re not very bad, so it was hard for us to be able to tell how bad it really was. We were SUCH a great team, though, and were able to stay very calm. Kyrie was awesome and took Bri out of the room and kept her occupied while Derk and I helped Asher. Derk and I both were able to stay very calm, which really surprised me because we could tell we were both majorly freaking out on the inside!!! We knew we had to get the bleeding to slow down first to get a better idea of what we were dealing with. He was COVERED in blood, literally. It almost looked like he’d been shot or something – it was everywhere! Once Asher started coming out of his shock, he saw the blood all over his clothes and hands, and that made him freak out even more. Thank goodness for our good friends who live in our neighborhood! I called her and asked if she’d watch the girls, and we were quickly on the way to urgent care. We were able to slow down the bleeding, but Asher was acting really funny and was scaring us.
At urgent care, they determined he didn’t need stitches, and they were able to use Dermabond to glue it together. It was just on the verge of needing stitches, though, so we were very lucky. The nurses were so good to him and so nice. At urgent care is when the whole thing really caught up to me, and I did break down for a few minutes. :( But they really talked us through everything and were very gentle and thorough. They were really concerned with his behavior, though, so they sent us to the emergency room and said they wanted him to get a CT scan. We were SO freaked out at that point – brain damage?!?
Luckily he really perked up in the ER. He was super scared and nervous about the whole prospect of possibly needing stitches, so I think once that was all over he was able to relax and calm down. The ER doctor took a very quick (VERY quick) look at him and said right away that he didn’t need any other testing, that he may have a mild concussion but that was it. She was actually so quick that we had to stop her at the door and ask her to come back. This was our little boy, we were scared, and we had lots more questions for her. I know they’re busy, but it was annoying that she literally walked in, took one quick look at him (didn’t even talk to him!), said, “He’s totally fine!”, turned on her heel, and tried to walk out the door. Geesh.
Derk decided to take tomorrow off to stay home with Asher. I could have, but it being only my 3rd day at work we didn’t want me to call off already. Derk slept with Asher out on the couch and woke him up every few hours to make sure he was okay.
Here are some pics from urgent care.
And our brave boy after we got home.
It was a VERY long and scary day, and we are feeling super grateful that our little guy is okay!! Kids can sure scare you to death sometimes, and we are so glad it didn’t turn out worse.
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