Injuries

Bennett is all boy - that's for sure. He is constantly climbing and falling and losing his balance and that means he almost always has some sort of bruise on his head. Right now, he has a large bruise on his forehead from slamming it onto the tile in frustration; a small bruise which is disappearing on his right jaw from when he fell into the corner of a small ottoman, and then of course there's the teeth.

He had his first real emergency on Monday morning. Daddy had gone to work and Granna had recently walked out the door for her long drive back to North Carolina after a nice birthday visit. Bennett and I sat down by the sliding glass door to take advantage of the sunlight for some last minute play before his nap. We were hoping to have a good nap so that we could go to our friend's house for a playdate. Bennett loves playgroups! This was not going to happen . . .

As we're happily sitting there chatting with each other, I hear a blood-curdling screech and turn to my right. Bennett is standing there with his hands out to his sides and the wagon part of a toy hanging from his face! My heart started to race as I determined it would be up to me to take the toy off his face without pulling out too many teeth. Was it caught on his teeth? Was his tongue also involved? Where in the HELL was all. this. blood. coming. from????? Oh my lord. What am I gonna do? What am I gonna do? SHIT! Take a breath and be calm so he doesn't freak out any more than he already is. I had to adopt a mantra, "Breathe and be calm. Breathe and be calm."

I tried to be gentle as I worked the toy off of his face - he had caught his lower jaw between an axle and the bottom edge of the back side of the wagon. He continued to howl and bleed as he buried his face in my shoulder and I continued my mantra. I immediately figured I should get some ice on his face to help with the pain and any potential swelling (does the gum swell?). Then I started talking out loud so that I could formulate some sort of plan: "You need pants. I need pants. Forget it, I"ll go in sweats, who the hell cares? It's an emergency. No. I need to put on pants. Seriously, Blythe, don't be a moron. Bennett, where are your socks? We don't have time for socks. Get mommy's shoes on. Grab your wallet and keys. Do you have house keys? Oh well, forget it. Get to the car. Go. Breathe and be calm. It's going to be okay, honey. Dr. Mike will take really good care of you. Do you remember Dr. Mike? He was the dentist with the really gentle smile? We're going to see him!"

We made it to the car, I got Bennett safely strapped into his car seat and by this point, he had generally stopped howling. Simply whining and the occasional wail, but I was the one with the real tears. I kept trying to call Brian to see if he could call the dentist and let them know we were on our way because I didn't have the number in my phone. He didn't pick up. DAMNIT! I called 411 and had them connect me. Thank heavens for Victoria at Winning Smiles Pediatric Dentistry. She calmed me down, assured me that they'd fit me in, come on over!

By the time we got to the dentist, Bennett was no longer crying. We were seen fairly quickly and it turns out that he did not lose a tooth! YAY! His gum had two vertical lacerations at the edges of one of his bottom teeth. There was also a fairly significant chip out of another bottom tooth. I was relieved that the bleeding had stopped and Bennett was flirting with the staff at Dr. Mike's office. He even chewed on the toothbrush that his hygienist Sally had given him.

I have been much more careful and paranoid about what goes in his mouth lately. He seems just fine today. I haven't taken any photos because it was just too gross yesterday, and today it's hard to tell. Especially because it's lower teeth that are affected. His lip hides the major damage.

We went to a playgroup today and you wouldn't have known he was injured at all. It's reassuring to know that he is such a trooper! No wimps in this family!!