We made our first trip to the ER last night with Miss Aless. At first we thought she had a head injury, because she knocked her noggin off of the side of the coffee table while trying to stand yesterday. Don’t judge. Stop thinking we’re horrible parents. It happens when kids start learning how to walk. And most of the time – like yesterday – there is very little reaction time. One second she was up and then the next, BUMP, she was down. It was a double whammy, too. After hitting the front of her head, she landed on her butt, lost her balance and fell over backwards – another BUMP! Neither hit was particularly hard, but sometimes you just never know.
About 45 minutes after it happened, she started screaming and crying – which is something she never does (thankfully). A short time after that, she started vomiting. That is when I became worried. Nick has been sick all week with a flu-like bug – running a slight fever and vomiting – but I just wasn’t sure. My mommy gut kept telling me to relax, she was getting sick. A call to her pediatrician said an ER trip made sense, so off we went.
The triage nurse – some dude who looked like he was fresh out of the Army – took her vitals and said it was probably just gas. He must be the baby whisperer. Okay. Glad you have your opinion. Can we see a doctor now? The kind with MD after his or her name, perhaps? Thank you. All the way out the door, my mommy gut was silently proclaiming how wrong he was.
After the triage adventure of having to get her temperature through the ear-piercing screaming, we were immediately brought to a room, where a nurse hyped up on caffeine tried to gather her thoughts and figure out why we were there.
“She hit her head – twice – and her dad has also been sick with something. So we’re not sure.” (But my mommy gut tells me she is getting that stomach bug.)
Blank stare. I could have called that one.
Finally we got the closest thing to an MD we were going to get – a PA. He was just – awkward. And like the Army nurse baby whisperer, he proclaimed it was most likely gas. What is it with gas?
Aless fell asleep within minutes of the PA checking her. The Starbucks queen came back with gas drops, which woke Aless up – the screaming resumed – Aless nursed – Aless fell back to sleep. Adventure 2.0.
We were released with a diagnosis of gas. Nah. I was convinced she had what her dad was sick with. My mommy gut told me so.
A slight fever a few hours later confirmed this for me.
Morale of the story – go to the ER if and when instructed, but also listen to your mommy gut.
