First Stitches

The day I had a feeling would come arrived on Sunday night.  I think it's another rite of passage for parents.  Stitches. 

The boys had been riding bikes all evening (we didn't have small group because of Spring Break) and then we ate dinner at Daddy Steve and Namaw's.  We stayed there later than we should've and so it was rush time to get ready for bed when we got home.  I was getting the boys out of the bath and Mike was waiting in Brody's room to put aloe on their sunburned backs.  When I got Barrett out he insisted on being wrapped up in his towel to go to Daddy.  I wrapped him up and then turned to drain the bathtub.  He started to walk to Mike and slipped on the tile.  It's really hard to catch yourself when your arms are wrapped up in your towel...so his chin took the brunt of the fall.  OUCH!  Next came the hurried, "Find a bandage!  Get some clothes on him!  Take him to the ER for stitches!"  Brody was very upset by the ensuing chaos (and Barrett's wailing cries) and begin crying, "Is Barrett ok?  Why does he have to go to the hospital?  I don't want him to go!"  I left with Barrett (who finally calmed down on our ride to the ER) and Mike stayed at home to calm Brody and get him to bed. 

The local hospital is very clean and nice.  I was impressed with how quickly they got us back to a patient room and started working on him.  Thankfully they were able to numb his chin with topical anesthetic (meaning no shots!).  After letting it soak for about 30 minutes the doctor came in to stitch him up.  They wrapped him up like a mummy and had one nurse holding his head, one nurse holding his arms/legs, and the doctor on the other side sewing.  The only place for me to stand was his feet (where he couldn't see me).  I kept talking to him the whole time so that he knew I was there with him.  He didn't cry until the 3rd stitch (he must have had more feeling on that side of his chin).  He was such a big boy and I was so proud of him!

He ended up with 6 stitches.  As you can see, it goes across most of his chin.  We go back in a week to get the stitches taken out.

 

When we got home Mike was comforting Barrett and told him, "You know, Daddy had a lot of stitches as a kid."  Maybe so...but I hope that this was a one time event for us!