stitching of a different kind...

WARNING DISTURBING PHOTO AHEAD!

another busy week has passed, i feel even busier since i stopped work but am loving the freedom of being at home. one of the main reasons i decided to put a hold on my teaching career was the guilt you feel if you have to take a sick day or sending your children to school when you know that they need a day at home. being a stay at home mum means that the pressure is of mister moo, he hardly has to do anything anymore which means that he is less grumpy and can enjoy his afternoons and weekends more. the weekend gone by was wonderful, i managed to get rid of quite a lot of kids toys and clothing at a car boot sale the my sister organised in her church grounds and then Sunday was spent at the markets selling my itty bitty and pretty products along side my market buddy Renata. it was a wonderful day with lots of marching bands, vintage car displays and other fun things to attract the crowds. i forgot my camera but Renata will post about it on her blog if you are interested to see what the day looked like.

anyhow the weekend was wonderful but ended with a bang, or should i say bump... my gorgeous little Claudia tripped up on her own feet and fell head first onto the arch way to our lounge room and cut a wound on her forehead right down to the BONE!!!! basically 20kgs fell without a break onto a metal edge (metal brace under the plaster), we knew it was a trip to the hospital as soon as she hit.

she was so brave, hardly any tears, lots of blood but we reduced the swelling by keeping ice on her gash for the half hour drive into the hospital. as soon as we reached emergency they put cream on her arms to numb the spot where the needle would go to put her under. then we had to wait...2 hours later a doctor took us to another room to inspect the wound...my heart nearly jumped out of my chest when the bandage came off, the gash had opened up so much in those 2 hours and we could actually see her SKULL!!! it might not seem that big but when you can see bone you start to freak...

Claudia didn't cry one bit as the doctor inspected it. he decided he could fix it with steristrips instead of stitching. he was not 100% sure so he decided to get the opinion of the doctor in charge. 1 hour later the doctor came back and told us that the chief doctor was too busy to come for an opinion and so he was going ahead with the steristrips. i told him i thought it needed stitches but he assured me that steristrips are the preferred measure and he proceeded to do a very bad job of 'stitching' up my baby. first he cleaned the wound then he began to put the strips on..i recommended that he shave her hair line (as they had done for her other head injury) but he said there was no need... you guessed it, the strip wouldn't stick to the hair and he had to PULL IT OFF my poor child's head and proceed to cut away the hair, once again i said he could shave if he wished but he went ahead with cutting, snipping fine hairs INTO her wound! by this stage i was getting angry and wishing that i was the one performing the procedure. so then i suggested he clean the wound again of any fine hairs and he popped the 3 strips on then realised that he had to take the backing off but of course they are overlapped by each other so he had to pry each cover off basically pulling at the wound and making my little one whimper as the pulling hurt. i had to look away as his incompetence was really getting to me.

anyhow we finally got out of there 4 hours after we arrived with me feeling like the wrong procedure had taken place.

i have a photo below of the wound so don't look if you are squeamish.

feeling rather worried about his technique i took Claudia to our GP yesterday (2 days after the event because she wasn't there on Monday) and showed her that photo..she was of the impression that it need stitches and then was annoyed at how he used the strips. anyhow we both came to the conclusion that her scar will be on the hair line and that there are products available that reduce the look of scars. so my little love now has a scar on both sides of her forehead, one above her top lip and one under her arm. my dad says she can boast later in life and say the scars are from when her horns were removed!

sorry for such a long post but i treat my blog as an online diary and it will be good for us to look back on this in years to come...

i am sure there are many of you with children just like Claudia, she is one brave, tough little character with the most gumption out of all my girls. i just love her to pieces, i love her more and more each day, some days i think my heart will burst from so much love. i am actually crying as i write these words because lately i have been feeling so blessed to have what i have and i get sad to think that there are people in my life who may never experience this feeling. i just have to trust that God has a plan for us all.

now if i had still been teaching, this sort of thing would have sent me into a depression as i would have had to have days off. as it was, i kept the two older ones home on Monday as we didn't get home from the hospital till after 11pm. they slept in till 10am! unheard of :) and then i kept my little Claudia home yesterday and took her to the doctor for a second opinion...no guilt what so ever.

ok enough from me, i am having a day to myself...with a bit of house work thrown in...

xxxrosey