the ER

We had our first scary trip to the ER on Sunday night. Long story short, Sarah fell (Emma was trying to carry her) and there was lots of blood. When I could finally look in, I noticed her teeth were not where they were before...and I was scared. SO we left the kids with a neighbor until Laurie could get there and headed to the hospital. My poor baby was in so much pain and there was nothing I could do, especially when she was strapped into that car seat, probably wondering why in the world I was making her go "byebye" when she was hurting so badly.

After the ER doctor (late late Sunday night), the pediatric dentist (the next morning) and the pediatrician (this morning) we have the outcome of a pretty big gash across her lower gums, which separated the two middle teeth from the one next to them, a small fracture in the bone under her gums, bite marks on her tongue from her four top teeth, and a scraped up chin. If we're lucky, her baby teeth will stay in, but they're not in the same place they used to be.

I know in the grand scheme of things, this is probably pretty mild, but it just hurt my heart so much to see my baby in pain. I felt so helpless for her. And to credit her, she was tough. Sunday night was pretty crazy once we got home, but she was resilient. And when the dentist told us no pacifier, no bottle, no sippy cup, no straws, I wondered how on earth this girl would get any comfort, but she made it through (the first day anyway. Today I let her have a bottle before her nap and before bedtime...sometimes mommy's gotta go with her best instinct). Still, we've had no sippy cup and no pluggie, and she has been so good. Today finally felt normal, and she slept on her regular schedule. She and Emma enjoyed coloring together outside. (Her mouth must have been feeling better, because she still kept trying to eat the crayons.)

So my baby's smile might not look like it used to, but she still had that grin that lit up from ear to ear and made those eyes twinkle...along with a lot of extra drool!