Tumble

Nolan took a tumble down our stairs this morning. All of them. All thirteen stairs, through a gate, and onto hardwood floor. 

It was such a normal set of events. He'd had room time, I'd gone up to get him, we'd cleaned up the toys, I had to go into my room to get a sweater, while N ran down the hallway knowing we were about to go bye-bye. He always waits. Always. Not that we ever let him linger near the top of the steps. We always grab him, explain why he has to wait, and remove him from the temptation. 

But, I guess today that three second head start he had on me was just enough time.

As a parent, it was an absolute sickening event. Hearing the thuds as your baby falls down the steps. Knowing there's absolutely nothing you can do about it now. My heart must've literally skipped some beats, and my eyes had already filled with tears. It was scary.  

It's a soothing thing for people to say if you have a toddler and stairs, it's probably going to happen at some point. I don't really buy that though. It's 100% preventable.

I cannot get his pitiful crying out of my head, which started before even landing at the bottom. 

Despite the quickness and chaos of it, I kept my head and remembered all the things to note. 

He cried right away. He moved right away, already pushing up from the floor. I was down the stairs before he could get all the way up and after several seconds of hugging it out, I fetched the ibuprofen.

As soon as he'd had his dose, I stripped him down and examined his entire body. He had a minor bump and scrape at the top of his forehead. He had a red line across one cheek and it was puffy. 

He walked fine. He didn't wince when I pressed at his hips, abdomen, or up and down his spine.

He'd stopped crying within the few minutes that had taken.

I got him to open and close his mouth, and he had taken a bite and drink without any noticeable discomfort. 

His pupils weren't dilated and he followed objects with his eyes just fine. He recognized me and other objects. He said some words for me, sounding as he normally does. 

I called my husband, probably crying more than N had already, and made him aware of the situation. Then, because it wasn't an emergency at that point, I called our pediatrician's office. Of course, they wanted to check him out to be safe. 

He had some very minor swelling around the top and frontal lobe, and we had to consult with an ER physician to see if they felt a CT Scan needed to be done. I never knew this, but they also examine the ears and if they can see swelling in them, they'll almost certainly go ahead with the CT. 

When there was no swelling in his ears, no fever, and no bleeding we were given the all clear. They just instructed us to watch for abnormal behaviors and sleeping patterns and keep an eye out for fevers and abdominal bruising.

He's been acting absolutely fine - if not exhausted because of the crying from the fall and the crying from doctors bothering him. I swear he remembers the nurse that always does his vaccines, because when she comes in he's already wrapped those hands around my neck and immediately gets upset.

I was praying the moment I heard that first thud, and now I'm just thanking Jesus for keeping him safe, while sending up requests that there won't be any suddenly appearing symptoms.

Though I'd love to just forget this at the moment, someday I'll want to reflect on the details of things like this, and that's why I'm writing about it.  

I felt like the worse parent ever. It's just the fact that it always crosses my mind - him falling down the stairs - and letting him even have the head start on me... and knowing that accidents like this really are preventable... and knowing that it could've been much worse... it's just a really hard mental blow.  :(