We had our first real parent emergency this weekend, and as situations like this tend to do, this one arose unexpectedly at 3:00 on Saturday morning. Everyone was asleep (as they should be at that time) and I woke up to a thud and crying. Real crying. I nudged Jim--dads get really good at sleeping through noise--and he ran in and got Lil, who had fallen out of bed. After calming her down, we were all set to go back to sleep, but Jim suggested turning on a light to make sure Lilly was really okay. It turns out that she wasn't. Lilly was reaching for her water bottle, which had fallen on the ground and must have either grazed her eye on it or landed on it, because she slit open her eyelid. Jim and I went back and forth, trying to decide whether she needed to go to the emergency room, and finally, we looked at each other and decided, we have no clue! We didn't know how deep the cut was. We didn't know whether it would require stitches. So, off Jim and Lilly went to the emergency room, hoping for a best case--it'll be fine, just go home and rest--scenario. I was lying in bed, wide awake, waiting for an update from Jim and about as far away from sleep as I could be. Knowing that your child, who is so little and innocent, is hurt and there's nothing to do but wait is just brutal. I was chatting with Mum--one of the advantages to a 12 hour time difference! It was 3pm in Singapore so Mum was able to offer reassuring words of wisdom and when the time came, helped us decide to use a plastic surgeon for the stitches. In the ER, the physicians assistant who was attending to Lilly told Jim she could put in a stitch or two but that a plastic surgeon would probably do more, so we set up the appointment with the plastic surgeon for 10am on Saturday morning. Jim and Lilly were home from the hospital at 5:30am, and Lilly was sound asleep, snuggling in bed with us not long after.
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| After the Emergency Room, before the stitches. |
The timing was unfortunate--aside from being the middle of the night, this also happened right before I was supposed to be teaching all day Saturday. We talked about me not going and I was ready to ask for help with my class so that I could stay with Lil, but Jim assured me he had everything under control and that he would be fine taking Lilly and Jack to the plastic surgeon in the morning. I went off to class that morning, and not long after received messages from all of our Fairfield friends, offering to help out. I really do love living here! Jerry and Mel came over with Margot for the morning, so that Jack could nap and Jim could take Lilly to the appointment. That was a lifesaver for us. This is when Lilly was such an impressive little girl. She was brave, did everything that the surgeon told her to do, and was lying perfectly still for about an hour while she was all stitched up. Lilly ended up getting 14 stitches in her eyelid. The surgeon was outstanding. I've seen him a few times now for follow up appointments, and he keeps Lilly informed every step of the way and makes sure she knows what to say if she's uncomfortable or if something hurts. When he was stitching her up on Saturday, after numbing her eye, he told her he was going to ask her lots of times if she could feel anything. So the conversation went something like this:
Surgeon: Can you feel this?
Lilly: No
Surgeon: Can you feel this?
Lilly: No
Surgeon: Can you feel this?
Lilly: No
Surgeon: Can you feel this?
Lilly: No
Surgeon: Can you feel this?
Lilly: No
Surgeon: Can you feel this?
Lilly: I said, NO!
Surgeon: I told you I was going to ask you lots of times!
I talked to Lilly in between my classes and asked how she was and she told me that her eye was all better. When I came home that afternoon, her eye was swollen shut but she was her normal self. Trying to keep our little bundle of energy calm for 10 days until these stitches come out is not the easiest task! She's been going to school in the mornings, but instead of going out on the playground at the end of the morning, she helps Kathleen, the director, set up the lunch bunchers' lunches, which she loves. Her teachers are keeping an extra eye on her and have been wonderful. Lilly came home from school on Monday and said in a surprised voice, "Mum, all the children kept asking me what happened to my eye!" She thinks that she's healed and back to normal.
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| Lilly's friend Clark (and my friend Kate) brought Lilly balloons. She's been carrying around her "I'm going to get better soon" balloon all week! |
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| The next day, Peter (and Peter's mom, Marie) brought over munchkins. I don't know who was more excited. Lilly or Jim. Or Jack come to think of it. He stuffed an entire munchkin in his mouth when we weren't looking! |
I'm proud of Lilly. I'm always proud of her and know that she's a good girl, but we've been having some listening battles at home lately. Lilly and I have different ideas of what listening entails. Apparently a 3-year old and a 31-year old don't always see eye to eye on these issues. I see my Mum and Dad in myself more every day, and find myself saying things that I remember them saying to us over and over again. I have moments of extreme frustration, when I just don't know what to do. When I saw Lilly with the surgeon this week, and watched her calmly do everything he said, she reminded me that she really is a good girl. It's her job as a 3-year old to test her boundaries and discover her limits, and test she does. But at least she does it at home. The surgeon told me on Monday that when he saw Lilly's eye and learned that she was 3, he was ready to take her to an operating room and give her anesthesia so he could fix it. But, she surprised him and was able to lie there while he did what he needed to do. Lilly got the superficial stitches out today, and the rest should come out next Wednesday. So, Jim and I can check "first middle of the night trip to the emergency room" off our parenting list. Somehow, in the back of my mind, I know this is only the beginning.
Lunch at Starbucks on Monday, before Lilly's first check up with the plastic surgeon. Definitely back to normal!
Brave little Lilly.
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