Lydia Lyin' Low

Lydia had an accident on her scooter in January that got her an ER visit and four stitches (and cost her parents an arm and a leg!). She rode the scooter over the bumpy pavers in the back yard and hit a bump that knocked her off, but as she fell the scooter handlebars tipped up so that the metal rim of the handle cut into her nose. Her nose and mouth were so bloody initially that I couldn't tell what had happened. Once we cleaned it up a bit and I saw how deep the slice was, I knew we'd be headed out for medical help. Josiah had a friend over to play, which complicated matters, but I figured I didn't want to haul the rest of the siblings to urgent care or the ER unless absolutely necessary anyhow. I finally got a hold of Jeremy at work. He came home and drove Lydia to the ER after we called urgent care to find out if they would/could stitch up children (answer: no).

Smiling for Daddy on the way to the hospital!

Jeremy and Lydia spent about five hours at Phoenix Children's. Lydia was thrilled with the chance to watch a bunch of movies: Lady and the Tramp, Minions, The Good Dinosaur, and probably a couple others. She wasn't so thrilled with the shots of lidocaine (one of which wore off before they started stitching--so she felt the needle--and then when the staff gave the second shot, she jerked and the needle bent in her nose) or the stitching up. Jeremy wasn't too thrilled with the delays that caused the lidocaine to wear off or the inexperience of the resident who did the stitching (he had to redo a stitch or two, causing more trauma). Thankfully her scar looks pretty good, so the resident must have done a reasonable job.

I've made the scooters off-limits til Jeremy fixes the handles somehow so the sharp metal isn't exposed. I know the kids could do a score of other activities to land them in the hospital, but at least I'll eliminate that one.

My sister Elisabeth (Aunt Bobo to the kids) sent Lydia a TJ's card that said, "I hear that you are lying low." It had a picture of a nurse mouse ministering to a sick one with some other "helpers." Aunt Bobo wrote in that she was the nurse mouse and Lydia the sick one. Lydia proceeded to name the others ('Siah and Ab) and memorized the card greeting. She delighted to "read" it to everyone.

Poor Lydia has been "lyin' low" quite a bit lately. Though the nose injury didn't keep her down for long (amazing how quickly little kids heal!), she (and the others) caught a cold at the end of January. Just as that started to subside, she got another virus with a bad cough and lots of congestion. A week and a half ago, she had a fever and complained of an earache, and woke up a few nights with coughing, bad dreams, or earache. Thankfully the coughing is lessening and her chest congestion sounds better.

Her teeth evidence the thumb-sucking, and she's supposed to have sunscreen on her nose to prevent bad scarring

In the midst of that illness, Lydia also contracted a case of pinworms. She complained one night of her bum "tickling" and persisted enough in her complaints that I thought it might be more than a random itch. I mentioned that Aunt Rach had gotten worms quite often when she was little and explained the basics of the condition. Poor Lydia, driven to distraction with her bum itches and wounded in pride, said, "That's not for real!" I assured her it was. Then she said, "That's not a very nice joke."

Sure enough, we discovered (in a quite unsavory way) that Lydia did indeed have worms. She cried and cried about the tickles in her bum until a dose of over-the-counter medication did away with the disgusting creatures. Now she's sensitive to every itch in her bum and is very worried she might get worms again. It's actually motivating her not to suck her thumb (sometimes). She came to us in tears the other day to confess she "ate some dirt" that apparently "fell in [her] mouth." She was sure this meant worms had once again infested her body. We hope not . . , They have been a real tribulation to her!

Now we're just hoping she (and the other two girls) don't get strep, since Josiah came down with that last Thursday. And I'm praying against another strep cycle like we had two years ago--but so thankful we've had two years being strep-free!

The Latest Misadventure

Just when we seemed to be clear of the bronchitis that has plagued our home since late August, lo and behold, a new malady strikes! While no one is sick (I think . . . hope . . .), little Abby had her biggest-yet accident.

Lydia took this picture of Abby . . . look at those pretty teeth!

On Saturday evening, Jer was pushing Lydia on the swing while Abby stood beside him, waiting her turn. Apparently she decided to help push, because she moved forward and the swing hit her full in the mouth, throwing her about four feet backwards.

Of course, she bled and cried. Jer picked her up and ran her into the house, expecting a lip/tongue injury. He laid her on the table and then called to me, sounding a little panicked. Her lip and tongue were fine (and she still has no bruising around her mouth)--but her left front tooth was gone!

We consoled her, got a wet cloth and some ice, and eventually stanched the bleeding. I called our dentist emergency line and left a message, and we were pleasantly surprised that the dentist called back in about 10 minutes--saving us a contemplated trip to urgent care or ER.

The dentist advised us to wait out the weekend and take her in for a check on Monday. Basically he told us most baby teeth roots dissolve on their own, there wasn't much he or we could do, and she'd just have to wait about five years for the adult tooth to grow in. She's cute with the gap, but I miss the pretty little line of teeth!

Abby did quite well over the weekend. We gave her tylenol a few times in the course of Saturday night and Sunday morning, but since then she's been pretty much her normal self. We kept her out of nursery on Sunday morning, though she begged and whined to join Lydia there. She still wants to play rough with Daddy and her siblings, and she doesn't like the "softer" diet to which we've tried to relegate her.

Amazingly, she's also done a great job avoiding thumb-sucking. Initially she whimpered a little when we asked her to keep her thumb out of her mouth, but I've seen her reflexively put her thumb up to her mouth and then consciously pull it back. Maybe her thumb-sucking days are over!

Monday morning Jeremy and I split kids and ways to make both my OB appointment and Abby's dentist appointment work. He took Josiah and Abby to the dentist, while I took Lydia with me (she was disappointed to miss out on the video games in the dentist's lobby and the prize at the end of the visit!).

We just took the kids in for their six-month cleaning last Thursday, and all three did very well. They hopped up into the chairs like pros, opened their mouths on command, happily complied with the hygenist's and dentist's instructions, and gleefully got their prizes when we exited. So we were glad to have that good experience to bank on! Abby was actually excited about going back to the dentist (and felt special that only she needed an appointment).

Well, Monday's dental check ended up including an X-ray that showed Abby's tooth had not been knocked out like we thought. It had been jammed back into her gum--so far that we could only see an edge of white (which previously we assumed to be some of the root). It still makes me shiver to think about how painful that would be!

Thankfully it looks like the tooth did not hit the adult tooth up in her gum--so we're hoping there's no long-term damage to permanent teeth. Apparently the gum will probably close over the little tooth. The dentist said there's a 50/50 chance the tooth will then descend again (so she'll teethe all over again) and come in okay--probably a bit crooked, but potentially fine for use until it drops out in a few years. But if it doesn't descend, he'll need to extract it. So we have an appointment for late November to check on its status and potentially extract it. Hopefully it will come back in!

The other main concern is that Abby could develop an abscess up there in her gum, which could affect the adult tooth if it's not swiftly dealt with (and, of course, it could be very painful). So we'll be watching for that.

So our brave little girl is poorer one tooth, at least for now! We're trying to prevent further injuries to the area (more challenging than you might expect with the way these kids play!) and praying that tooth comes back in to be usable another few years. Meanwhile, Jeremy has encouraged Abby to practice her "pirate face" to show off her gap . . .

(Oh, and Josiah convinced Abby that a "sticky eyeball" would be a great choice of prize. She proudly showed it to me when I met up with them at Jer's work. Josiah was thrilled to have gotten a prize as well--just for playing computer games in the lobby while Abby got checked out and got her X-ray! He chose a "sticky hand.")