March Madness: The Call

...or "March Madness: Dude, We Need to Get This Kid a Friggin' Mouth Guard"


When your daycare provider calls in the middle of the day you KNOW it's not good news.

I dread that phone call. When I see "Sharon" pop up on my Crackberry screen my heart drops to my stomach. Is he sick? Is he hurt? Or did he hurt another kid???

Whatever it is, it ain't good.

So when I got the "Sharon" call this morning I instantly felt ill. Uh oh, brace for it.

When we picked him up yesterday she said that he had fallen and busted his lip. She said there was blood, lots of it, but that he calmed down fairly quickly and went about his business. Although it did keep bleeding on and off all day, as is evidenced by the blood on his clothes.

Poor little guy. His teeth are a bit crooked in front, and SHARP, and he always seems to cut his lip on the inside in the exact same spot. Every time. The first time he did it we were at the Minnesota Children's Museum with some friends...I feigned an air of composure while inside I was screaming "OMG! He's bleeding, he's bleeding! Someone call 911!!!" Okay, so that was a first-time mama over-reaction. Just a slight one. But when you see blood gushing out of your son's mouth you tend to freak. Since then I have seen him do it so many times it has become much less freaky for me.

So when Sharon said he busted his lip my reaction was, HE DOES IT ALL THE TIME. No worries.

But then today I guess she was concerned enough to call me and tell me that he did it yet again, which I appreciate sooooooo much. She really cares about Miles. It gives me a sense of peace knowing that if I'm not there to comfort him I know she will be.

She used words like "tons of blood" and "deep cut" and "extremely swollen, huge lip". That was enough to make me want to run over there and grab him and take him to the ER. But I abstained, especially since she said that the bleeding had stopped, he had stopped crying and he seemed to not be bothered by it at all now.

Instead of a trip to the ER I opted for a call to his pediatrician's office. I have called them before about things and the nurses are always happy to give us advice and help us in any way they can. They assured me that even if I took him in they would not do stitches on the inside of the mouth, especially at this age. The best thing we can do is give him Popsicles (to ice it) and let the swelling go down.

Another consultation on the phone with Sharon, and we were both satisfied that he would live. In fact, she said he is back to playing already so he must not be in too much (or any) pain.

WHEW.

I think I might change "Sharon" on my phone to "Don't Panic, It Will Be OK". Maybe I will dread seeing that call just a little bit less that way ;)