A Scary Weekend

Saturday was Sweet Pea's ninth birthday.  This was really strange, seeing as how it seems she was just born last week.

?

Sweet Pea sleeps in later than everyone nowadays.  I would have never believed you if you told me this when she was a newborn.  The child did not sleep at night for the first few weeks.  It was against her rules.

When Sweet Pea woke up, the other children bombarded her and she opened her presents before she could even fully comprehend it was morning.

Here she is with her new mini Kaya doll from her friend, Jordyn.

As usual,  I am sure you are praising my photography skills.  And I thank you for that.

After all the present excitement, David took the kids outside to get ready for the Winter Olympics birthday party we would be hosting later on that day.  I stayed inside to cook, clean, and do laundry, for it seems that is my lot in life, my burden to bear.

A bit later, I heard frantic screaming coming from the girls.  It was terrifying, and I was sure somebody was dead, I kid you not.  I was running all around trying to determine where the source of the noise was coming from.  I looked off of our deck and I saw Handsome Dude, lying on the ground, with a large log on his leg.  David had been pulling a tree that he had cut down with his bull dozer, the log twisted, and somehow trapped Handsome Dude underneath.  The girls were standing near him, screaming.  David had run off to get a tool to help get the log off.  And Little Dude seemed oblivious to any sort of trauma and was singing to himself.

I ran downstairs and outside, screaming all the way, hoping the chicken frying on the stove would not burn us all to the ground.

Because I am safe like that.

I pushed the log with all my might and nothing happened, which was discouraging.  David came running back with some large tool.  Please do not ask me what the tool was, for I have not one clue.  David got the log rolled off, picked Handsome Dude, up and ran him into the house.

Chicken was burning.  The girls were screaming.  Daisy Mae kept asking if HD was dead.  Little Dude was mad that he had to come inside.

David and I stripped Handsome Dude's pants off.  His leg was terribly scratched and bruised and there was an open wound in the back of his knee.  We knew we had to take him to the doctor immediately.

It takes us about 40 minutes to get to the doctor. Daisy Mae could not be consoled the entire time, poor thing.  We got to our doctor's office and the doctor took one look at the open wound and told us to go straight to the Emergency Room.  Thankfully, my dad met us at the doctor's office and took the other three home.

David felt terrible, since the accident was his fault and would not let go of Handsome Dude.  At this point, I have barely seen his leg, nor have I gotten to hold him.  While David was holding HD, the doctor flipped HD over and stretched out his leg to look at the cut.  The cut was much worse than David and I knew it to be and I almost fainted when I saw it.  It was about 4 to 5 inches across the back of his knee and (sorry for the gross detail) his flesh was hanging out.

Handsome Dude was obviously in a lot of pain and kept yelling at everyone who came near him.  It was so horrible when they had to give him X-Rays, the poor guy.  The doctors thought his femur might be broken at first, but thankfully he had no broken bones.

But, since the cut was so bad, it was decided that he needed to be taken to the OR and be put under general anesthesia so the doctor could check for tendon damage, clean out the wound, and stitch him up.

So, he had to get an IV, which he was not appreciative of.  The anesthesiologist came in to ask when the last time he had eaten was.  David had fed him breakfast and neither of us had fed him anything since.

But, my son is known to go into the pantry and sneak himself a marshmallow from time to time, so . . . .

Dr:  Buddy, can you tell me if you ate anything after breakfast.

HD:  I DON'T WANT TO TELL THE TRUTH!!!!  NO!!

Lovely.

Dr:  We are just going to assume he has eaten.

He is a brilliant man, that doctor.

Finally, about 3 1/2 hours after the incident, the poor boy was finally given something for the pain and drifted off to sleep while they prepped the OR.

Poor boy.

The nurses felt bad for him, too.  Each one that came in brought him a new toy.  And he would furiously tell us to remove it from his presence.  That cranky boy acquired a new teddy bear, stuffed elephant, and a Hot Wheels set.

The procedure took about an hour.  While we were waiting, my mom sent me a picture of Sweet Pea, who had opened her birthday present from them.

It was sad to miss out, but I was glad she was having a bit of birthday fun, in spite of the terrible day.

Handsome Dude came out of surgery fine, but he has to wear a full leg immobilizer for one week.

Poor boy.

We got him home, and I got him all set up with a snack and some soda pop.

Yes.  I gave the boy soda.  Don't judge me.

He took about one bite of his bread and fell back asleep.

Poor boy.

He decided he would like to watch a little TV with us.  He will not allow me to carry him anywhere, just David.  Apparently, I am not to be trusted.

He looks pretty lively for the TV show.

He gets it from his father.

The next day, he was still in pain and refused to try and walk all day long.  But finally, right before bed, he decided to give it a try.

And now, there is no stopping him!

For now, he is sleeping on a mattress on our floor.  The girls have a fun time making up a bed for him and doting on him.

 The astute reader might notice the weighted hula hoop to the left of Handsome Dude.

I use this a lot, as is evidenced by my, *ahem* rock-hard abs.

So, that was our weekend.  It was very scary and sad and a lesson learned in safety with kids!

I am so thankful that he is going to be ok and it wasn't any worse than it was!

My poor boy.