Babsie's First Emergency

I think it is safe to say that parents know that their children will inevitably incur their fair share of bumps, bangs, scrapes, and sometimes breaks.

However, knowing this doesn't make it any easier to deal with the emergencies that come from some of the bigger 'owies'.

The Incident:
Babsie and Daddy (me) are playing on the bed. During this time her left shoulder gets pulled, or twisted, or something :-(.

Needless to say much crying commences and she won't move her arm or hand. At this point I start getting that awful, gut twisting feeling of panic as a slew of questions and thoughts fly through my mind.

Is it dislocated? Is it broken? Did a nerve get pinched? Will her arm be paralyzed? What should I do? Where should I take her to get it looked at? It's 8:30pm! Mom isn't home and has her health card! Will anyone see her without it? How do I get her in the truck baby seat? ...

Of course all this is happening while I'm doing my best to soothe her. She is very upset and so is Daddy. His littlest punkin' is hurting :'-(.

After a few big breaths, I let my parental instincts take over. I've got to deal with this... now! I get her ready to go (with much difficulty) and get her sister to watch her while I organize myself. After some frantic running around the house and minor mishaps, we eventually end up at Minor Emergency. By now she's much calmer and sitting snuggled up to my chest while we wait for a Doctor to see us.

Anyone who has taken a child to get help in an emergency can confirm the difficulties that ensue once the medical professionals start doing their jobs. The examining Doctor had to move her shoulder to check for dislocation, the X-Ray technician had to position her shoulder more than once for multiple captures, and a nurse had to put on a little sling at the end. It was cold, scary, painful, and an hour and a half past bedtime. Comforting her through all of this was challenging to say the least.

Resolution:
Thankfully, there was no dislocation and the X-Rays showed no fractures, but she was still very tender.

Some child pain medication, warm milk, warm pajamas, and snuggles with Daddy end an eventful evening.

Reflection:
Although I am sad this whole event happened, I am thankful that my natural parental instincts were able to respond appropriately to the crisis at hand. However, my initial reaction of fear and panic reminded me that us parents are really human underneath our tough exteriors.

Update:
I always forget how fast Babies heal!

As of noon the next day, Babsie had started using her left hand and had removed the sling. She was comfortably moving her arm slightly below shoulder height. By bedtime, it was like nothing had ever happened. *whew*

Disaster at Denny's Leads to Happy Wifey Thoughts

So you're probably looking at the title of this post and thinking... WTF?!

The Disaster:

1. Wife and 2 year old daughter pick me up at work to have a little lunch
2. We go to Denny's (close by, family friendly, quick food service *cough cough* )
3. We get seated right away.. Hooray! Always a plus when with Babsie.
   
4. We wait 20 minutes for a server to come by... :-(
   
5. We order drinks and food... :-)
   
6. We wait over half an hour for food.
   
7. Babsie is now agitated, restless, hungry, and due for a nap >:-(
   
8. Our server does not check in on us during the wait... grrrrr!
   
9. Wifey walks Babsie around the restaurant and does her best to keep her entertained
10. Daddy is extremely annoyed
11. More time passes
    
12. Times Up! Baby-cakes is D-O-N-E with this place and Daddy needs to get back to work
    
13. Crying is already in progress and we decide we have to go... NOW!
14. Our food arrives as we are dressing to leave
15. Daddy is angry, but asks nicely (sorta) to get our food packed up
    
16. Wifey takes very tired and upset Babsie to the car
17. Daddy waits another 10 minutes for food to be packed up
18. Our server explains that she messed up the order and that is was being fixed
19. Daddy contains anger, gets food, pays, and leaves.
    

OK... by the end of all this I was ready to go off like a bomb: angry emails, calls to the manager, you name it.

So I go back to work and eat my meal at my desk... stewing the whole time.

Then it comes.... a text message from Wifey that says:

"I am thankful that I got to spend time with you and that my sandwich was kick ass :)"

At that moment I realized that I was glad I got to see some of my family during my work day. And that I too had enjoyed my sandwich... it was quite good.

Lucky for Denny's... I have a very cheerful Wife.

The Beginning...

So here I am...

Why?

• I am long overdue with re-establishing my presence on the Interweb.
• I needed a place to contain/store/dump my thoughts
• Because I can
  

Personal Mission

• To write/post at least once every 3-4 days
• To write about anything I chose... no limitations or restrictions!
• To write freely and openly to fully express what is on my mind
• Follow the K.I.S.S. principle for posts
  
• To share this with people close to me (and others if they are so inclined)
  

Undecided:

• How to organize posts (i.e. label choices)
• Moderation of comments
• Customized layout
• Accessibility

And so ends my first post. For me, this signifies starting something I've been meaning to do for quite some time.

Hooray!