Thursday was a day that I will never forget for as long as I live! One of the scariest moments of my parenting life happened that day.
I was starting the bath for the kids. It had a few inches of water in it when Max's naked self came running in the bathroom and literally jumped into the tub. Of course, he slipped and hit the back of his head full force on the edge of the tub. He started crying, and I held him and comforted him, but his crying sounded muffled. So I told him to look at me. He opened his mouth just a little bit and all I could see was chunky, mutilated, purplish flesh. His whole mouth was swollen. Usually I'm calm in emergency situations, I've learned how to be after all the incidents we've had in our house! But this was too much. I panicked. I started hyperventilating. I didn't know what to do. Maggie was naked in the tub. Max was naked. I had to get him to the hospital but didn't have time to dress everyone. I called Rob in a panic and all I could get out was COME HOME RIGHT NOW! over and over again. But then I realized it would take him a half hr to get home from work. So I called my friend Pam and begged her to come over immediately and watch Connor and Maggie while I took Max.
All this time I thought Max either bit off his tongue altogether, or at least bit through it, and probably some cheek too. So in between calls I kept telling him not to swallow. I didn't want to lose any tongue if it was salvageable! He was still whimpering, and his mouth looked like it was getting bigger and bigger. I finally took a deep breath and told him I needed to look inside his mouth. He didn't want me to and started crying even more, not wanting to open his mouth. But I coaxed him into it. He opened his mouth.
And spit out a mouthful of fruit snacks.
Holy Moly.
I think I died a little bit.
He'd been having fruit snacks before his bath, but not wanting to wait to finish his snack before getting in the tub, he shoved about 10 of the purple and red fruit snacks into his mouth and started chewing them all. By the time he'd jumped into the tub, they'd mushed together into the color of bloody flesh. I'd been telling him not to swallow, so he'd kept them in his mouth, crying around them the whole time. I DID cry a little in relief after the realization washed over me that he did not, in fact, bite off his tongue. He still had a sizeable lump on the back of his head, but nothing more! In truth, I'm convinced that if he HADN'T had a mouthful of fruit snacks, he WOULD have bitten through his tongue!!
I'm a relieved mama. I called Rob and explained what happened. He was relieved too, but found the situation hilarious. As did his boss when he got back to work and told the story. My friend Pam was grateful for no emergency, as she had a terrible bout of the flu herself and was struggling to rush over to our house!
I know that one day it will really happen though. Max will jump off a cliff and break a leg, or decide his favorite sport is BMX, or decide that wrestling an alligator sounds exciting. That's just Max. But I hope next time I can avoid hyperventilating. And now that I think of it, I should probably have the local ER's number on speed dial...
I was starting the bath for the kids. It had a few inches of water in it when Max's naked self came running in the bathroom and literally jumped into the tub. Of course, he slipped and hit the back of his head full force on the edge of the tub. He started crying, and I held him and comforted him, but his crying sounded muffled. So I told him to look at me. He opened his mouth just a little bit and all I could see was chunky, mutilated, purplish flesh. His whole mouth was swollen. Usually I'm calm in emergency situations, I've learned how to be after all the incidents we've had in our house! But this was too much. I panicked. I started hyperventilating. I didn't know what to do. Maggie was naked in the tub. Max was naked. I had to get him to the hospital but didn't have time to dress everyone. I called Rob in a panic and all I could get out was COME HOME RIGHT NOW! over and over again. But then I realized it would take him a half hr to get home from work. So I called my friend Pam and begged her to come over immediately and watch Connor and Maggie while I took Max.
All this time I thought Max either bit off his tongue altogether, or at least bit through it, and probably some cheek too. So in between calls I kept telling him not to swallow. I didn't want to lose any tongue if it was salvageable! He was still whimpering, and his mouth looked like it was getting bigger and bigger. I finally took a deep breath and told him I needed to look inside his mouth. He didn't want me to and started crying even more, not wanting to open his mouth. But I coaxed him into it. He opened his mouth.
And spit out a mouthful of fruit snacks.
Holy Moly.
I think I died a little bit.
He'd been having fruit snacks before his bath, but not wanting to wait to finish his snack before getting in the tub, he shoved about 10 of the purple and red fruit snacks into his mouth and started chewing them all. By the time he'd jumped into the tub, they'd mushed together into the color of bloody flesh. I'd been telling him not to swallow, so he'd kept them in his mouth, crying around them the whole time. I DID cry a little in relief after the realization washed over me that he did not, in fact, bite off his tongue. He still had a sizeable lump on the back of his head, but nothing more! In truth, I'm convinced that if he HADN'T had a mouthful of fruit snacks, he WOULD have bitten through his tongue!!
I'm a relieved mama. I called Rob and explained what happened. He was relieved too, but found the situation hilarious. As did his boss when he got back to work and told the story. My friend Pam was grateful for no emergency, as she had a terrible bout of the flu herself and was struggling to rush over to our house!
I know that one day it will really happen though. Max will jump off a cliff and break a leg, or decide his favorite sport is BMX, or decide that wrestling an alligator sounds exciting. That's just Max. But I hope next time I can avoid hyperventilating. And now that I think of it, I should probably have the local ER's number on speed dial...
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