A Before Photo

Sunday we all met my friend Adrienne, and her kids and husband, at Aldridge Gardens for a picnic and playdate.  After we ate lunch, we went for a walk.  Penelope got a little tired of being in the stoller, so she walked some with us.

Right after we finished up this walk, we went to our favorite wide open spot to let the kids run.  And while Penelope was running, she tripped and fell on Henry’s water bottle, which has a hard piece on it that went up between her top lip and top gums.  She screamed, and she bled, and she screamed, and she bled.  After inspecting the area, we decided that we needed a trip to the Children’s ER. 

Gary dropped me off with Penelope, and he took the big kids to the zoo to pass the time.  We gave Penelope some Tylenol right when it happened, and after her initial screaming fit, she had calmed down a bit when we got to the ER.  After they checked her vitals, she started screaming again.  And she screamed, and screamed, and screamed.  For an hour.  She would scream slightly less if I walked around with her, so I walked around the ER waiting room, then I walked up and down the hall outside our room. 

I finally told the nurse I needed some Motrin.  He asked me if there was something wrong with her other than just her lip (which is admittedly probably a minor issue compared to why other children were there, but that comment just rubbed me the wrong way).  Anyone that knows me has heard me say what an easy baby Penelope is (other than that time when she started waking up all night long from 6 months to 10.5 months, but even then she was a sweet, happy baby – just awake).  I gave him my best stern look and told him that this baby was NOT acting like my baby and that I’d done all I could do and why not try some Motrin?!!  About 15 minutes later she stopped screaming – so long as I kept walking her.

The doctor finally checked her out and decided that she didn’t need stitches (apparently they try not to stitch up the inside of the mouth unless absolutely unavoidable) and we called Gary to come pick us up.  Unfortunately, there was some event at the zoo that day and it took Gary about 45 minutes to just get out of the zoo parking lot.  Of course, that entire time I was walking Penelope.  I cannot imagine how many miles I walked with that baby.

Sunday we alternated Tylenol and Motrin until Penelope’s bedtime, and then we woke her up on our way to bed and gave her one more dose of Motrin.  She slept through the night and has been fine since then. 

Just another typical weekend in our household. . . .