Will's Boo Boo...

Another "first" over here at the Barrett house.

First set of stitches, that is. On Monday, I took the boys for a walk while they rode their bikes. Will has been doing awesome on his 2-wheel bike. Going so fast after Jared on the sidewalk and really growing in confidence. So much so, that he wanted to race down a hill after Jared. Oh man, how I wish I would have said no. Why didn't I say no???

I didn't say no.

I let him go down and he made it all the way to the bottom and got spooked and had a huge crash and came up in tears. I ran down to help him and my poor baby was covered in blood. People say that facial wounds bleed a lot. Now I know firsthand this to be true. I immediately called Tim and told him I would be taking Will to the Emergency Room and that he needed to leave work at once. Then I hung up (my poor husband, he had no idea what had happened at this point). I struggled to get all three boys home - half carrying Will, pushing the stroller, and trying to keep an eye on J. A kind man gave us a ride home the last few blocks in the back of his pickup truck - stroller and all. Tim had been wise enough to have already called our neighbor to come for the other two boys, Dave Heller was in the front yard by the time we got there and he took Caleb and Jared with him.

Thankfully, I was able to reach a dear friend who is a doc at Phoenix Children's Hospital, who instructed me to head straight to the Emergency Room. Will had calmed down by the time we got to the hospital, thank goodness. When they checked us in, the nurses put a bandage with a numbing med on Will's chin. They had kid's movies on in the waiting room, which was a welcome distraction.

After doing Jared's ER visit from the scorpion bite by myself, I vowed to never again to take one of our kids to the ER without Tim if at all possible. We were able to quickly work it out so that he could be with us. Tim went home and picked up the two boys from the Heller's, dropped them off at the Hoxworth's, and met me at PCH. We were both so happy to see Tim when he arrived. It was a huge relief to me to have him there. AND - he brought clean shirts for us as ours, which we definitely needed.

Eventually, they led us back to a bed in the hallway where we continued to wait. Will was hysterical, cracking jokes and talking to the people as they walked by. Most did a double take of this happy little boy with the big, blood filled bandage on his face. That numbing med really took his mind off it. Tim and I were both surprised that he wasn't a little more freaked out by the sight of the blood, it didn't seem to bother him at all. Will's nurse was named Candy and he thought that was pretty funny. The doc came by and verified that he hadn't broken his jaw - PTL. Another nurse came to help Candy irrigate the wound with clean water. It was then that we saw just how deep his cut was. I couldn't even look at it and had to take a seat. I was SO grateful for Tim's steady presence as it became a little overwhelming to see this huge cut, Tim said it looked like a second mouth!

Dr. Prickett confirmed that the derma-bond glue would not sufficiently close this whopper of an owie and took us back for stitches. The team at PCH was awesome, they played a Thomas the Train movie for Will that kept his mind off the stitching - at first. A few stitches in, Will became pretty agitated and, again, I was thanking the Lord for my strong, calm husband. Tim had to help them hold him down so the doctor could finish the work. And, once it was over, it was over.

Will asked for a popsicle and was happy as could be.

Tim took Will by Walgreen's on the way home for a special movie and the meds, while I picked up the Jared and Caleb. My Aunt Cathy, Uncle Jim, and Cullen brought over dinner and hugs later, which was much appreciated as we were all exhausted.

Now... I took some pictures to show Will one day. Warning - these are not for the faint of heart...

Pulling into the hospital, Will was so tired and sad. He should

have been home napping!! I let him ride in the middle seat

as I needed to be able to keep an eye on him and hold his

hand at stoplights. Can you believe what a sight this is???

Will resting on his Daddy and watching a movie in the

waiting

room in his clean

shirt. We tossed the other one

in the garbage.

Will wanted us to take a picture of ourselves together.

The bandage on

his

chin was on its last legs, I'd already

had them

change

it once and probably should have

had

them do it again.

Will showing us his Lightning McQueen socks.

Will's chin after they cleaned it. See? It kind

of does look like a 2nd smile. Holy cow...

This is the finished product, a pic Tim took before bed.

14 stitches in all, including 2 inside. Unbelievable.

I had a hard time sleeping that night, not only because Will and Caleb took turns waking me up, but also because I felt so awful. Whenever I would think about it, I would get this sick feeling in my stomach. I am praying the Lord would use this to teach all of us. Especially me, as I am desperate for the Lord's wisdom in raising these three boys that the Lord has entrusted to us.

Will is recovering remarkably well. He's woken up once each night, I think because the Ibuprofen wears off. After a teaspoon of Tylenol he falls right back to sleep. During the day he's been happy and funny. He's been total trooper when it comes to cleaning his chin (which we're supposed to do 3 times a day). He's pretty proud of his owie and really likes showing people his battle wound. We have an appointment to remove the stiches on Friday.

Again, I'm so grateful for his quick recovery. I'm so grateful that all he needed was stitches. I know people say this is part of raising boys, but I plan to heed it as a warning of sorts. I expect us all be a little more cautious now...