So we thought Marin was our dare devil, but apparently Hollis wants the title. Friday morning I was changing her diaper and realized she was going to need a new outfit. So thinking she was too little to move anywhere, I ran to another room to get her new clothes. Burke was in the room with her but he was playing with Marin and I didn't tell him I was leaving. All of a sudden I heard the thud and then Burke and then Hollis crying. She had pushed herself off the table and fallen head first into her laundry bag. Unfortunately the bag was empty because we had just done laundry so she hit the hardwood floors. We weren't real sure what signs we should be looking for when she projectile vomited about 5 minutes afterwards. We called the pediatrician and she sent us to the ER immediately. Because it was in the morning, traffic was terrible so we didn't go to the Children's hospital, we just went to the closest hospital, Swedish Covenant Hospital. Swedish doctors examined her and said that everything looked ok and that they would keep us for 4-6 hours for observation. We were so relieved. Our pediatrician called and asked to have a cat scan done just as a precaution. We were counting down until we could go home safe and sound when the ER doctor came in and told us that the scan showed a bruise on her brain and that they needed to transport her to the children's hospital.
My heart stopped.
Burke loaded up everyone in the car and Hollis and I rode in the ambulance to Children's Memorial Hospital. I'm sure the sirens were precautionary but they didn't calm these parents' nerves at all. Burke and I both were so scared and nervous. We made it to the hospital and Children's had a trauma team waiting for us. They were absolutely incredible. So nice and reassuring. Talking and making Hollis smile and communicating to me about everything. They gave us a little hope (again) that everything was ok by saying, "A lot of times hospitals that don't specialize in children often times misread scans, etc." We were so relieved to hear this and so hopeful that it was just a mistake. We were put in an ER "room" to wait for the neurosurgeons and radiologists to look at the cat scan and give their own readings of it. We were so hopeful that it would be nothing. The first round of surgeons looked at it and we could tell on their faces it wasn't good news. The simply couldn't tell if it was blood or just if Hollis scan and they thought they would need to do a MRI to get better results.
Again, our hearts stopped.
Not the news we were looking for. So we waited for the radiologists to look at it but by now we were too scared to hope for good news. Once the radiologists looked at it, they had no doubt it was blood in her brain and said we didn't need any more tests because they were positive. So they admitted Hollis into the hospital for 24 hour observation. This was so scary to hear. They told us hundreds of times that this was more common than you think and that the blood would just absorb back into the body with no problems. But you never expect to be talking to a team of neurosurgeons and radiologists about your 2 month old.
They hooked her up to monitors and gave her an IV just in case something happened during the night and she needed surgery. (Again, things we didn't want to hear.) But we stayed the night and Hollis did great. She passed all the tests and the doctors examined her the next morning and we were discharged around noon.
Relief.
Sigh.
We are home now and getting back into our routine. I did hang her hospital bracelet up above the changing table as a gentle reminder that our little girl grows really fast and she is really, really strong. I still get a little (or a LOT) nervous every time I hear a loud thud even if it is Marin playing. I guess it will take a little bit of time to shake that fear away. But we are so very thankful for everyone who prayed for Hollis and has sent kind, encouraging words.
