His Big Toe

Monday night was the start of the new MOPS year and this year's theme is Adventures in Mothering. I had my own little adventure in mothering yesterday.

After the kids ate breakfast, I prepared a casserole. I cooked the chicken in the grill pan and then mixed everything together, and divided it in half. I put one half in the freezer for another day and I put the rest in the refrigerator so I could bake it for dinner. The kids were playing and being very good. The mornings really are their best time and I am often amazed at how much easier it is to cook after breakfast than any other time of day.

I had to make a dessert for MOPS so I chose this cake because it is easy to make and very yummy. Wesley was excited to help me make the cake. He loves to dump the ingredients in the mixing bowl and stir everything. He did an excellent job greasing the cake pan with some butter.
While the cake was baking, he went back to playing with Lydia and I washed up the dishes. I didn't realize that he was playing with the nesting tables. All of the sudden he started screaming. One of the tables had turned over and landed on his right big toe. The nail was turning purple and his toe was bleeding at the base of the nail.
Here is a picture of the nesting table. Lydia was very concerned about her brother.

I tried to call my SIL who is nurse and has three boys but her number was busy. So, I called my friend with five kids, one of whom broke her toe at the beginning of the summer. She said to call the pediatrician and ask for an appointment today so I did.

Meanwhile I had to make the icing for the cake because it supposed to be poured on the warm cake. I didn’t get all the powder sugar mixed in very well because both kids were screaming at the time. Poor Wesley had to wait for me to hold him again. He continued to cry until I turned on Mickey Mouse for him while I took Lydia upstairs with me so I could get ready (but there wasn't enough time for me to take a shower).

I called Chris and asked him to meet at the doctor's office because Wesley wouldn't walk and I had to carry him. I didn't think I could make it from the parking lot with both kids if Wesley had to be carried. I couldn't take a double stroller because there isn't room for a single stroller at the practice must less a double (even my small double). Wesley got to go to the doctor in his PJs which under normal circumstance would have thrilled him. The doctor said she didn't think it was broken and she cleaned it and wrapped it up. She said to call her if it continued bleeding.
Chris went back to work and I took the kids to Target. Wesley did great sitting in the cart. He didn't stand up at all. When we got home he did walk some on his right heel, holding the toes up. I realized his toe was still bleeding. I called the doctor and she said to go to the ER to make sure nothing was broken and that they would probably remove the nail and give him a stitch.

Thank God, our next door neighbor was home and available to babysit Lydia while I took Wesley. We went to a hospital with a pediatric ER so after waiting 15 minutes to sign in, Wesley's name was called in less than five minutes and we immediately saw a doctor.
After I took the picture above, Wesley said, "Take a picture of the tv." He loved the ER. He got to watch a couple of new-to-him tv shows on PBS on his own personal tv. He saw more tv yesterday than he normally sees in a week. His foot is wrapped up because he didn't want to see the blood.
Here he is enjoying some apple juice while watching tv.
The x-rays confirmed that there were no broken bones. The doctor was concerned that maybe there was a break at the very end of the bone. She pressure wrapped his toe and checked in on us several times and then sent us home. We were there for about two and a half hours. I asked her, "What do I do if the bleeding continues?" She said, "He doesn't have a bleeding disorder so it won't bleed again."

Well, this morning it was still oozing a little blood. He wouldn't walk on it when he first got up this morning but after eating breakfast he started walking around and walking up and down the steps. He went to school and did okay. The teacher kept telling him not to run and telling the other kids to watch out for his foot. I did have the pediatrician look at it again tonight and she said to just try to keep it safe and clean. She also gave me a prescription for antibiotic cream.

We leave for Disney on Saturday. Chris said we should put him in a bubble the week before we go on vacation. Less than a week before we went to Alaska, he fell off the the counter in the bathroom, snagged his shorts on one of the door pulls and fell on his mouth, busting his lip and chipping his left front tooth. We did recover from that pretty quickly but I am worried about how long it will take his toe to heal and there is a risk of infection since the wound is still open. Any advice?

I have to brag on my husband. When I got home from the ER at 6:30 last night, Lydia had a fever of 100.1 under her arm and she started crying for me as soon as she saw me. I asked Chris if I should skip the MOPS meeting and he said, "No, go. And you can't hear her crying if you go to the meeting." So I ran up stairs and changed clothes and then went to MOPS while my husband stayed home with two kids who were not feeling like themselves, two kids who needed extra love and attention. Yeah, I know I am very blessed to have him as my husband.