I haven't fallen off the face of the planet

Things have been busy. The day after my last post (wednesday, the 10th? I believe), Elyas had a bad head injury, which lapsed into a whirlwind of doctors appointments and has kept me busy, in addition to Ali being very busy with dissertation and job market business. Here's the scoop on Elyas:

Wednesday we went to Trader Joe's and I forgot to take a sling with me, so I thought, he's 7 months, he could ride in the cart. And he really, enjoyed it, looked around smiling at people and kicking his feet the whole time. I parked at the curb in the front of the store and so when we came out I stopped the cart at the front of my car, up on the sidewalk while I got Leila in, the car beside me had just pulled out when we were walking up. I was strapping Leila in when I looked up to see the cart rolling off the sidewalk into the empty parking spot! Of course I jumped out of the back seat, but I was too slow to get there before it tipped over and whacked the poor baby's head against the curb! He has several bumps on the back of his head (which are better this morning). I just guess that he was kicking his feet maybe and the cart started rolling, I don't know. I *thought* I was doing the right mommy thing by strapping in my two year old before she ran into the street! I feel terrible, poor little guy. It's always horrible to actually WATCH your baby be injured, unable to stop it from happening!

Flash forward to Saturday the 13th, and I had another scare.

That evening, around 5 o'clock, I put him in the sling for his before-dinner catnap. He was acting perfectly normal (has been since he hurt his head), and I went to hold his head like I always do when putting him to sleep, to soothe him. Well, I touched the back of his head and it felt [i]soft[/i], like a softspot/fonatelle, only not where a soft spot was supposed to be. I immediately FREAKED OUT. This could absolutely not be good in a child who just had a major injury to the head days prior. I was at my mom's house, she was outside with Leila and I ran out and told her I was taking him to the ER, had her feel it. She asked if I wanted to call the nurses hotline but I said no, I HAD to go now. The scariest thoughts were running through my head, like every moment I'd spend on the phone with a nurse could be additional moments he'd be getting brain damage. I ran to my car and pulled out Leila's carseat, and put Elyas in his (deciding that I could get up to the hospital that was 10 minutes away faster than an ambulance could come down and get us and take us up there). I felt his head again, there was (is) a pocket of fluid in the shape of a heart, about 3 inches wide by 2 inches high. It wasn't red or purple, so I didn't think it was blood, leaving me to worry it was cerebral-spinal fluid. I called Ali and told him I was taking the baby to the ER, all the while imagining that we'd be airlifted to Children's Hospital or something as dramatic.

I got him up the ER and it was (of course) nearly an hour and half before we actually saw the dr. The nurses didn't seem too concerned, since he was acting in good spirits and it didn't hurt when they palpated his skull/scalp. I felt more calm once we were there, but I was still very worried. The doctor didn't think it was cerebral fluid (thankfully!); he thought it was inflammatory fluid, that if Elyas had a skull fracture he'd be acting as if he was in pain AT LEAST when the doctor was not so gently palpating the skull. The only way to definitively rule out a skull fracture would be to run a CT on him, but they'd have to sedate him for the scan, and he advised against it. So, watch and wait, he said, and if it doesn't go away within 5 days to take him into our family practitioner.

I cannot tell you how scared I was. I have never been that scared, never. Even when we took Leila in to Children's after she was born. A heart can be repaired, replaced even if it comes to that... but a brain.... I'm still full of anxiety, reeling from the event.

The following monday, I took him to our family doctor for a second opinion. I just wanted to make sure we weren't dealing with something very serious. She did think it was likely that he has/had a skull fracture, but also did want to do and radiography because it wouldn't change the course of treatment, and it would expose the brain needlessly to radiation (can I say here that I think our doc is super awesome?).

So, I've been doing a gentle lymph drain that my friend taught me (some gentle taps on the clavicle and the lymphnodes above it, and Elyas saw Dr. Molly (who was at his delivery) for a cranial sacral treatment on Friday. The little guy is doing great, besides the first night, he hasn't seemed sore or bothered at all.

Anyway, besides that I have some money saving tips I'd like to share, but I'm off to bed for the night. Phew!