And the winner of Loser Mom of the Year goes to....

ME!! That's right, I am THAT mom!! You all know the one I am talking about. The one whose always got a kid in the ER for stupid/silly stuff!! Well, I am not so proud to accept this award today, but if I must then so be it! For the record this all happened yesterday afternoon and evening.

 It all started with the girls wanting to go play outside in the backyard. Harmless fun right?? Nope!! Not for little miss Lilah Rose anyways...so we are all outside in the yard, I forgot something, ran inside for a few minuets...hear Delilah crying...or was she laughing...I wasn't sure so I didn't rush. HUGE MISTAKE!! I mean GINORMOUS, life shattering, world ending huge. She (Delilah) was caught in the soccer net in the backyard. Her earing got caught and Molly and Caleb were trying/had tired to help her. Molly stayed with her, trying to help her get out and calm down while Caleb came and grabbed me. I rushed out, saw what was going on..sent Caleb for scissors and tried to "save" Delilah. I tried to be calm, but I admit I began to panic. I have never seen an ear stretch like that...it resembled something from National Geographic! Why I didn't try and just unscrew her earings I am not sure, thinking back I probably worried that I would rip her earing out if I even tried. So I tried to hold her still and not let her wriggle around too much until Caleb arrived with the scissors. Well, she was not only freaking out, and in pain BUT I think that she kinda went Hulk on me!! She managed to wrench herself out of my arms AND tear the earing out of her ear all at the same time! I cannot even describe the feeling that went through my body. I think that I went into shock. Amazingly enough I was the only one crying, she stopped as soon as she was free of the soccer net. I had no idea that so much damage could be done in the 60 seconds it took me to get out, tell Caleb what to get. and for him to get back to me. I think that Caleb felt as bad as I did after he saw it. Molly just kept yelling at me to be nice to her Lilah, and then got mad because I hurt her. Then some sort of reason settles into my brain. I know that I need to get the wound clean; so I grab the baby up, holding her ear into my side to keep the bleeding at bay....all the while wondering do ears bleed like heads bleed? Because heads tend to gush, even for a papercut they just keep bleeding and bleeding.

So, I rush in to the house. Get a paper towel wet with warn water, slap it onto her ear *not literally slap, just quickly get it on*. O.K., so do I take her to the peds. office or to the ER? Then I call Grandma, who has the other kids....there is no answer..so I call again. Same thing. So I call Sam, THANK HEAVENS he answers, because at this point I am incoherent. I think he must have asked me to repeat myself 5-6 times in a 2 minute conversation! Thanks to his cooler head, we all loaded up and headed to the ER. I asked him to call my mom, he tried and NO answer. Then he suggested that I try her at home...ummm DUH Krystin!!  So, as we are rushing down the street, Caleb is buckeling Molls into a carseat * thank goodness for boosters*, I find the # for my mom's house....calling...she answers...I remember to be calm and try and give her all teh info the 1st time instead of the 50 it took me to give it all to Sam. *Krystin* " I am taking Delilah to the ER. She ripped her earing out of her ear.". *Mom* "how bad is it?", " Ummm well it almost took off her entire ear lobe, so is that bad?" " umm yes Krystin that is bad. Do you want me to come with you? Do I need to meet you there?" " No, Sam is on his way...I think we will be ok. Can you just keep Meghan and Stephen for me?" " Of course. I will call the ER and let them know that you are on your way in. Do you want me to call Sam too?" " Yes please. On both counts. Thanks Mom. I will call you or Sam will call you when we know what's going on." " O.K., I will call right now. Bye."

So, we made it to the ER, and have I mentioned how gratefull I am that my mom works there? Sweet Niblets!! Thank You Mom!! It was a mad house when we got there, in fact I didn't even wait for a Valet guy to come and get my keys. I just pulled in, stopped and turned off the truck..unloaded all the kids. By the time we were all out, there was a valet guy there, and I just grabbed my ticket from him and told him the keys were in the ignition. We walk in, and the shock is staring to set in for me again, I don't know where to go, what to do....luckily my mom rocks; so there was someone waiting for me.

Then it got dicey!! I think that when everyone heard what happened the thought was, it probably wasn't too bad. This kind of thing happens all the time....well never have I ever heard a medical professional take a look at something and say, " Holy Sh**!!" And that folks is what happend EVERYTIME somebody came and saw her poor little ear. Oh, and I have to add..that while there were tears flowing freely...they were MINE and NOT Delilah's!! Well, we got taken right back into a room, with everyone saying, "huh??" and hearing the answers of " this is Karyn's daughter, and her grandkids", " the baby ripped off her ear lobe"...nice huh?? They were great, and I am so gratefull for that. They were calm, and rational when I was a bloody mess..literally!! So, we get into the room, they start the paperwork. I get a call from Sam and Laura...By the Way, Laura ROCKS!! She and Sam carpool, she left early from work with Sam, brought him to the ER and took Caleb and Molly to my moms!! So sweet, and simply awesome!! So, Laura calls me to let me know that they are getting off the frwy, and I tell her what the room # is that we are in. As soon as I get off that call, they moved us to another room!!

Finally Sam arrives, gets the other 2 off to my moms with Laura, and comes back in with me and Delilah. I am so grateful that he was there. I would not have been able to deal with this alone. I am not one that gets grossed out easily by blood and guts and all that....hence the desire to be a trauma nurse. But there is something about seeing your own little baby hurt and bleeding that just pushes you over the edge. Everytime I looked at her little boo-boo I just wanted to cry, it made my heart fall out of my chest.  But she was fine. Playing  tea party with Sam and I.

So, then came the time to fix it all up. They numbed her up good with a local, and got everything ready. I knew that it was getting time for me to leave..I told Sam, that I was going to step out when they came in to get started. He was cool with that. I think that one injury was all he could handle know what I mean??
So, they come in with this funky back-board like contraption called a papoose. It's going to help keep Lilah still while they fix her ear. I give her a kiss, tell her I am sorry and I love her and run for the hills!!

After they were done, I came back in. The PA who took care of her told me that she did great, didn't bat an eye. Just watched Elmo. Sweet!! Oh, and that it was at least 12 stitches to take care of her ear! He wasn't positive, he stopped counting after he got to 10!! Talk about a dagger through the heart!! WOW!! We took before and after pictures of her poor little ear, But I am not sure that I can handle seeing them again quite yet...it still makes me well up when I think about it.

She is doing really well, she slept pretty good last night...only woke up a couple of times. Poor Sam, he had to sleep in the girls room with Molly in her bed, because I couldn't handle the thought of Lilah being in her bed all alone, last night. I am over it...sort of...she is currently napping in her bed. She does have a band-aide covering her stitches though.....
All, in all she is handeling it really well. She doesn't really mess with her ear. She tends to only when she is tired, and wants to play with her earings, but then she feels the bandage and stops right away!  So, now we just have to keep it clean and covered with antibiotic cream to prevent scabbing and hopefully will get the stitches out in 7 days!!

Moral of the story...throw away all the soccer goals, and take the other 2 girls to get plugs put in their ears....We're Mormon..so technically we're Straight Edge right?? They will look natural!! Oh, and I have decided that when Lilah gets older, if she is ever asked about her scar..she can tell people she was in a Biker Gang!! She has the burn scar to prove it!!

This is the "before" picture

This is the "after" picture!!

*****UPDATE*****

We got the stitches out today (3/16/10). It went super well!! She didn't move a muscle. My ped. was Shocked that she didnt' squirm or anything!! It still looks pretty bleh, but he said it's healing very well! Whew!!