Our First Visit to the E.R.

I knew, especially having a rambunctious boy, that trips to the E.R. were most likely in my future. 

I was hoping we could have waited longer then two years, but I am glad we at least made it two years! 

Poor little guy gave us a scare last night, thankfully its just a mild concussion. 

Since this is my journal, I want to break down last nights events so it will be in our blog book. 

Last night around 8 pm, we were at grandmas house. Hudson was being silly and ran down the hall. At the end of the hall he tripped and hit the back of his head on the railing. The railing is a metal railing. 

He got a pretty good size goose bump right away...about the size of a nickel or so...and other than crying he seemed fine. He was acting normal, no puking, no weird pupil dilation. I called the on call doctor just in case and talked to her around 8:30pm. She said if he was acting normal, no throwing up, then just keep an eye on him and he should be fine. Kids get goose eggs all the time. 

Fast forward about 2 hours. Were laying on the couch watching TV. Its way passed Hudson's bed time but I was wanting to keep him up as long as possible. He started telling me his belly hurt. Then before I knew it he threw up ALL OVER. I started getting worried. Tanner wasn't to convinced because he has had a small cold, he thought it was from that. 

That was just after 10pm. I started googling for an urgent care/after hours clinic. Let it be known that every.single.stinkin. one in the entire state of Utah closes at 10 pm. I was so frustrated.  So I called the on call doctor again, and she said I should take him in. Especially if he continues to throw up. As I was on the phone with her he threw up again. This was about 10:30/10:45. So I told tanner and we packed in the car and headed for the E.R. 

The drive over I sat in the back with Hudson, and shed a few tears. This was it. Our first E.R. visit. & not for the broken bone or stitches I was imagining. But for a head injury, that we don't know how serious it could be. 

We got the E.R. and we signed in. I hate how slow E.R.s are. Hudson Fell asleep for the car ride over, but he woke up when we got to the hospital. It was just after 11pm. I knew he was tired. But he was acting so groggy, I didn't know if some of it was from hitting his head or not. He started throwing up again. Not as much as the first time, but anything in his belly he could throw up he did :( It eventually turned into drive heaves.  We finally got called back and into the Triage room around 11:30/11:45 pm. Poor little man kept asking us for water, but the nurses won't let you have any in the E.R. until the doctor evaluates you incase they would need to do surgery. It broke my heart. I snuck him some water in the bathroom, what mom wouldn't? & he threw that up a few minutes later. 

The doctor finally came in and we told him what happened. They checked all his vitals and talked to us about head injuries. He said it sounds like a mild concussion. But especially because of his excess vomiting, they would need to do a CT scan. He talked to us about what they look for. He said if there is mild bleeding, they just watch it. They would admit us to the hospital and do another CT scan in the morning just to see how things were going, if there was major bleeding they would need to do surgery asap. But he assured me the likelihood of that was slim to none. However, your poor momma brain goes straight to the worst possible outcome every single time I swear.  

The nurse came in after this, and gave Hudson some medicine to help with nausea. She also brought him a popsicle and apple juice. He took one sip of the apple juice and got soooo mad. He wanted water! The nurse thought it was funny because most kids want juice. I guess thats the benefit of not every having juice in our house. Hudson also calls me and tanner by our first names when he is mad or wants our attention and were not listening. He wouldn't take the medicine at first and would say "no mommy, hudson don't want medicine" & I would tell him he needed it to make his tummy feel better. Then he got mad and said " LACE NO! LACE, hudson don't want it LACE" haha...he also called tanner a few times. The nurse thought it was hilarious & the doctor said he talks so good he was putting his four year old to shame :) smart kid. 

They told us with CT scans he would need to lie very still, and if he couldn't they will sedate young children to do the CT scan. So if we could, try to get him to go to sleep. It was after midnight at this point so I figured he would fall asleep. Nope. fat chance. He stayed awake the whole time so I was nervous how he would do. When we got in the CT scan room we hyped hudson up. They let him push all the buttons and touch everything and sit on the little bed for a while to get used to it. We told him this is was super heros like captain america do, and that hudson was gonna be like a super hero. That got him super excited. We also gave him a sucker and I held his hand the whole time. He never cried once!  He laid perfectly still. He was nervous for sure but we were so proud of him. He never once licked his sucker, he just held on to it super tight. While they were getting the pictures the doctor made animal noises with Hudson over this little intercom thing. When we were all done the doctor was very impressed. She said she had never had a two year old not at least cry a little for one. Proud momma moment for sure :) 

Then we went back to our room and waited for results. They said it was totally safe for Hudson to fall asleep, especially since they did the scan they could see if they had to be worried about anything. We turned off all the lights, hudson drank another whole glass of water, then we turned on the Disney Channel. It was almost 1 am and we were all so tired. I was laying in the bed with Hudson, and daddy was in the chair. Hudson finally fell asleep after a half hour or so. Then around 1:30/1:40 am the doctor came in with our results. Everything looked NORMAL!! WOOT WOOT

That was the biggest sigh of relief ever. We were able to go home, Hudson was safe to sleep. They gave us a prescription for the anti nausea medicine. They said it was a concussion. Similar to what a football would experience. Nausea, vomiting, headaches, irritable, loss of memory & trouble concentrating are all symptoms and will last around a week. So just keep an eye on him, clear liquids for the first 12 hours, and to have a follow up with his pediatrician next week. 

We finally left the ER at 2 am. Which, I guess isn't horrible since we had to wait for CT scan results and everything. It just feels like forever when your waiting for answers. 

Hudson slept in our bed last night, and we all slept in till after 9 am this morning!! We are still SO tired. When Hudson woke up we asked him if he remembered going to the doctors and taking pictures of his head. He said "Take Picture Hudson head mommy, Ducks & horses & Hudsons a super hero!!" We think his memory is pretty intact :) thank goodness! So far today he has been ok, I gave him medicine in case he has a headache. He said his belly hurt...and were sure he is just starving. He doesn't really want to eat though. So far its just been a couple crackers and a popsicle. Hopefully he gets his appetite back soon. One thing is for sure though, My child will now be living in a helmet ;)