Babylein

This morning at the bakery. Injury-free and happy.

One of my fears happened today.  One of those fears that almost stopped me from taking this trip. "Injury to one (or both) of my children" was top on my list of reasons not to go.

Gianna fell and and busted her mouth while we were at the park. She was on the boat, and had turned to  slide off the seat. She misjudged where to put her hand (I guess?), and she fell. It was one of those hard falls where the baby's mouth is wide open but there is no sound coming out. One of those injuries that hurts so much that there is a delay until the brain activates the other reactions of screaming and crying. And there was blood. A lot of blood.  Strangely enough, I remember reassuring myself, "It will be okay, it's not as bad as it looks..." as I grabbed a baby wipe and tried to stop the bleeding. But she kept bleeding. Then, I was panicking because I couldn't tell where the blood was coming from. And was that blood in her nose? A couple of German women came over to look. They both looked at each other and spoke German. One pointed to the offices across the street, and said, "Kinder..."  I snapped Gianna into the stroller, screaming and bleeding.  Bode was already in the stroller. I guess I had already yelled at him to get in because we had to leave NOW. 

I remembered that there was a pediatrician's office across the street when the lady pointed and said, "Kinder." I remember that I saw it in the early days of our trip, and had made a mental note of its location.  

I ran across the street and busted through the door.  "Sprecken sie English?" I asked.  The lady behind the counter shook her head No, but pointed to a man with a baby.  He looked at me expectantly.  I told him that Gianna had fallen in the park.  He translated. The lady gestured for me to take the stroller and babies, and led us into an examination room.  She disappeared and a few seconds later, a man came through the door.  He was wearing a striped t-shirt and jeans (not like a doctor, with a white coat, for example). 

He nodded, and immediately took Gianna out of my arms and laid her down on the examination table.  Of course this made Gianna scream more.  The receptionist (?) came  back in and held Gianna down while the doctor looked at her mouth, her neck, her nose.   He got up, grabbed some other implement and went back to examining a still-screaming Gianna.  I stood by helplessly and said, "She fell. In the park." 

He looked up at me and nodded toward Gianna, like, "you can take her now."  So I held Gianna and tried to soothe her.  He told me that Gianna had ripped her frenum.  He showed me Gianna's top lip, causing her to scream again. "Uh...frenulum is all I know..." he said after I repeated, "Frenum? This?" and gestured toward my own top lip.  He said that it does not require an operation.  He said that her teeth look intact and everything seemed in order.  

Gianna was still crying a little bit, off and on. I was crying a little bit, because of what had happened and for his reassurance that everything was going to be okay.  The receptionist tried to soothe me, patting my back, while I held and soothed Gianna.  Before he left, he stopped and told me that we could "rest" in this room for 20 minutes, before we set out again. 

We had to wait to get a shot and medicine (to clean her mouth).  I had gone to the restroom and had seen a noisy roomful of children and parents waiting. I was grateful that we could wait in a private (quiet) room.   We sat together in our private room, playing with the iPhone and camera. 

The receptionist was really nice about checking on us.  She gave Bode packages of Gummi Bears and chocolates. He was happy to play with them (not knowing that they were actually treats to eat).  He was so good about waiting. It is funny how you think that something so dramatic is unfolding in your life, while your (injured) child screams, cries and bleeds, and your (other) child is calmly observing things around him and playing happily. 

And poor Bob! He wasn't at his Berlin office, but in a meeting in Dresden. I texted him with one hand while I was trying to clean Gianna's mouth at the park, to see how bad the damage was.  My text?  "need to take g to the dr she fell and is bleeding"  My phone rang like 5 seconds later.  By then, I was running across the street and didn't have the patience to hold my phone to tell him what had happened.  We communicated quickly as I was being led into an exam room with our bleeding child.  (I texted him later when the doctor told me that she was okay.)

Danke! Danke! I am so thankful.  I am thankful: that the German lady reminded me of the "kinder" office across the street, that there was a pediatrician's office across the street from the park where Gianna fell, that Gianna didn't suffer any injury worse than she did, that the doctor and receptionist/nurse were so helpful, that we could wait in our own private room, that Bode was so good about waiting and sitting, and that I had enough Euros to pay the doctor.  Thankful! It is always so scary and traumatic when your baby is hurt.  Gianna has huge swollen lips right now. Her top lip is about 20x bigger than normal. Hopefully that is the extent of this drama. She is napping.  Bode has now consumed all the Gummi Bears and chocolates (I caved when we got home, and let him eat them as a reward for being so good at the doctor's office).

Ouch.

Hope your Thursday is injury and drama free!
xo