Stitches #1 For Owen

Oh boys. Having boys has really opened my eyes. I am so so so happy that I got a girl first because I had no idea how much work boys would be. They are so so fun. But on the other hand, they are so so busy. I love it. Mikey and Owen have these imaginations that come out of nowhere and they can stay entertained for hours all on their own.  After a long trip home from Kanab I had to get the kids cleaned up for school the next day. We were in a rush so I put them all in together.  Not long after they had been in Chad and I heard a blood curling scream and Gracie yelling "Owen's bleeding!" We ran into the bathroom and when Chad pulled Owen out of the tub there was so much blood on his face I wasn't even sure where it was coming from. We noticed most of the blood was pooling in his left eye and we noticed a gash right below his eyebrow. I knew as soon as I saw it that it would need to be stitched. 

I called the pediatricians office after hours to see how long they would be there. He told me they were there until 8. It was 7:30. I rushed Owen in and they got us right back. The doctor told us that he would need stitches for sure because of the location. It would leave a pretty nasty scar if we didn't get it stitched. We went into the small operating room and they had everything set up. I could tell Owen was instantly nervous. We laid him on the table and the nurse and I held him down as tight as we could. The doctor gave him two local anesthetic shots and tried to stitch. He went in three times with the hook and never could get it through the other side. Owen was livid. He was scared to death, bleeding horribly and sweating so much.  My heart was breaking so much for him. I would have done anything at that point to take the pain away from him.  After about what seemed like a lifetime the doctor said "pick him up, he needs to be sedated"  Instantly I agreed.  Anything to make sure he doesn't go through that again. We were sent over to the hospital and on the short walk over I broke down.  I wish I could explain what was going on to him. I knew he was so confused.  We checked in at the ER and it was a busy night so even after being in the room for an hour we were told we would still have to wait. When the ER doctor came in I had had time to settle down and think things through. Did I really want them to sedate him for a few stitches? There could be complications, not to mention cost. So I asked the doctor if there was anything else we could do. He was very straight forward and told me he could do it if I was willing to hold him down again. This time around was soooo much better. The nurse wrapped him in a sheet like a burrito and another nurse came in to help hold him down. They told my my only responsibility was to talk to him.  As soon as we laid him down he started freaking out again. This time, the doctor didn't hesitate to dig right in. I was grateful for his ER experience because he figured if he is already in pain we should just get it over with. He was by no means gentle, but he was fast.  While they were stitching him up Owen said "all done! all done!" I asked him if he wanted to watch Gabba and he just kept crying "ya, Gabba!" It broke my heart. But it was over in about 30 seconds and he was just fine. The next day he was very very clingy, but he healed up really well. We are so lucky to live right next to our pediatrician and he is also our Elders Quorum  President and he just called Chad as his first councilor. So  Sunday after their meeting he took us to the office and took out the stitches for us. It was really nice. And since we will now be paying for an ER visit, we were grateful for the favor. 

Waiting for the doctor

Day 1

Day 2

Day 4

After the stitches were taken out