Of Course it Was The Boy

So we've been parents for more than eleven years now, and we've managed to make it that long without a single broken bone or stitch. Until now.

Teag and I had just finished making all the ingredients for breakfast burritos when we heard the scream. Finn had been chasing Danyn around the house when he slipped on the hardwood floor and used his noggin to catch his fall against the door frame. I was trying to soothe him by giving him a hug, then looked down and saw a whole bunch of blood. Teag grabbed a rag and pressed it against his head, than took a look at it and said, "Yeah, he needs stitches."

So we walked away from our food, instructing Maisie to feed it to herself and the other girls, and hopped in the car with a broken Finny. I rode in the back, thinking I'd have to press the cloth against his head the whole time, but it did seem to ease up as long as he didn't move too much. We must have arrived at the Instacare at exactly the wrong time, because we ended up waiting over an hour. Finn was very patient, but he was getting really hungry, and he was tired of waiting. Finally they called us back, where they applied a numbing gel in preparation for the stitches. Teag said that getting the numbing injection was the worst part of his stitches, so having the gel made things run much more smoothly, other than the fact that you have to wait 20 minutes for it to take effect. When they called us back a second time, Finn started to get somewhat uncooperative, and when I mentioned to the nurse that he was just hungry, she produced some graham crackers, and Finn was happy as a clam. They irrigated the wound, and then sterilized it. Then they wrapped it in gauze while we waited for the doctor to come. Finn was pretty laid back about the whole thing.

The doctor arrived after only a few minutes, and they sort of burritoed Finn so that he couldn't wiggle or flail too much. I laid on the bed with him both for comfort, and to pin his body, though I probably didn't need to. He would ask if they were done yet, or if they could take off the green cloth they put over his face for sanitation, but he didn't wiggle, he didn't cry, and he held perfectly still while the doctor gave him four small stitches.

I think the doctor, nurse, and all the other medical staff just outside the curtain were pretty shocked at how well he handled everything. His good behavior earned him a sucker, a Popsicle and a sticker. He does look a little like a Franken-Finny, but we were so pleased with his behavior, and how tough he was with the whole thing.

I'd like to think this will be an isolated incident, but anyone that knows Finn can probably guess what a foolhardy idea that is.