I suppose no one ever plans to spend time in an ER (unless of course you work there), but our Friday night definitely did not go as planned.  Here’s a recap:

7:30pm – Little A.’s normal bedtime…Instead, we were hanging out at Ron’s sister’s new house planning to enjoy a quiet evening while Nick smoked some BBQ.

8:45pm – Little A. was finally ready for bed after finishing what was supposed to have been his last bottle…ever. (I didn’t have the heart to take it away last week after the turn of events).

8:47pm (all in a matter of seconds) – Little A. sees something interesting under couch.  He picks it up.  Unidentified object is a drinking glass.  Mom mistakenly reaches for it saying, “Oh no.  Let’s give that to Aunt B.”  A. jerks and takes off to the kitchen, with Mom within a fingertip’s reach of the glass, and slips on the hardwood floor breaking his fall with the glass, which proceeded to break and slice the palm of his hand.

8:55pm – Aunt B., who also happens to be an ER nurse, got the bleeding almost stopped and recommended a trip to the ER.

11:45pm – We finally headed home to begin our weekend over again and digest the events of our baby’s first boo-boo.

An overwhelming sense of Mommy-guilt, $125 ER copay, X-rays, many shed tears on both parts, and 8 stitches in the tiny palm of a baby’s hand pretty much sum up the evening, but we took a couple of pics just to remind us and show him someday:

Poor baby...when we change the bandages, he touches the stitches and says boo-boo. We say, 'Yes A. You have a very big boo-boo.'

I thought we had covered all of the 'firsts' except his birthday, but this one is 'First Ride Home from the ER.'

After seeing so many truly 'sick' children in the ER, I felt so blessed to have a healthy, bubbly baby boy who would get to go home with us that evening. I couldn't lay him down right away, so I let him cuddle with us in the bed for a little while. As this picture indicates, he didn't know the difference.

I know he is a very busy boy, and accidents happen, but I never expected an ER visit like this before Little A.’s 1st birthday.  Ron and I are very blessed to never have had to visit an ER in our lifetimes, and even though our experience at Greenville Memorial Pediatric ER was great, we hope to avoid visiting again anytime soon!