ER

I'm back with new and improved teeth, but instead of boring you with the details of my dental-marathon, I want to fill you in on the unfortunate surprise that awaited me when my plane landed.

As soon as the wheels of the plane touched down, I pulled my trusty cell phone out and proceeded to call my mom so she could pick me up from the airport.

Now, is it me? or is this the wrong way to start a conversation with someone when you are trying to avoid having them freak out?:

Ring.

M: "Hello"
Me: "Hi mom, I'm here"
M: "Oh OK. Don't freak out, but we're in the Emergency Room with Christian, so you'll have to call your father to pick you up and call me later so I can tell you what happened, but he's fine, so don't worry".

Yeah, ok. Sure Bob. Like I'm going to hear that on the phone and just calmly hang up and call my dad without further investigating the matter. Obviously, I got it out of my mom right then and there. He caught his finger in a moveable part of the stroller, his finger nail came off and part of his finger was sliced. Yes, it was scary to hear and I was very upset, but hello, you start the sentence with "Christian cut his finger..." followed by "...so we took him to the ER". You don't start the sentence with "We're at the ER..." because that can (and will) conjure up all sorts of horrible thoughts. Anyway, as soon as it happened, my mom and Ren's dad (they were at Ren's parents house) rushed Chris to a medical center close to home, but at the urgent care center they said that the injury was too complex and needed to be seen in the main hospital. Ren was called at work because they needed his permission to take Chris in the ambulance to the main hospital. He showed up just as they were pulling out; my mom rode with Chris instead. The rest of the family met them at the hospital whereupon arrival they put his fingernail back on and gave him two stitches to put his little finger back together.

Once my dad had picked me up from the airport, we headed straight to the hospital. When I got there, I couldn't help but notice that we were that family (that I so often make fun of) that shows up at the emergency room with 7 people. Both grandfathers were there, plus grandma, plus an uncle, a cousin and both parents...and let's not forget the actual patient (he's the little one in the middle of the crowd of people). After making it through the layers of family members, I burst into the pediatric emergency room and found my little baby in Ren's arms. His eyes and nose were red from all the crying and his left hand was bandaged up like a boxing glove. Ren and Chris were standing in the hallway talking to someone else and their little boy. Coincidentally, it was Amanda's sister with her son Mikey. He was having stomach and back pains (I hope he's feeling better) and was also in the ER.

Everyone told me that Christian had behaved wonderfully and didn't even cry during the stitches (only for the anesthesia part). He just sat there calmly and watched what the doctor was doing with great interest..."hey, be careful with that stitching doc...it's my middle finger, so I'll be needing it when I learn to drive...remember, we live in Miami".

Shortly after I arrived at the ER, he was discharged and we went home. He slept well last night and this morning we went to the Hand Center for a follow up appointment. The doctor said the stitches look great, the bone isn't broken, the nail should grow back and the bandages will come off in a week.

In the meantime, the little man is getting used to only using his right hand (if he wasn't a righty before, he sure is now) and keeping the left hand out of harms way. He tried to take the bandages off a couple of times, but it probably hurts him when he pulls at it, so he's left it alone for now and doesn't even pay attention to it. He's doing everything he normally does, he's in a good mood and is playing, eating and sleeping well. It's amazing how resilient children are. I am, of course, relieved that it wasn't worse. I'm heartbroken because I have to watch him suffer with his little hand all bandaged up, but delighted to see that he's taking it in stride.