Sunday, May 15, 2011

In Which Connor Scares The Bejeezus Out Of Me

So I walked into Connor's room today when his nap time ended to discover my child covered in blood.

He didn't seemed concerned about it at all.  He was giggling, wiggly and as happy as ever, only his face, hair, hands and bedsheets were liberally and artfully streaked with pink and crimson blotches and lines.  It looked like he'd been finger painting with a raw steak.

I, of course, was more than a little concerned.  I believe it would be accurate to say that I reacted the way most mothers would when in a similar situation; I completely freaked the heck out.  Connor and I have covered a whole lot of territory in the crazy medical emergency department, but walking into his bedroom to discover that he'd apparently been hemorrhaging all over the place was a new and terrifying development-- especially since I couldn't figure out where the heck he was bleeding from. 

My first thought was a head injury, though I couldn't figure out what he could possibly have hit his head on since he was square in the middle of his twin size bed.  I carefully parted his hair.  Nothing.  I felt up and down his sides.  Nothing.  I carefully rolled him over and felt his back.  Nothing.  Then I checked his hands, thinking he might have bit himself.  Nothing. 

When I pulled up his shirt to check his stomach,  Connor thought I was going to tickle him and gave me a big, open mouth grin.  A ribbon of blood spilled down his lower lip.  Oh, and that bottom tooth-- the one I've been telling you about the past few days?  Hanging by a thread.

Who knew a loose tooth could bleed so much?

After taking a moment to sit down and indulge in a fit of hysterical laughter (and coughing, as I'm still sick and miserable), I washed my hands, grabbed a tissue and carefully gripped his tooth, which came out without any pressure at all.  As near as I can figure out, Connor must have been pulling on it with his fingers (something he's been doing a lot lately) and managed to yank it most of the way out.  He's on an aspirin regime, and gums bleed pretty well anyway.  Then he kept putting his hands back in his mouth to feel the spot, keeping it bleeding and artfully decorating himself and his surroundings in the process. 

I kept a little pressure on his gum for a few minutes, and the bleeding finally stopped.  After I cleaned him and the bed up, I put my protesting child back down for a few minutes and went and sat down in the library.  I needed a cup of tea and some chocolate.  Badly.

So Connor lost his first tooth, and in his usual style managed to do so in the most dramatic way possible.  Only nineteen more to go. 

I can't wait.

~Jess

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm so sorry!

Julia O'C said...

Oh, Jess! That's so scary! V got a nosebleed once in the middle of the night. She wandered into our bedroom, her face and chest absolutely covered in blood and I lost it. I'm so sorry that happened to you.

On the bright side: First tooth! Yay! And he didn't swallow it!

Kristin said...

Congrats! Will there be a tooth fairy visit at your house now?

Bummer about the blood-induced, semi-heart attack, but at least Connor keeps you on your toes ;)

Julia said...

Okay, I know I'm supposed to be expressing my deep sympathy and concern over your harrowing experience, but another side of me is cheering for Connor and his amazing knack for drama -- it's difficult not to believe that he does this sort of thing on purpose, either because he thinks the constant adrenaline rush is good for your overall health, or out of sheer cussedness. And y'know, there's something to be said for sheer cussedness in a world of excessive uniformity and herd mentality. Go, Connorkins!

Okay, I truly am sorry you had such a harrowing experience. I hope you feel better soon!

EMG said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Yikes, that would have freaked me out too! Im glad the little guy is ok. Tip: to remove the blood from his sheets, clothes, etc..pour some hydrogen peroxide on the stains, it will bubble, and then just throw them in the washer. It will take the blood right out. I just recently learned this and had to share it, because im so excited with how perfectly it works.

Herding Grasshoppers said...

That is one amazing kid. He finds a unique way to do almost everything ;D

Glad your heart rate is back to normal, and best wishes for the rest of his teeth coming out less dramatically,

Julie

leah said...

Blood always freaks me out. I am SO glad it was a tooth and easily "fixed," so to speak!

Emthe said...

Faint....thud. Just reading about it made me need chocolate and tea. I'm glad all is indeed well.

krlr said...

He does have a talent for drama! We had very similar experience with a tongue bite (bitten tongue? bit tongue? bought tongue? kidding) - heard loud crash and raced to find river of blood from corner of child's mouth. Like gunshot victims in every movie ever made. There may have been shrieking involved. I may have seen too many movies.

Wherever HE Leads We'll Go said...

Oh that is awful! Connor really likes to keep things hopping at your house! Wow! I think I would have had a heart attack and I am sure I would have consumed large amounts of chocolate afterwards.

Sadly, when reading this all I could think about was, when did Connor get his baby teeth? Did he get them early? I ask this because my daughter is 3 1/2 and we are barely done with teething (she is still working on those last molars). I feel like it has gone on FOREVER and my fear is that as soon as they come in, they will start falling out and we will be back to the beginning again. My hope is that because her teeth came so late, that they will fall out later. Maybe that is just wishful thinking.

Jess said...

Connor got his first tooth at just shy of four months old, and had all of them, including his molars, by the time he was one and a half-- he was a super early teether.

I have no idea if there's a correlation between when they come in and when they go out, but if that's the case than Connor will probably be losing about six teeth in the next two weeks.

I'm sure that will be tremendous fun for all parties involved.

 
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