Laura Anne's First Visit To The ER

Her first visit for her, that is. So Monday evening we were relaxing at home. Laura Anne was getting ready to take a bath. She was sitting on the stool in the bathroom and got up to get into the tub when she tripped and fell. She hit the edge of the bathtub right on her mouth. I was sitting right there when it happened and it scared me to death. Blood was pouring out of her mouth and I thought for sure she had broken a tooth. We decided to get her dressed and take her to the ER. Thankfully, we have an emergency room 5 minutes from our house. And thankfully again, it was not very crowded. By the time we got there, Laura Anne had stopped crying for the most part, but she was still bleeding some.

We were only at the ER for a total of an hour and a half. The doctor told us that she didn't need stitches. Her gums just had really bad bruising, but we needed to follow up with her dentist as soon as possible. So we gave Laura Anne ibuprofen and prayed it would help her sleep.

Tuesday morning I called her dentist first thing and got her an appointment for 10:30 that morning. While there, when the dental hygenist called Laura Anne's name, Laura Anne went right up to her and told her, "I got a boo-boo on my mouth from the bathtub." She's such a sweetheart. Anyway, they took two x-rays of her teeth. Here's the diagnosis: 4 of her top teeth are loose. The dentist is giving them a 50% chance of staying. One of her permanent teeth was shifted a little bit. Her gums are bruised really bad, and the dentist said it looks like the kind of bruising that goes along with a hairline fracture. So basically, Laura Anne has to be on a soft food diet for 2 weeks. Hopefully, during that time the gums will tighten up her teeth. We'll find out soon enough whether or not she will end up losing any of her teeth.

Through all of this, Laura Anne has been such a trooper. She has hardly complained at all. She freely tells anyone who will listen that she got a boo-boo on her mouth from the bathtub. Her gums are looking a little more pink every day which is good. They were dark purple for a couple days.

I can't tell you how hard this experience was. In the first hours after the accident, I had a pain in my gut similar to the one I had when Chris went into the hospital 2 years ago. The thought kept running through my head, "this isn't right. Why couldn't it have been me? She's so little and doesn't understand what's going on." I had to hold back my tears that night and be strong for Laura Anne. I didn't want her to be scared about what was happening, even though I was terrified myself. Laura Anne is recovering wonderfully and I marvel at what a strong and brave little girl she is. It was definitely a learning experience and I know it won't be the last accident we have, especially now that we have a little boy!