Raina's First Stitches
Raina is completely in charge of her bath. She can turn the water on and off, wash her hair, wash her body, play for seemingly forever, get out, dry off, and get dressed. It's wonderful for the adults; we know that as soon as Raina gets in the bath, our supervision of her for the night is over. Unfortunately, that was not the case on Thursday.
All adults were in the dining room when we heard Raina call out for a parent in her normal voice. Samantha went in and called out for help in a panicked, something is seriously wrong voice. I went in to see Samantha holding a bloody towel up to Raina's chin and pronouncing the need for stitches. She was absolutely right.
Raina was hysterical when her temperature was checked, so we were fearful to imagine what the actual stitches would be like. They were just as bad as we imagined. Eric and I tried to explain to Raina what was going to happen, in the hopes that would calm her down. No luck. And then they pulled out the "Human Papoose Board," a system of restraints to strap down every part of her body. Eric and I looked at each other and knew there was no positive spin for that.
The screaming went to an even higher pitch and she fought it every step of the way. I don't know how many nurses are normally required to put stiches in, but Raina merited three nurses and a parent to keep her down so that the doctor could put in her stitches. The nurses kept offering ice cream and stickers as a bribe to Raina; Raina never responded until well after the procedure was done. In the end, Raina earned herself four stitches, 12 stickers, and an ice cream cone. I've already started the advance bribe: if you're good when you're stitches come out, you can have another ice cream cone! She seems on board right now, but we'll see what Thursday night brings ...
All adults were in the dining room when we heard Raina call out for a parent in her normal voice. Samantha went in and called out for help in a panicked, something is seriously wrong voice. I went in to see Samantha holding a bloody towel up to Raina's chin and pronouncing the need for stitches. She was absolutely right.
It was not easy to convince Raina and she had plenty of ways to stop us. She was completely naked and wet and dripping blood and (once she realized it was serious) crying uncontrollably. All she wanted to do was cuddle; all her parents wanted to do was to stop the bleeding. We got some clothes on her and started mentally and emotionally preparing her for the experience. We had to convince her that everyone gets hurt, that her injury was serious, that serious injuries went to the doctor, that this injury went to the mini-hospital. (Within the past two years, Samantha had punctured her foot with a long nail, I had stabbed myself in the wrist with a knife, and Lola had low O2 numbers. Those merited trips to a bigger hospital.) Eventually we were on our way to the Urgent Care facility.
Raina was hysterical when her temperature was checked, so we were fearful to imagine what the actual stitches would be like. They were just as bad as we imagined. Eric and I tried to explain to Raina what was going to happen, in the hopes that would calm her down. No luck. And then they pulled out the "Human Papoose Board," a system of restraints to strap down every part of her body. Eric and I looked at each other and knew there was no positive spin for that. 
The screaming went to an even higher pitch and she fought it every step of the way. I don't know how many nurses are normally required to put stiches in, but Raina merited three nurses and a parent to keep her down so that the doctor could put in her stitches. The nurses kept offering ice cream and stickers as a bribe to Raina; Raina never responded until well after the procedure was done. In the end, Raina earned herself four stitches, 12 stickers, and an ice cream cone. I've already started the advance bribe: if you're good when you're stitches come out, you can have another ice cream cone! She seems on board right now, but we'll see what Thursday night brings ...
Comments