Meleah and her Stitches

Friday night was an exciting and somewhat scary evening.

Meleah fell and her tooth went through her lip, resulting in a trip to the emergency room and seven stitches.

She was all smiles after getting the stitches.

Through it all, Meleah was very brave. She cried a little on the way to the hospital, but insisted on holding the rag (to slow the bleeding) to her mouth herself. She also insisted on walking into the ER, rather than have one of us carry her. During the procedure, she was swaddled so she couldn’t move, but it was unnecessary. She did not budge, not even when the numbing medicine began to sting. It made her cry a little (which broke my heart), but she stayed completely still. Both the PA and nurse were impressed at how well she handled it. They said many children (mainly older ones) were not as good of patients as she had been. Even though he explained what he would be doing, I don’t think she quite understood, which may have made her not afraid. (Those were her words… when asked if she was scared, she replied, “No. Not at all.”)

We are very fortunate that stitches was all she needed. When she fell, her tooth went through her lip, leaving a significant hole. The tooth also collided with the coffee table, leaving a chip in the table. Thankfully, her teeth were not damaged. She also hit the side of her face, leaving a sharp bruise.

Today, her face is much less swollen, and is really only big where she is bruised and where they injected her with the numbing medicine. Her lip isn’t swollen, and hurts when it is touched, but otherwise, she is fine. She has a thick speech right now, which is pretty cute.

Our sweet little baby girl cannot suck her thumb because we don’t want germs to get near the stitches inside her mouth, and because it hurts if she tries to suck it. She’s almost 5, so truly, the thumb-sucking should have stopped by now, but as my baby girl, I let her keep doing it. This may break her of the habit, though. Already she is looking like a big girl and less like my baby. I’m used to seeing her thumb in her mouth, but this accident has grown her up quite a bit. I’m not sure I’m ready to lose my babe yet, though!