It happened. She is safe and fine, but she did fall off the bed last night. In my attempt to protect her from the heater vent and metal trash can she was grasping, while I was opening the pack-n-play to keep her safe but near me last night (while dad was away), I set her in the middle of the bed for what seemed 1 second. The next thing I know, kah-boom -- sweet baby Ainsley is face down on the rug. Poooooor baaaabyyy! She was hysterical but calmed down fairly quickly. I stripped her down and looked for bumps, scratches, tested her for pain by placing pressure all over , gave her some Tylenol and a teething tablet (her favorite)...and she just giggled and made faces. PHEW! I kept checking on her through the night to see that she was breathing and no bumps emerged.
This morning, I confessed my sin to Valerie, who calmed me and assured me that these thing happen. As our friends the Sundstrom's commented, "babies are hard to break." Even so, the guilt is MASSIVE.
Just this afternoon, Valerie phoned to let me know that she had "one up-ped me" and that Ainsley took another spill, this one while confined in her pack-n-play--apparently knocked her head through the netting against the nearby wall. Valerie said she has a small red bump -- to which she applied a cold compress. Again, after initial crying, Ainsley was transfixed by the compress and in good spirits.
So this is the beginning, eh? Help, more seasoned parents! Do they make baby helmets and body casts? I'm hoping her self awareness soon catches up with her increased mobility. Poor thing! And in the meantime, we adults will try to monitor her more closely. Eeeeks!
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3 comments:
I dropped Mason on his baby-sitter's concrete porch steps when he was only 6 months old!!! It was one of the worst days of my life. He was absolutely fine almost immediately afterwards, but he had a big abrasion on his forhead for several days afterwards. A visible, glaring reminder of what a horrible mom he had! He's a straight A student now, but I've never fully let go of the guilt.
Wow, you really should congratulate yourself that you all made it a such long time WITHOUT a fall.
I can remember when Ellie fell off a couch the first week of June (not even 5 months old, the poor thing) and hit a table and then the wood floor. Of course she cried and I cried, but she was completely fine, even after a second major fall (also off a bed) in December.
It's true, it's probably the first of many falls. Jim's department chair always repeats a saying of her husband's: "Growing up means falling down." However, that doesn't mean it's not scary or that it doesn't come with bucketfuls of worry and/or guilt for parents, but consider the case of our beloved Jim. I have heard more stories of him falling and hitting his childhood noggin than I can count. And he turned out alright.
Well, maybe you should go out and get a helmet for little Ainsley, after all:)
Oh, Jenny, I'm sorry, but this is part of the deal. Remember your brother--the terazzo floor at YWCA, the basement stairs, the coffee table corner, the wooden finials on the arms of our then "tres chic" Mediterranean-style couch and more as he got older. Give the little sweetie a kiss for me.
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