Mama called the doctor and the doctor said, ...

While talking to Mom R. on the phone tonight, I heard the distict sound of the "pain scream" coming from our downstairs bathroom. I ran to the door, flung it open, and the sight within confirmed the "pain" descriptor of the scream, as I saw Erin jumping/dancing around the bathroom, screaming, and clawing at her head. I told Mom I'd call her back, and David, who had also joined us in our little bathroom, and I tried to sort out the source of the pain. We discovered a huge - no, that is not an exaggeration -- bump on the back of her head, but no blood. After a few unsuccessful tries, we finally conviced Erin to divulge the events leading up to the screaming/dancing ...

A few minutes before the above mentioned events, Erin had touched the raw hamburger I was thawing for tomorrow's lunch. I noticed and told her to immediately (not after licking or wiping on her pants) go wash her hands with soap. She headed to the bathroom, and I guess got sidetracked, or just had "one" of her headstrong moments, and did not end up washing her hands, but managed to scale the counter and was sitting on it, feet in the sink basin. "By an accident" she lost her balance, and toppled backwards, smashing head-first on the tile floor, thus causing a sharp pain at the back of her skull. To our knowledge, she did not pass out, but we were concerned at the size of the rapidly growing lump on the back of her head. I felt, once again in our life of parenthood, that we had crossed over into the cartoon realm, as a skinny, pointy bump rose higher and higher from her scalp. During the first exploration, David and I were both looking for the point of pain, and I found the bump, but thought it was his finger. I called our nurse friend Rachel, and she suggested taking Erin to the ER, which we did.

Now, we have not had wonderful results at the Lawrence Memorial Hospital ER, and have spent many hours waiting, and being frustrated with the service. However, tonight was a complete redemtion for the LMH ER. Erin was in triage before we had really finished registering, and we were there for less than 30 minutes ... WITH great service from the staff, nurses, and doctor. What a pleasant surprise! They did not do a scan of her head, but decided that only after examining Erin for signs of head trauma. They want us to wake her every two hours through the night, and take her to a regular pediatrician in the morning.

We came out of the ER to find that Grandma and Grandpa R were on their way to wait with us, and be with us. Since we finished before they arrived, we all went to IHOP for some late supper, which was nice. It's nice to be loved, and have grandparents close to us!

We are so thankful that she is okay. We are hopeful that she learned a valuable lesson ... one that was further enforced on our car ride into town, as the song playing when we turned on the music was "5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed", who, as we all know, fell off and bumped their heads. It was kind of funny, however, I don't think Erin agreed.


... No more monkeys jumpin' on the bed!!!