Wednesday, January 27, 2010

A Cautionary Tale for Crazy Babies Everywhere

Seth is a handful. Anyone who knows him personally knows this about him. He is a 15-month-old force to be reckoned with. Our neighbor friend calls him Sethanator, I call him Little Monster, his brothers call him Baby Kong...you get the idea. Today he is slightly less of a handful, but only literally, and today we're adding "Mr. Stubs" to his well-earned and expanding collection of nicknames.

Last night he chopped the end of his finger off.

All 3 boys were playing in the front yard with the babysitter. Mr. B turned his bike upside down and was spinning the pedals. Word on the street is that this is a super fun game. Seth thought so anyway. He reached out and stuck his chubby little finger in the bike chain, which cut it right off. (We still haven't found it.)




It took three of us to hold Seth down for this shot...Did I mention he's a handful? The x-ray doesn't do it justice since the 2nd finger wasn't straight at the time the x-ray was taken and it obviously omits the blood and gore an actual photo wouldn't. I'd post an actual photo, but every time Seth's finger was exposed last night it gushed blood...which made picture taking feel irresponsible...But, if you hold your hand up and look at your index finger and imagine everything north of the nailbed is gone and then imagine that there's a bone visibly poking out from the center of that, you'll get a good idea of what Seth's finger looks like.


Right now he's bandaged up to his elbow, with a tube sock over that so he can't rip off the bandages. He doesn't know that he should be miserable and very still. He also doesn't know that he shouldn't chew on his stump and thump it on things, which is a little disturbing. We meet with a hand surgeon tomorrow, so we'll know more about the fate of the rest of his finger then.




If you thought taking care of a rambunctious baby was hard, try taking care of a rambunctious baby on heavy narcotics. Holy Smokes. I need a nap.

20 comments:

Melessa Gregg said...

You DO need a nap. If I lived closer, I would come over and personally make sure you got one. As it is, I'm in total awe of you for not once mentioning fainting or hyperventilating in the course of that post; because I thought about both just reading it. Then again, I've been in total awe of you since I started reading this.

Frankie and Krista said...

Yep I believe he will be stubby to me!!

Jill said...

Ahhh poor little man...poor mom! Hang in there! Injuries on kids is the worst! Good luck and yes you deserve a nap!

- jeana said...

i need a sedative after reading and visualizing all that! i'm sure that seth is doing better than you are, his not understanding what happened and all....whew! what a day...

just one more reason the favorite great aunt should move in.... =) you need at least two more hands. xo

Mom said...

All I can say is "Whew!" I hope you find good options at the surgeon's today. Glad you had such good friends/neighbors to pitch in. Love you all.

Unknown said...

I'm so sorry! The only good thing I can think of is maybe the surgeon will be hot, single, available, and fall madly in love with you! Sick way to meet people...huh!

dustin and amy said...

I hurt just reading the post! Poor buddy!

Brooke said...

I couldn't believe it when your mom told me. Ow!! Poor little guy and poor mom! Hopefully the fate of the rest of the finger is good!

Quin's momma said...

Oh my goodness. I'll have to hear more of this story. I am liking Carolyn's comment though....I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

Erin said...

I like Carolyn's comment too! I'm so glad you have such good friends so close. Kiss Mr. Stubby for me!

Jenn said...

Well, at least he looks pretty happy. Must be the narcotics speaking. I just hope you have good health insurance.... Good luck.

Whitny said...

That is sick. My mouth started pooling, about to throw up thinking about that poor little baby. I have had to deal with bad injuries. but that is worse that what we have had. Oh no. Great exray pic. really tells the tale. Very visual

Julie Thi Underhill said...

Ouchie, as I always say when I hurt myself. But that's a major understatement. I wish I could send a whole voucher book full of naps for you, you've SO earned them. Love to you.

Unknown said...

Poor little guy!I hope all goes well at the appointment, that is such a hard age because they are so curious,but have now concept that they can get hurt! I hope you get some good sleep!!

Kelly said...

Oh no!! Im so sorry Brenda!! That is horrible!! I hope he is ok, and That is so strnage you couldnt find the part he cut off!! I am going to have an extra eye on my little Talan from now on.. He is very wild and into everything all the time!! I think it's the 3rd boy!! That MUST be it! :)I hope you are holding up. E mail me so i can invite you to my blog. kellycscott@hotmail.com

Lauri said...

Carolyn...I met a really cute anesthesiologist when I had surgery and I think we were flirting, but I was so high that I might have imagined it. LOL

Brenda,
I am sure you handled it so much better than I would have. I want to hear how the other boys reacted when it happened.

Peterson Family said...

My goodness! Poor little guy...

My cousin did something similar when she was about the same age, but lost her finger from the top nuckle upward. It does make for interesting conversation now!! :) Strangely though, it only took a chair landing on the tip of her finger just right to do the job... ouch.

Go take a nap, you deserve it.

Tracy said...

Oh wow. That'll keep you hopping. You posted with such humor and finesse. Hang in there!

Laura said...

Well, Justin will have a little buddy who looks a little like him. We will have to introduce Seth to Justin next time we come down there. Who was your hand surgeon? What hospital did you go to? I feel your pain. It is never easy to see your kids go through these things.

EDGAR H. SISCAR said...

A similar thing happened to my Paco Luis when he was 4 years old, by way of large scissors, rather. I would always want to delete the memory from my brain, and then again here's another. Yes, we are always the ones feeling the pain and the trauma when our children get hurt. We would always prefer to take their place in such circumstances. It's like loving the world because we care for our children!