LATE NIGHT SCARE

Last night I was scared out of my wits.

During the afternoon, I folded my treadmill because I had to lay the vinyl tiles on the floor. When the treadmill was unfolded, Ethan would play on it and walk on it and climb on it. I should have realized that even if it was folded (it stands upright when I fold it up) Ethan would not leave it alone. And I found that out the hard way.

Last night at around 10pm, I was in the kitchen when Ethan came to me crying. I asked him, "What's wrong, baby?" And he said "Yayay! (Booboo!)" I asked, "Where?" while I carried him to the room. When I saw the treadmill lying flat on the floor, my heart jumped. I checked Ethan's head and there on his forehead was the biggest lump I had ever seen in my life!! It never occurred to me that Ethan stopped crying, that he was his bubbly self, that the lump was not bluish at all. I rushed to my brother-in-law's (Russell) room and asked him to bring us to the nearby hospital (which was 7 minutes away). Then I went to the kitchen to get some ice for the huge lump. Then I ran to the room to dress the boys up, to change my shirt and grab my celphone and wallet. On the way to the hospital I was begging Ethan to let me ice his forehead because he didn't want me to. I persisted though. When we got there, I told them the short version of the story and I said I wanted Ethan to get an x-ray. After filling out a (short) form, I got the slip of paper and proceeded to the radiology department. The man there said I had to pay P500 (approximately US$11) first (hmmm... What if this was a life and death situation? Would they let me pay first rather than treat Ethan?) and so I did. Fortunately it was evening and there was only one woman paying. We went back to the radiology department and Russell and I had to wrestle Ethan down for his x-ray. He got the Anterior-Posterior view first then the Lateral view. Needless to say Russell and I were exposed to the x-ray twice that night. Oh well. All for the love of Ethan.

After several minutes, x-ray results showed that there was no (visible) fracture on the forehead area. That was such a relief but I still brought the x-rays home for my sister to have a look. Just to be sure. (I also teased Ethan that his x-ray film was funny because his mouth was open and the rings on my hands were visible.) She will have a look at it later.

When we got home, I had to tell Ruther about it of course. He was very concerned and worried but I assured him that everything was okay. Ethan did not lose consciousness, did not vomit, and was in no way lethargic. Last night, he was his usual self, running and yelling and tormenting Nikki. So I was quite glad about it although I would still try to ice his forehead from time to time. I said a quick prayer last night and thanked Ethan's guardian angel for watching over him and making sure that he did not get really hurt. Yes, I was really really grateful. I believe in such things; in guardian angels and little miracles. Everytime I look at the treadmill, and imagine the weight of it on Ethan, I cannot imagine how he got out of it with only a bump on his head. It really is a mystery and a miracle. And everytime I kiss my little boy, I will always be grateful.

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Here's a photo of Ethan's lump. I took the photo for documentation.