Our first visit to Accident and Emergency
I'm currently sitting in our local children's Accident and Emergency Department. Mia is asleep in her pram – at last and thank goodness. We've had an eventful morning..........
This morning we decided to
go to feed the ducks. I'd put a post out on NCT Medway FB site to ask for recommendations for local duck ponds and we received many helpful suggestions. Someone even posted this website, which tells you what is good to feed the ducks as they shouldn't have bread.......
So at 1050 we set off. We’d put on sunscreen, packed the lunch and all we had to do was get in the car.
As I walked down the hill with Mia in my arms I tripped and lost my balance. It all happened so quickly. I hit the floor first after toppling forwards and then as I watched Mia approach the pavement the world went into slow motion. I KNEW she was going to land on her head.
The sound of Mia’ s head hitting the pavement made me feel instantly sick. The first thud, then the second as her head rebounded........
All was silent......... I waited for her to scream........ and she did. I made a silent prayer of thanks to whoever was watching us and scooped her up, fruitlessly trying to calm her screams.
I had a rush of thoughts about what to do next, and eventually decided that the car was the quickest option to get her to hospital; it's only a 20 minute drive, we could be there before anyone else could arrive to drive us.
Don't get me wrong, if Mia had NOT been crying I would definitely have called am ambulance. But she was and I've worked in healthcare for long enough to know that crying is a good sign.
I was a bit anxious about leaving Mia in the back of the car by herself, but there was no alternative, and it was, by far,the quickest option.
When we arrived, about 30 minutes after it had happened, we were booked in immediately, and no sooner had I sat down to wait we were called in.
By this time Mia was very subdued, very drowsy and very pale, and as soon as I picked her up she became really distressed. The nurse said she couldn't start the observations as Mia was too distressed so gave her some paracetamol and said we would wait for Mia to settle. She said it was fine for her to fall asleep.
Some time later we were seen by a doctor who said he was on his way to CT to see if they would scan Mia's head straight away. By the time he returned though she had woken up so it wasn't possible to scan her.
The doctor said he was concerned because of the height that Mia had fallen, and advised that we needed to stay in the emergency department for a few hours so that they could monitor her.
So we waited, and the doctor and nurses regularly came to check on how Mia was doing. We saw a consultant who examined Mia further - reflexes, pupil reaction, etc, and said that she didn't need a CT scan as she would have to be sedated to have it, and it would expose her to high levels of radiation that he didn't feel was necessary.
It was this consultant who told me that it was good that Mia had gone to sleep. He explained that this is exactly what anyone needs to do after a head injury as it allows the brain to reset itself and will give more accurate information about any injury sustained.
However, is NOT okay if the person with the head injury was knocked out, is unrousable, has vomitted more than 3 times, has fluid coming from one or both ears or nose, unequal and/or non-reacting pupils, not behaving normally, has neck pain, has difficulty speaking or understanding, has weakness in their arms or legs, has a convulsion or fit, can't remember the events around or before the accident. Of course, with any of the above, and if you're concerned then you should seek immediate medical advice.
3 hours later we were discharged home, with advice to keep a close eye on Mia for the next 2-3 days, and an information leaflet (similar to this one) of what to keep a look out for.
We're home now, I've had a blub and Mia is asleep in bed. We went to bed when we got in and both slept until 5.45pm. Mia had a play when she got up but was still very clingy and tearful. She had something to eat and asked for more. I know she's okay.
I think this kind of accident is one that every parent fears; falling over while you're carrying the baby. My fear came true today and I'm so thankful that Mia wasn't seriously injured; she so easily could have been because of the way she landed - I'll never forget the sound of her head hitting the pavement..... I'm also very thankful to our local Medway Maritime Hospital for the excellent care that we received today, and all free at the point of access. Our NHS, once again, is amazing.