Often people say that their wedding is the
best day of their life. I can’t
completely say that. Our wedding day was
beautiful in many aspects and sacred in that we did celebrate our sacrament of
marriage…but it was also really stinkin’ traumatic. The first time Mike saw me in my dress he was
lying down on a couch in the back room of a photography studio, so unbelievably
sick. I was a mess – shaky, scared and a
complete emotional wreck. We got through
the wedding, thankfully, and many would say that it was a lovely event; the
reception was even fun! But spending our
wedding night in the ER was NOT.
So, every year, on our anniversary, for the
most part, the anniversary celebration has been WAY more meaningful, special
and fun than our actual wedding day. We
do have A LOT to celebrate with each passing year. This year, as I’d said, my parents had
generously offered to take all three kiddos to Port Ludlow. I talked to them on Saturday morning while
they played happily at one of our favorite beaches over there. We call it the “Lagoon Beach” and it’s the
perfect place to frolic. The boys bring
nets and try to catch crabs. Kayli
floated a rubber ducky along one of the many little streams. They were having a ball.
Mike and I played a card game while we ate
breakfast. (He made delicious eggs
benedict. I totally won the game). We even spent a couple of hours being
productive and getting some housework done. Then, it was time to clean up and
head to dinner, then head to a comedy show (with champagne service!) and plans
to go dancing afterwards. Just when we
were wrapping up our dinner at the restaurant, Mike got a call on his
cellphone. I could tell something wasn’t
good. His face fell and he kept saying, “Uh
oh. Oh no. OK. Oh
no.” He handed the phone over to
me. I walked out on to the patio of the
restaurant so I could hear my mom better.
With a slightly shakey voice speaking over the sounds of Kayli wailing
in the background she told me that Kayi had hurt her arm climbing up on the
bed. She’d not fallen, she was just
climbing up and all of a sudden started to scream. She’d been crying and hadn’t moved her right
arm or let anyone touch it since. Sooooo….we
quickly got the bill and a to-go box, came home to grab a few things and I changed
out of my “date night” clothes (and heels).
We got in the car (where I called the comedy club to reschedule our
tickets – they were very accommodating) and headed towards Silverdale (a little
over an hour away) where we’d be meeting my parents in the ER.
It’s hard not to reflect on the irony
here. I mean, how many people have to go
meet up in the ER because one of their kiddos is there? Sure, that happens often enough. But how many people have to do it on their
wedding anniversary? How many people
actually celebrate their wedding anniversary in the same place where they spent
their wedding night? And how many people
can actually say that location is a hospital Emergency Room?! We’re pretty….uh….special.
I’m happy to say that while I’m really,
really bummed our anniversary plans were cancelled – and in the way they were –
and our weekend without kids was cut abruptly short; I handled the whole thing
very well. I feel that maybe –
miraculously – a bit of maturing has occurred in the last 11 years! Say it ain’t
so! While I used to automatically jump
to a “why me? Boo hoo. This is so unfair…on our anniversary…wah wah” whiney
place, this time ‘round my immediate thought was, “Thank God everyone’s OK.” (Well, yes, Kayli’s arm was hurt, but at
least they weren’t in a car accident…at least we weren’t heading to the ER
because of Cancer or something equally bad.)
I even said, “Thank you, God, that it’s Kayli’s arm…and not something
worse.” I was able to keep things in
perspective – at least she was with my parents.
I’d have felt terrible if this had happened with a babysitter or friends
(‘cuz you know THEY’D feel AWFUL and responsible. While, yes, my mom especially felt awful, she
can handled it fairly well). I was
thankful that we weren’t in the middle of nowhere camping or something. I was thankful that I’d thought to tell Mike
to turn his phone on at dinner (even though the battery is dying a slow,
agonizing death and he needs a new cellphone).
I was thankful that we hadn’t gone out of town for our anniversary and
we were only an hour away. I was
thankful we were at dinner and not at a movie or something where we wouldn’t
have gotten the message for a while. I
was thankful the hospital called to get our Insurance information over the
phone so that we didn’t have to take care of that when we got there. I was thankful my parents were able to get
ahold of friends with whom they could drop the boys while they went to the ER. I was thankful we had a full tank of gas and
didn’t have to prolong our arrival to be with our daughter in the hospital….
Anyway, we made it safely and as quick as
possible to Silverdale. We found the
medical center/Emergency Room with no problem and were immediately told where
to find Kayliana and my parents. My poor
little sweetie. She looked so tiny
propped up on the exam table/bed. She
had two stuffed animals to cuddle with – Zach had loaned her his dog “Zelda”
and she had a teddy bear the nurse had given her. My parents had done a fantastic job of trying
to keep her as comfortable as possible, but we could tell that something was
wrong. Kayli had TWO blankies and wasn’t
sucking her fingers. (If she’s got a
blankie, then she’s sucking two fingers on her right hand. Her arm just hung limp by her side). Kayli started to cry as soon as she saw me…which
she still does every time I go to pick her up from the kids’ club at the
gym. It’s like she wants me to remember
that she KNOWS I left her and she’s kinda mad about it…even though she was fine
and had fun the whole time I was gone.
Dad filled us in: the ER nurse took one look
at Kayli’s arm and knew right away that it was a dislocated elbow (“Nursemaid
Elbow.”) Thankfully it wasn’t
broken. We wouldn’t have to get
X-Rays. The doctor would have to just
quickly (but painfully) pop it back into place.
She’d be fine five minutes later, BUT….once a child has dislocated her
elbow, it’s a lot more likely to happen again….and again…and again…they usually
outgrow this issue by 3-4 years of age.
But IF they do redislocate the elbow, you have to take them in
everytime. I’ve heard a few stories of ‘Oh,
our kid did that so many times, by the 7th trip to the ER, the
doctor just taught us how to do it…’
Yeah, this doctor looked very serious when he said, “Don’t try this at
home.” And I wouldn’t want to. I just held Kayli and stroked her hair and
looked away while the doctor described what he was doing. Kayli was a champ. She started crying just when we were taking
her shirt off and she didn’t stop until the nurse offered to bring her graham
crackers – ahhh, food! and reminded her
that she’d get to keep the little teddy bear she’d been given. But, all in all, she really was better after
a few minutes. We’d sent my parents home
to be with the boys and then we packed Kayli up to take home with us. She chatted and jabbered, pointing out the
window, giggling the whole drive home.
Since she’d not eaten dinner and ours was cut short, we picked up
Blizzards at the DQ drive-through.
Mike said lamely, “Happy Anniversary
blizzards…” But, I WAS happy (and not just with the chocolate-coffee ice cream
with Oreo cookie chunks). I am happy and
so thankful.
Pre-date (and pre-ER) hotness
the little champ
Even photogenic in the ER!
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