In which my heart stops for the briefest of moments, Or, the moment every mother dreads.

Ten points to anyone who can identify this object correctly. I’ll wait while you consider.

[“Jeopardy” theme song playing here…]


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If you guessed, the bottom part of a microphone stand that goes with the guitar Primo received for Christmas this year…you would only be half-right.

If, however, you guessed, the bottom part of the microphone stand that goes with the guitar Primo received for Christmas this year, that Segundo saw fit to jam into his mouth yesterday afternoon, so far and so deeply that he bled like a stuck pig, necessitating a trip to the ER and an overnight stay for observation because the mouth laceration was “alarmingly close” to his carotid artery? Well, then, you would win...well, there is no prize. Sorry. But you’d win. Isn’t the thrill of winning enough?

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So what is there to say? It happened while I was at work, and H called me at work around 5:30, once everything settled (we really need to get him a cell phone), and told me that Seg was FINE, they just wanted to keep him overnight for observation, “in case.” In case what? He started bleeding and didn’t stop? Pretty much. Until the CT scan came back (my brave boy had two CT scans! And an IV!) they were operating under the assumption that there was imminent danger to the blood vessels, including the artery.
So I elected to stay with Seg, and H ran home, got all the necessary stuff – like Mimi, and the sainted man even brought me a book – brought it back, and then left us for the night.

All the usual things that happen in a large hospital happened – the annoying roommate who had the TV on the entire time until she was discharged with her baby at 11 pm; the squalling teeny babies who made my heart wrench, and be so grateful that my babies are all healthy; the constant interruptions all night long for vitals, IV flushes, wound checks, housekeeping. No point in going into it in any sort of detail, we’ve probably all, sadly, been there.

The important thing is, we are home, and Segundo is just fine. The CT scans came back normal, there is no more danger. He is on a soft diet for the next day or so (he managed to eat three pancakes at the hospital this morning). The mouth heals quickly, he should be completely back to normal within the week.

And while before I clearly allowed my children to play with razor blades and small windpipe-sized marbles, no more! And I intend to be much more vigilant about HOW they play with their toys. Just for instance, the microphone stand will be used as a microphone stand….not as a trach tube…or not at all.