Thursday, May 24, 2012

Holy crap, I fell while holding my kid

Last night, while transferring Hen back to his bed, I fell while carrying him across the condo. I guess tripped and subsequently fell is more accurate. It all happened so fast. I tripped over the cord plugged into my laptop. The magnetic cord that is specifically designed to break away when pulled so that the computer won't be damaged*. It did indeed break away but this happened too late to prevent my falling. I was already on my way down. Initially, I thought I had slammed Hen's poor head into the granite counter by the phone. Turns out his chin caught something but it was my head or rather the side of my nose that took the brunt of that hit. But, wait, we aren't at the floor yet. To avoid smooshing my poor Bean, I somehow angled my body so that my left side absorbed the impact. I don't remember doing this, I couldn't begin to tell you how I did it. But injuries I sustained and Hen did not tell me this is what happened. I somehow came down on my side, with my elbow and knee taking the impact. My hand cushioned the blow to the back of Hen's head. I landed in a crouch position on that side. Darr wasn't home from the game yet so I had to rebound quickly. I was sure Hen's face had been permanently damaged and that he had suffered internal injuries. But once inspected and questioned, it became clear his chin bruise, and the horrific long-term memory of the event, were the only things he took away from the fall. Not a millisecond after I reached up to touch my own nose, the color drained from my face - the last time this happened, I was giving birth and the time before that, I broke my back - and I felt as if I was going to pass out. I did not. Hen and I were up and hanging out in bed when Darr got home, Hen was even in good spirits. I, on the other hand, can't put any pressure on my elbow, can't bend my knee without burning pain, see a slight indent in my nose, can't feel the tips of my ring and pinky fingers, and have a slight burn on my ankle where the cord rubbed my flesh off. Ouch.

*The computer is fine.

7 comments:

Snickollet said...

Yow, Christie! I'm glad Hen is fine and that you are . . . not more injured than you are. I hope you can get some rest and let your body get better. Yowza.

Anya said...

Oh, no!!! What a stressful event. I am so glad that Henry is ok, but you need to make sure you are ok. Do you think you'll have a chance to maybe see a dr. today, to make sure you don't have a fracture? Sending good thoughts your way from LA... wish I could help you somehow.

Shawn and Becky said...

Oh my goodness. . . Thankfully the computer is fine! That could have been very bad. So glad you and Henry ate okay. I fell down stairs holding Cameron once. Thankfully he was only 2 so still small. It was a great ride on my butt. Better that than end over end!!

Rachele said...

That sounds horrible.

Megan said...

Egads! That sounds awful. So happy to hear that Henry and you are OK overall. I hope the pain isn't too bad. Those kinds of falls are scary. Thank goodness your maternal instincts took over and shielded Henry from the bulk of impact. I hope you heal up soon.

Leah said...

Oh my goodness! I am so glad you are both not more injured than that! And I'm sorry you have the injuries that you do. :( I hope you heal up well and quickly! xoxo

Dr. A said...

Oh, I'm so sorry! I hope you're not too damaged, and Bean is OK. If you have lingering aches it's worth getting them checked out.

I fell once down stairs carrying Erin in the Ergo. At IKEA. I wrenched my body, totally instinctual, to fall into the stairs. Erin was freaked but OK. I had a few bruised that lasted 6 weeks. I thought we got off easy.