Saturday, September 2, 2017

Delaney's big crash

Like so many families, we have a family tradition of Sunday walks. We've been lucky enough to have several families from church in our neighborhood, so a few years ago we coined the term "Mormon Parades" for our Sunday strolls. 

Sunday, August 13 was stake seminary kickoff, so we took ashby and Alva along with us for our stroll that evening, and we decided to head to the small park down the hill. Delaney was the only one who took a bike. She was trucking on ahead of us when I started to feel super anxious. Matt suggested he run ahead and trot next to her as she rode. We know now that was the spirit prompting us. We've seen the Lord's band so many times throughout these past 2 weeks. 

I was taking this sweet picture of Alva and I, when I heard a crash and Delaney crying. I wasn't worried at all, I knew matt was right there, and my kids have crashed on bikes lots of times with no permanent damage. But this time was different. When I looked up from my picture taking, I saw matt cradling a bloody Laney and running up the hill towards us. 

I wanted to grab my baby and hold her, but instead I left Alva with Addie and ashby, ran to grab her bike, and run to catch up with matt and Delaney. Her face was a bloody mess and we didn't know yet what we were dealing with, but we knew we had to get her cleaned up to see what had happened. We ran to the first home where we had friends - Roslyn's house. We were a site to see for sure. Matt holding a bloody Laney, me, and 4 other scared little girls. 

They were awesome though. The whole family sprang into action. Roslyn took the little girls down to the basement, Isabel grabbed Laney a fresh shirt, mark got the first aid kit, Brody cleared the island, and Megan and I started to clean Laney and assess the damage while Matt ran home to get our truck. She immediately said her right jaw hurt, she'd broken a tooth (but she wouldn't open her mouth for us to see), and her chin had quite a large gash. It was pretty clear we needed to head to the hospital. 

Matt picked us up and when we stopped home to drop him and the girls off, he gave D a blessing in our driveway. Precious baby girl was in shock. 

We got checked into the ER and called back after just a minute. 

She was in a lot of pain and didn't want anyone to touch her anywhere. 

They put a neck brace on her and ordered X-rays and cat scans. Now I know we should have taken her helmet with us for them to see, but I didn't know then.  

She hated the neck brace. But she enjoyed watching tv while we waited. 

I felt like the only place I could touch her was her head and it was so sad. 

She hated the X-rays and ct scans. She couldn't open her mouth enough for the X-rays, and cat scans are scary. It was in the middle of them that matt showed up. I had called chris and told him we needed him. I wanted matt to be there with Laney and I. I went in with her for the X-rays and she asked that i sing I am a Child of God, which is so precious to me. Then she closed her eyes and was completely still. They had forced some medicine in her mouth just before them, so I honestly thought she'd fallen asleep. But she didn't, she was just comforted by the blessing from matt and the spirit. It was so sweet. And she got this little lady bug for her troubles. 

The results came back and we found out she'd broken her jaw. No wonder that side of her face hurt and she couldn't open her mouth. They were very frank with us and told us they didn't know what to do for a 5-year-old with a broken jaw, and they wanted to send us to Children's. 

We appreciated their honesty and of course would do anything to help our baby. Then they told us they wanted us to transport by ambulance. That seemed a little much, and we offered to drive, but they said with an injury like this that it was safest to transport by ambulance with people that could help in case she deteriorated. 

So then we had to wait for an ambulance to be ready to transport us. Laura came with dinner for me, and matt headed home to pack us a bag. D watched tv until she got too tired. 
Seeing kids hurting is the worst. 

Our ambulance finally arrived just after midnight. D woke up when we moved her. 

This is her smile. She was being so sweet.

And she was also totally in shock. 

When we got into the ambulance she just laid there completely still, wide eyed, and staring at the door. 

She stayed that way for a few minutes as I talked to her and assured her that I was there and it was ok to go back to sleep. 

I laid down on the seat and tried to get some sleep, which wasn't easy because ambulances aren't exactly a smooth ride. 

And matt and Laura were super interested in her CT scans. They asked to see them so the dr brought his laptop and showed us each picture. That's our baby's big, precious head. 

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