The Big Fall

So they say it's bound to happen, but I swore it wouldn't happen to me. Kinley fell off of our bed. It's about 2.5 feet and she missed the frame and somehow escaped injury. She didn't have a mark on her.  She sleeps really well in her bed-usually-but she's had a wicked cold and had been up every couple of hours to nurse. The sleep she has been getting has been broken and restless.  She's flailing and tossing and moaning and wheezing and coughing and sneezing.  It's been miserable.  So she fell asleep nursing in the middle of Mark and I and woke up around 3:15.  My groggy and exhausted self went to roll her over to the other side and she jerked her body over. I remember desperately reaching for her and I was practically on my feet by the time she hit. I have the chills just thinking about it.  Kinley barely reacted (which is scary in itself) and cried more when I got loud then she actually did from the fall. Her whimpering lasted all of 30 seconds an then it was playtime for her. (I broke the rule of 'no talking to or playing with the baby in the middle of the night-and definitely no lights on,)  Mark stayed very calm because he knew I wouldn't. (Later, he told me he was on the verge of freaking out.  Well played, Sir.)  We broke out the Google searches. 'My baby fell off the bed!' 'baby falls' 'baby head injuries' 'signs of injury/concussion in an infant'.  I called my mom.  (Bet she loved that middle of the night blast.) We checked her over vigorously. Were her pupils dilated, was there any swelling? bleeding? bruising? rug burn? a torn cuticle?  She was fanny fluffing, so Mark suggested that I change her diaper to make sure there was no bleeding from an injured organ.  We found nothing. She was fine. We were lucky.  We were VERY lucky. I guess they make baby bones soft for people like us.  But, clearly, I haven't slept well since.

Mark and I set up new routines for middle of the night wake-ups and sick babies and talked about how even more careful we have to be with the wiggle worm.  As if I weren't anal enough...bring on the Crazy New Mom title.

Since then, I've had plenty of people share their 'dropped baby' stories with us-including a tumble Mark took himself-so I figured it was important to share mine. More importantly, I'd like to share some of the information we found helpful in assessing the situation.  Prevention-wise, we've all heard it.  Don't leave a baby unattended on a raised surface-not even for a second.  Next-put that baby behind bars.  You'll sleep better and so will she.  Google gets enough middle-of-the night hits-you don't need to be adding to them!

When to Call 911

Oh! That Dr. Sears

The Mayo Clinic

Some of this information seems a little traumatic just reading it, but it's good to know ahead of time-for worst case scenarios.  I hope you never need it.

And so we survived our first fall in one piece and handled it as a family-continually turning into moms and dads.

On a positive note, one good thing that came from this experience was that since we were all wide-eyed and bushy tailed at 4 am, we were able to catch some more Olympic coverage.  Go team USA!