Last night (Friday night) just as I was getting into bed, around 11:45pm, Rob brought Gabriel into the bathroom to pee one more time before bed. I heard a loud thud, like the sound of two bowling balls hitting each other, and I thought Rob had fallen or passed out. Then I heard Gabriel crying. I jumped out of bed and called out to see what happened, and Rob told me Gabriel had fallen. Apparently in the time it took for Rob to open the toilet lid, Gabriel fell over face first onto the tile floor. He had, quite literally, gone back to sleep while standing up.

Gabriel has had owies before, but nothing like this. A giant bump (the size of half a golf ball) was forming on his forehead, turning a very bad color, and growing larger by the minute. Blood was coming out of his mouth. Rob took care of him while I got dressed and found out that the blood was coming from his tongue, he had bitten it quite badly in the fall. I then tried to console him while Rob got dressed and we headed out to the ER. We weren't going to mess around with a head wound like that.

Rob drove to the ER and I sat in the back seat with Gabriel. I kept him awake and made sure he was still alert. He was able to tell me his name, age, count to 20, do the alphabet, and name the aliens from Ben 10. It kept him awake and it allowed me to know that he was still with it.

When we got to the ER, we ran in with him, told them what had happened, and were taken into triage. He had his blood pressure and pulse taken, his temperature taken, and was weighed. Rob gave them the info about him that they needed, told them what had happened since he was the one there when it happened, and gave them our insurance information. I stayed by Gabriel's side so he wouldn't get scared and because he kept saying he wanted me.

After triage it was time for the waiting room. It was a rather long wait - probably between and hour and an hour and a half. We spoke with two other women who were in the same waiting room as us. One sliced her hand open and needed stitches. The other was having an allergic reaction and her lips were swelling. There was also a mother there with her teenage daughter, but they thought the wait was too long and left. Eventually, we were called in.

We were taken to a small room that had a chair and not a bed. It almost looked like some sort of blue dentist's chair. A nurse came in and checked on us and he got Gabriel a blanket. We turned on the TV and Gabriel was very happy that Phineas and Ferb was on the Disney Channel. He watched that while we waited for the doctor. By this point, he was kind of out of it, but we thought it was from the fact that it was after one in the morning and not from his head wound.

The doctor we saw was fantastic. He did a neurological exam that was kid appropriate. He had Gabriel give him a high five with one hand, then with the other hand, and then with both hands. He looked in Gabriel's ears, his mouth (his teeth are fine, the blood was coming from the bitten tongue), and his eyes (his pupils were fine and looked normal). He had Gabriel get up and walk to him and he walked just fine. He also made sure to stand near the floor pedal that moved the chair to see if Gabriel took an interest in that. He did and that was a good sign, especially when he started activating it with one foot.

He told us that he didn't recommend a CAT scan. He said he thought the risks outweighed the benefits. There's a lot of risks with that amount of radiation on the brain of a child. He thought Gabriel would be fine, but in case anything else happened, he gave us his name and the number we could contact him at.

He told us that for the next 48 hours we were to watch him for certain signs. If Gabriel had problems walking, was wobbly or off balance, slurred his speech, was disoriented, etc. then we were to drive him back to the ER. If he vomited or had a seizure, then we were to call 911. So, we need to watch him for any problems until around midnight tomorrow (Sunday) night.

We also had to wake him up once last night and will have to do so once tonight. We need to wake him up, check on him, and ask him any two questions. If he answers them, he's fine and can go back to sleep. Last night Rob woke him up when I made a bathroom run and said "who am I" and Gabriel said "daddy" and "who is that" and Gabriel said "piggy" so that was a relief.

The doctor wanted to give him some tylenol, but he didn't want it and just wouldn't take it. Later today my Mom gave me the wonderful advice of mixing it into a bowl of yogurt and that worked.

We left the ER around 2:30am and got back home a little before 3:00am. We chilled out for a bit and then went to sleep. Gabriel wanted the TV on for a bit so it was on while Rob took his shower. Gabriel and I just cuddled in bed. He didn't even want to get up for the day today until around 11:30am. That's the longest he's slept in - ever.

So, Gabriel is all right. We're watching him and will be out of the zone for any potential danger tomorrow around midnight. So far, so good. Our son was able to go 4 years, 1 week, and 1 day before having his first ER visit.

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A Black Rook

You scored 3 Power-Finesse, 2 Leader-Follower, 2 Unique-Ordinary, and 2 Offense-Defense!

You don't have to worry about fancy plans, or sophisticated schemes. You are just on the board to kick some ass and smash some white pieces. You stand by your leaders, and they get worried when you are removed from play. You work best with your buddy, the other black rook, and when you don't have him watching your six, you tend to be somewhat innefective.

What Chess Piece Are You?