Worst Week Ever

So I had been hoping to write a blog post to tell of our awesome Spring Break adventure, but instead, I have a sad tale.  Last Thursday, while getting ready for swim lessons, Stephen took a tumble, and his face broke his fall.  After many long hours in the Emergency Room at the Children's Hospital, it was determined that he had fractured his jaw in 2 places.  In addition, he had stitches both in and outside his mouth, and had to have one of his teeth extracted - a permanent tooth, no less.

Because of Stephen's issues with his face and head (he HATES to have people mess with him - the dentist is a nightmare), we made the decision to have him sedated so that he could have the stitches and tooth extraction done with minimal emotional trauma.  Because of the tooth extraction, and the sedation, he was kept overnight.  The next day, we were told that he would have to stay for several days, until he could take enough fluid by mouth to stay adequately hydrated.  We were also waiting to see if he would need surgery on his jaw for the fractures.

By Saturday, he was feeling a little better, and was enjoying spending time with his new buddy.

Mickey was supposed to be a surprise for Tuesday morning this week, when we were going to wake up early to take the plane to Disney World with Pa and Kim.  Unfortunately, due to his injuries, we had to reschedule our trip for right after school gets out.  Stephen was released on Sunday, after he was able to start drinking with a straw again (he wasn't able to use one due to the tooth extraction), and he came home to convalesce.

Recovery has been... stressful.  Because he's a kid, he just can't seem to leave those stitches alone in his mouth, and has been having bleeding at night (we think he's messing while he's asleep). Unfortunately, we can't do much about that, but Stephen is proving to be much more aware of what is going on that we hoped - he has been very upset about the blood, and doesn't approve of the measures I took tonight to speed up the middle-of-the-night clean-up process.  We put down a disposable pad over his sheet, and a waterproof pillow cover (I've washed his pillow multiple times over the last several days).  He got into bed, and promptly tried to hand us his pillow while signing "all done," which is how he often tells us he doesn't care for something.  After a little snuggle, I convinced him that this is so he doesn't have to be awake as long during the night, and he went to sleep.  During the night last night, he was very concerned with checking the sheet and pillowcase to make sure that it was clean when he got back into bed - it was awfully cute.

All in all, this hasn't been our best spring break, but thankfully Grandma Janet arrived on Wednesday to help us out.  Thank goodness, too.  Hopefully, my next report will be that he is feeling better.  :-)