Monday, August 11, 2008

I'm the Worst Mother EVER!

We don't have a garage door opener that springs back up if it hits something. If something gets in the way as the door closes, the door keeps on closing and crushing until the item breaks or the door can't push down any further. Because of this (and my kids tendency to play with things they shouldn't) Joe put the button to open and close the door up high. I mean, really high. I have to stand on my toes to reach it.

This morning, Clay used a broom handle to hit the garage door opener. As the door came down, he did some sort of Indiana Jones maneuver as he tried to slide under the door. When the door started to close on his head, Lexi quickly grabbed him and yanked him out from under the closing door. Unfortunately she got stuck and the door closed down hard around her middle. Austin, Savannah, Jackson and I were summoned by her screams. Savannah and Jackson got out to Lexi first. Although freaked out, they were quick-thinking. Savannah ran to Lexi and Jackson ran to the garage door opener. Jackson pushed the button to raise the door, but instead of lifting, it pushed down harder, eliciting more screams from Lexi. After a second push of the button, the door finally raised, freeing Lexi. She was pinned under there for less than a minute, but it seemed like an hour and half.

I was completely freaked out and the only thing I could think to do was get dressed so I could take her to the hospital. (We'd been having a lazy morning and I was still in my pajamas because that's how my life works. Whenever I'm lazing around in my jammies with the house a mess, people stop by unannounced, or I get a call that a friend needs my help, or an accident happens.)

We got to the ER, I told the triage nurse what had happened, she stamped a paper with the word "Trauma" and rushed us back to a room. No waiting. No filling out paperwork. At this point, I really started freaking out. Lex had stopped crying and I knew she didn't seem seriously injured, but I didn't know what was going on inside her. Could her internal organs have been smashed? Could she be bleeding? Could she be seriously injured? The way we were rushed back and seen by a doctor so quickly had me freaking out a bit.

I was told that Lex would need a CT scan of her abdomen. She'd also need to be stuck in the arm so they could inject dye into her vein. They put numbing cream on her arms so the needle wouldn't hurt so badly and then moved us to the pediatric ER where a bed had opened up.

A new doctor came in with a portable ultrasound machine. Instead of doing a CT scan, he did an ultrasound to see if there were any questionable areas that needed a closer look. He checked out her kidneys, liver and spleen; he looked at her stomach and even took a quick peek at her heart. Lexi was happy because he gave her 2 ultrasound pictures; one of her stomach and one of her heart. She thought those were pretty cool and was surprised to see that her heart wasn't "heart shaped". The doctor thought she looked good and there were no areas that concerned him. Her pain had subsided substantially, so he (bless him!) suggested we take conservative measures and just watch her for awhile.

A dose of Tylenol and a good 5 hours later, we were released. She's feeling much better this evening.

How totally scary though. And I feel like such a horrible parent for not being out there to prevent it from happening in the first place. If you're going to write a comment that I'm an awful, negligent parent, save yourself the trouble. I already know it.

I told Lexi that she was a hero. She saved Clay from being smashed only to get crushed herself. She burst into tears and said, "I didn't want Clayton to die. I had to save him."
Then I started crying. She's my hero. And now I'm off to make some "hero brownies" for her.

218 comments:

«Oldest   ‹Older   201 – 218 of 218
Debby said...

You are not! It happens to all of us. I almost did it to our new puppy last year. Shutting the garage door and saying stay stay and they come running out just when it almost hits the ground and you start going unh unh back back unh unh BACK until finally he is so scared of what you are doing he goes back! Pheew! I'm sorry you had to go through that. You are not a bad Mommy. However, the garage door must be fixed. I am a daily reader and have never posted because you have way too many people reading your blog so I didn't want to bug ya. Just wanted to say Hey, you are not alone. Later Gater!

Anonymous said...

Glad everyone is Ok!!! Hugs for you!

RefreshMom said...

I am sooo sorry to hear about this! Those kind of garage door openers are illegal here, but that didn't prevent our house from being sold to us with one of them. We haven't gotten around to changing it yet, but this is a reminder to move that up the priority list! I suppose I can make the case to DH that it's a good thing that our garage is full to the rafters with boxes we haven't unpacked yet; there is no place for the kids to play and they're never out there unsupervised because they're as likely to get crushed in an avalanche of baby-clothes filled Rubbermaid tubs as they are to be squashed by the garage door.

Kudos to your kids for looking out for each other. I hope you didn't suffer any permanent heart damage from the fright (and overdose of guilt hormone!)

Cheryl said...

No, you're not a bad mom! I'm so glad Lexi was OK. That must have been so scary!

Now please go out and get a new garage door opener. It probably costs less than a trip to the ER, and it will be worth every penny if it saves one of your kids' lives.

Unknown said...

Dawn you're doing an awesome job! Obviously! Lexi SAVED her brother! I'm in tears from reading this. You've raised GOOD PEOPLE.

Lex deserves a medal. :)

Anonymous said...

What a blessing that the kids are okay! You are not a bad mom. You've got a bad garage door. Not to scare you but... when I was in high school the people across the street, who I regularly babysat for, lost their almost two year old son to their garage door. The mother was right there at the door of the garage into the house. Something triggered their door. Back then it could have been a neighbor using a microwave or someone trying to open their door the next street over. It was heartbreaking.

Becky said...

How terrifying that must have been! Try not to be so hard on yourself. No one can anticipate things like this. And thank goodness everything turned out fine in the end.

I was practically in tears over the last paragraph, though. What a sweet girl Lexi is.

Chelf said...

Lex is my new hero, too.

Dawn, you are not a bad parent!

Your garage door opener is bad, that it has no motion detector, or reverse motion when it hits something.

You might see if your home insurance would help you pay for replacement of the door, and pay for the ER visit.

TheHMC said...

If not being there to watch every little thing your kids do, every second of the day and then jumping to get her adequate care when an accident happens makes you a "bad mom", then I'm going straight to hell lol.

Stuff happens. That's not the way I normally say that phrase, but I'm being good since this is your comment area ;). I feel like a horrible, neglectful parent at LEAST once a day...what can you do? Despite what we tell the kids, we really can't do it all and don't have eyes in the backs of our heads.

Now, had you not gone running in accordance to the screams, well.. we might have had to have a chat ;).

Bekah said...

I'm sitting here, at work, bawling my eyes out. Seriously. What a brave thing to do for her brother. Now to get cleaned up before my co-workers see me. Stupid pregancy hormones...

Anonymous said...

Dawn,
We all have those moments that we feel like we are the WORST parent ever! Mine was about nine years ago when my now 11 year old decided she wanted to shave, just like her Daddy. She came downstairs with blood all over her lips. I couldn't imagine what could have caused it until we got her cleaned up and the blood flow stopped, then she looked at her Daddy and said "Be like Daddy". We kept the razors off the sink after that incident. Give yourself a hug and then share it with all of the children.
Steph

Anonymous said...

I have a question. How did Clay react to all this? The accident and Lexi saving her? Thanx

Larisa said...

Lexi... you rock girlfriend!! I am glad Jesus kept you safe and made you a hero!

Lowa said...

I am sitting here crying like a baby! I cannot imagine what you went through! What awesome kids you have. They truly love each other. Isn't it wonderful to see this confirmed??

YOu ARE NOT a bad mother. YOu are an INCREDIBLE mother. What mother would make her child hero brownies?? Indeed, some mothers would not have even taken their child to the ER. Seriously!

Ok, I am ok now. I am not crying anymore. You know, I wanted 6-8 kids and my hubby only allowed us 4. I remember thinking various times how the more you have, the more there is to worry about, you know?? I wanted more and I adore the ones I have. I am not sure what I am even trying to say! LOL Maybe you know?? I dunno. Anyway, I am done now.

PLEASE do not be so hard on yourself. Oh, I read the foot one and I feel you! How is the shoe thing going?? Shoes are STUPID. I seriously detest them. I hate so bad that I need to wear them sometimes, but I guess I should be grateful. I just cannot STAND anything on my feet, ya know?? And IN THE HOUSE!?? I would die. I hope you are ok!

Unknown said...

Just catching up on your blog. So glad everyone's okay. Don't you wonder how in the world kids actually make it past like age 16? My 3 year-old fell off her brother's bunk bed last fall and punctured the back of her head. The ER doc stitched up the wound with her own hair! No stitches. She just cried and complained about not being able to see the TV in the room!

You've raised very caring, compassionate kids. Pat yourself on the back and then eat some brownies.

debi9kids said...

OMGosh! I just saw his on my RSS reader thingy ma giggy and had to come over! How scary!
Thank God she is ok!
And, stop beating yourself up! Accidents happen, even FREAK ACCIDENTS! It does not make you a bad mom!

T J said...

Ok after 216 comments it's not like you need another one. But, I have 3 kids and if any of them had said what Lexi did I would have cried and made hero brownies too. Heck, I don't even know your kids and I started to tear up.

Sigh.... oh and yeah - any time I decide to chill out in my jammies for a while that's when all the accidents/visits/disasters happen to me too.

Anonymous said...

Wow, Lexi sure is a hero!
But I have to compliment Savannah and Jackson too. Usually you'd expect kids to be overwhelmed with the situation and just stand there,not knowing what to do, but what they did is admirable too.

I agree with the other comments, you've proven you are NOT a horrible mother by raising kids you can depend on in emergencies.

«Oldest ‹Older   201 – 218 of 218   Newer› Newest»

Who's Visiting My Blog Right Now?

 
Home About Dawn Blog Books News & Events Press Kit Contact

Dawn Meehan 2008-. All Rights Reserved.
Site Design by Jones House Creative