I can't believe I haven't posted about this yet, this happened back on September 30, 2010. Felix's first stitches! Our good friend Kelly was watching Felix and had taken him and her two kids, Charlie and Clara, to our neighborhood park while waiting for Renae to get home. As Felix explained it to me, he climbing the underside of a set of rounded bars. He had his feet on a lower bar, his body leaning back at about a 45 degree angle, with his hands on and head just above a higher bar. At some point he lost his grip and banged his chin on the upper bar. As Kelly told me, Felix was fairly calm when walked over to tell her he had bumped his chin. While she was examining him, he noticed the blood and Kelly noticed a sizable gash in his chin. Upon sight of the blood, Felix began to cry. Kelly was unable to get a hold of Renae so called me at work. While rushing back home, I got a call from Renae (who had since picked up Felix) and told me to meet her at urgent care.
I beat them there and began filling out the paper work. It is really sobering to see your kid hurt, when they arrived at urgent care Renae and I switched off holding our dear boy. He seemed pretty lethargic by then; he had since stopped crying and was just lying sleepily in our arms. Eventually we got called in and the nurse took Felix's vitals and did a cursory exam. Soon after that, a Physician's Assistant came in to inspect. Felix has this way about him that I am very endeared to; initially he comes across as shy; and he is shy, but when he gets to discussing something with someone, he is very articulate and chatty, which is how he was when he was going to answer, instead of Renae or me, the PA's question of how it happened. The PA then described to Felix what going to happen: a shot of anesthetic followed by stitches.
Felix winced with the shot, but held it together. Once Felix was numb (and we knew this because the PA poked at Felix's chin and asked if he could feel it, Felix responded, "Feel what?"), a sterile drape was placed over his face that left only his chin exposed. I thought that might freak him out a bit, but he understood and it didn't faze him at all. I held his hand while the PA put in three stitches.
The picture above- Renae had the presence of mind to capture just before the bandage was applied. As we went to leave, Felix's energy seemed to have returned. I think he was pleased with how he handled the whole ordeal. Something like this is a milestone in most people's lives, and I too was pleased with how he handled this milestone.
Coincidentally, Grandma Peggie happened to be walking her dog past the urgent care as we were leaving. She got to see Felix fresh out of surgery.
On a side note, I intend to backdate at least one or two posts- Thanksgiving and Christmas probably, so look for those as they will appear before this one.
