Stitches, take 2!

More. Stitches.

8 months after the first set of stitches, we were back in the ER patching up Cooper's forehead...

We were at Kohl's, shopping for school shoes.  Cooper was trying a pair of shoes out, bouncing around, probably being a little more rambunctious than he should have been, when we heard a blood-curdling scream.  My mom was along, thank goodness, and she saw Cooper first.  Her face told me it was bad before I saw it... Cooper had tripped and hit his head on a shoe rack, causing a huge gash in his forehead.  It was bleeding a lot, but it was such a lucky blessing that he couldn't see it.  I cupped my hand under the big gash, and it it weakly began pooling with blood.  How I didn't pass out is unbelievable :). I half pushed, half carried, him toward the entrance to the store, and my mom gathered our stuff and the other two kids.

Cooper was freaking out, crying, asking if he needed stitches, nearly hyperventilating. We walked by a few other families on our way to the front of the store, and I'm sure they just thought I was dealing with an unruly kid.  I'm sure no one really knew what was going in until I got within earshot of the checkout counters and said I needed help.  Once I flashed the wound to an employee, we got some...

We got some napkins and tried to get out to the car as fast as possible.  Cooper still had one of the shoes on, so we took that off, and the manager who was up front said we sure could come back after Cooper was feeling better to get them.  Gee, thanks.

Thank goodness the ER was just across the street.  I held Cooper in my lap in the front seat and my mom loaded Carson and Izzy, and we were off.  Once we arrived, we got right in, and the numbing gel worked wonders!  Nurse Jackie came down too to keep Cooper company, since she was working right upstairs.  

The nurses took great care of Cooper, got him set up with some cartoons, joked around with him, and kept putting that gel on good and thick.  Jeremy left work (he had workshops) and came over for the actual stitches part.  I was barely keeping it together as it was, so he knew the actual stitches part would be better for Cooper if he was there.

Cooper did great through the process.  That gel worked so well he didn't even need novacaine.  Four internal stitches and six top stitches, and he was done!  

He was such a goo patient, he even got a Popsicle!

Believe it or not, he wanted to go back and get the shoes!!  It took him a little bit to decide whether they were bad luck stitches or if he really liked them... But in the end, he picked th same ones.

He loved telling a very detailed version of the story to anyone who would listen over the next week.

I hope we're done with injuries for a loooong time!

When it was time to get them out, Grandma Chris had just the tools!!

Here's the whole event, through the eyes of Izzy: https://youtu.be/XXemiGE-zog and here it is through Cooper's eyes: https://youtu.be/ohAvXdueKvc