Scariest 5 Minutes of My Life

Yes, the scariest 5 minutes of my life occurred this morning!! For those of you who hate the long version, I will give you the very quick version first.

Bella Peace touched my very hot iron with her hand resulting in a very bad burn. AND while Wesley was evaluating her wound, he passed out!! Everyone is going to be OK.

Now for those like me who need details, here's the rest of the story.

Our family irons. I've been known to iron jeans and t-shirts - not so recently, but my point is that I like neatly pressed clothes. I have a VERY good professional quality iron that I received as a gift many years ago. I say this just to let you know that our iron gets really hot. I mean really, really hot. If like me you like neatly pressed clothing, a Rowenta is the only way to go. It's not your $20 iron from Wal-Mart. Anyway, pretty much very Sunday morning involves some ironing. Wesley learned to iron very well in college when he had to regularly iron his band uniform (plus he was raised right, by a mother who only had sons, and taught her sons how to take care of themselves) So we both iron. Just depends on whose able to when it needs to be done. We typically set the ironing board up right next to the kitchen counter, and we iron as the kiddos are finishing breakfast. (I told you this was the long version. The details are important to me!!) :)

This morning, I was actually going to make it to church after a pretty miserable week of pregnancy related sickness. Wesley had delivered the paper very early this morning, came home, had breakfast, and went back to bed to get a little nap in before church. I ironed everyone's clothes that needed it but my own. Then I placed the still on, still very hot iron, far back on the kitchen counter facing the wall, and left the ironing board blocking the counter top. When I walked away, no one is anywhere near the iron. Not even in the same room. I think I remember yelling over my shoulder like WE ALWAYS DO, "The iron is hot, stay away from it." In reflection that was probably Bella Peace's cue to seize her moment. I went to get my clothes from my bedroom and that's when I heard a noise followed by the sound of Bella Peace crying. I think I knew immediately that she had touched the iron. Bella Peace had asked me when I was ironing if she could "touch the button that made smoke". I said no. I ran in the kitchen and sure enough she was dancing around holding her hand and crying. She had moved the ironing board over and put a stool up to the counter so that she could push the steam button on the iron and "make smoke." I think that her stretching and trying to reach the iron so far back contributed to it tipping over and touching her hand. The iron was laid down on it's side. Not hot side down, but on it's side.

I could tell it was a pretty serious burn immediately. Luke, Grace, and Mary Ruth came rushing over and instantly started hysterically crying at the sight of it. Elizabeth was sitting in the living room floor playing with toys, and all the crying must have scared her because she started to cry too. I scooped Bella Peace up in my arms and ran into our bedroom calling for Wesley to get up and take a look. He immediately sprung straight out of bed onto his feet and took her from me. He ran into our bathroom to run cold water on it. He immediately started telling me and the other kiddos that she was going to be OK. I was very upset, but I was completely under control - just concerned, worried, and already feeling guilty that this had happened. I left Wesley in the bathroom with Bella Peace and led the other kiddos to the living room to try to calm everyone down. I hugged them all and assured them that she was going to be OK. Then I picked up Elizabeth who was screaming her head off. That's when I heard Bella Peace's cry change from the "I'm in pain and hurting cry" to the "uncontrollable, hysterical cry". I told everyone to stay put and I went to see what was going on with Elizabeth on my hip. The next sight I saw was truly the scariest thing I've ever witnessed and to be honest I'm still pretty traumatized over it. Bella Peace was seated on out bathroom counter with her hand still in running water looking down at her Daddy who was laying in a leap in the bathroom floor. I streamed and practically tossed Elizabeth down in the bedroom floor and rushed over to Wesley. He did not look good. I think I was saying "OH, NO!! OH, NO!!" and yelling his name. I thought he was having a seizure, because his eyelids were half opened and his eyeballs were rolled back into this head. It was so horrible!! I started trying to stretch him out and lay him down, but I was struggling because he's so much bigger than me, he was in a very awkward position, and the space was tight. I yelled for Luke to call 911 and to bring me the phone. I was pulling on Wesley and yelling at him to tell me what was wrong. For what seemed like F-O-R-E-V-E-R he did not respond at all. I was so scared!! It was probably really only 30 seconds to a minute at most, but then he started to wake. He was completely disoriented at first. Then he said, he thought that he had gotten light headed and passed out. I could hear Luke in the other room crying and talking to the 911 operator. I told Wesley that an ambulance was on the way, but he began to get up and insisted that he was fine and that we did not need an ambulance. I did not fully trust him at that moment, but I did get on the phone and told the 911 operator that at the moment I thought we were OK and asked her to cancel the ambulance for the time. I was also still very concerned about Bella Peace who was still crying hysterically. At some point, I had moved her from the bathroom to my bed. I helped Wesley to our bed to lay down. He said he was still light headed, but that he was completely OK. He told me that he remembered feeling light headed and queasy. He felt like he was going to pass out so he had braced himself and propped up on the bathroom counter. He said it all happened very fast. The next thing he remembered was waking to chaos and crying. He says he thinks it was a combination of jerking up quickly from bed and seeing the badly burned hand of his own little girl that just did him in. At this point he still looked terrible.

All the kids were completely ready for church. They had calmed down some, but were still in a bit of a panic. I asked Grace to make sure we had what we needed in the diaper bag, and I told everyone to go wait by the door while I finished getting everything together so that we could take Bella Peace and Daddy to the ER. Wesley and I were the only ones not yet fully ready to leave for church. I quickly got out of my PJs and dressed in some casual clothes and told Wesley to do the same. He kept assuring me that no one needed to go to the ER. He said that we could do at home what the ER was going to do for Bella Peace and insisted that he did not need to go to the hospital. He suggested that if I insisted on taking Bella Peace he would just stay home with the other kiddos. I told him there was no way I was leaving him at home. I was still so worried about him. I did start to calm down and think maybe we did not need to go to the ER. I could tell that Wesley was indeed improving and what he was saying sounded reasonable. I decided to call our very good friend and pediatrician to ask his advice on the Bella Peace, and he actually said the same thing Wesley said. There's not much they do for a burn like that. He told us to coat it with antibiotic ointment, to wrap it, and to bring her into his office tomorrow. Depending on how bad it actually is, she may require some further treatment which could include physical therapy. Wesley feels pretty sure that it's not that bad.

I have to say that the fact that Wesley passed out, completely blows my mind!! In case anyone reading doesn't know or has forgotten, Wesley is an athletic trainer. His work is in the medical field. A huge part of his job includes providing first response assistance to sports related injuries. He sees and has seen all kind of injuries and has even been present in an OR to observe surgeries. SOOO, I just can't believe he passed out!! I guess when it was his own little girl it was totally different. AND like he said, springing from sleep to wide away and looking at that kind of injury on one of his babies did not help!

Even though I was extremely concerned about Bella Peace, I was in shock, terrified, and scared to death when I saw Wesley on the floor. I thought something so serious was wrong! I immediately thought about the heart problem that he experienced just one year ago this month. I thought about the fact that the doctors had said he was completely healed and would never again have problems because of that condition. I thought maybe they were wrong. Maybe he was having a seizure. Maybe a heart attack. I thought, "I LOVE YOU AND I NEED YOU AND YOU HAVE TO BE OK!!" I know that all this may sound a bit dramatic. BUT it was indeed very dramatic.

And as suddenly as it all began, it all seemed to calm. Wesley (while seated) medicated and wrapped Bella Peace's hand. We gave her ibuprofen and a heaping bowl of ice cream with sprinkles for pain. She stopped crying. Wesley went back to finish his nap. We had all the other kiddos change out of their church clothes into casual clothes. We also calmed them all with a bowl of ice cream. I put Elizabeth down for a nap. Then we put on a family movie, and I claimed a spot in the recliner to reflect and PRAISE THE LORD that my husband was still with me and my very curious, adventurous one would recover and hopefully heed mommy's instructions a little better in the future.

We've always been careful with the iron. We've also always warned the children that is hot and dangerous and they should never touch it! I felt like I was careful today. But now I'm thinking not careful enough. Yes, I'm dealing with a little bit of guilt. I know that in a million years, the oldest three would have never touched that iron. BUT if someone has asked me before this happened if Bella Peace would try to touch a not iron, I also know that my answer would have been yes. Yes, Bella Peace is the one that fears nothing. I know that. So I can't count on her always making the right decision and obeying right now. She's 3. I pray that the day will come when she will listen and obey. BUT, right now I KNOW her. I should have considered that when I left the iron still on and still hot and left the room. I know that we will be more careful. I also know that this is an unfortunate but very good teaching opportunity.

I also want to say that I'm SO proud of my 3 big kids! They showed such great concern and compassion for their sister today. They were also very responsible and mature when I asked something of them. They actually did not know that their Daddy had passed out until much later. They all just thought that I screamed over Bella Peace. I'm so glad that they did not know and especially glad that they did not see Wesley the way I did. Luke did just what I told him and called 911 and was handling the call quite well when I took over. When I told Grace to check the diaper bag for us, she sprang into action, packing the bag perfectly. She had actually filled it very full and also grabbed a change of clothes for Bella Peace and said, "Mommy we just don't know how long we will be there or what all we will need so I packed lots of extras." What a big girl!!!! I hope that we never have another experience like this, but I'm so glad to see how everyone pulled together in a crisis. I'm so proud of my family and the love we share!!

**Note: I feel that I should add that Dr. Jeff (amazing, awesome family friend and pediatrician) did say that if we were not able to manage Bella Peace's pain that taking her to the ER would be a good idea, because they could give her RX pain meds. I would hate for someone else to be in this position and their child suffer more than necessary because they remembered that Jennifer said it's not necessary to go to the ER. Also if you did not feel confident or comfortable with wrapping the injury yourself, you should also go to the ER. Of course if something like this ever occurred, please consult your own pediatrician or family doctor. If this had happened on a weekday, we would have immediately gone to our pediatrician's office. I'm just sharing out experience, not giving advice! :) **