Bump, bump, bump

I was three-quarters of the way through a two-hour evening class yesterday, when I saw the building's porter standing at the door, trying to catch my attention. Apologising to the students, I left the class to be told that I had to ring the Hospital Accident and Emergency Department.

Cue: Heart dropping through floor.

Mobile phone doesn't work; rush down to porter's lodge to use the phone there. Receptionist passes me over to a tearful Hester - who tells me that everything's okay, but that Bridget has fallen downstairs, and been taken to Hospital showing signs of mild concussion (drooping eyelids, vomitting).

I head back to my class, and with a voice that I almost keep steady I tell them I have to go, and why. Given the kind of class it is, a wave of sympathy crashes to the front, and somebody prays (nice thought ... but let me go, I want to hurry, damn you!). Another class-member offers to drive me (I think I must be looking too shaky to drive safely).

At the hospital, Bridget is sitting wrapped in a blanket on Hester's lap (her clothes having been a victim of symptom number two); she looks wide-eyed and pale, but cheerful, breaking into a smile when she sees me. Actually, she looks beautiful. By now it is two hours past her bedtime, and she's amazingly cheerful and alert for someone so tired.

I love the NHS, but you do have to be patient to be a patient - or a patient's parent. It's close to 9pm when I arrive, and Bridget has already been there for an hour and a half. We sit around - being visited by first one doctor and then another - until about Midnight. No-one finds any cause for concern - no bumps, no bruises, no bleeding, no dulled reflexes, no undilating pupils, no lazy limbs. Bridget sleeps fitfully on one or other of us for about 45 minutes, but when awake is reassuringly active - going on many walking tours of the ward holding on to parental hands.

At midnight we are transferred to a proper paediatric ward. Bridget is put into a cot, and a mattress set up beside it for me. Hester drives home, to get four hours sleep; I get longer but more broken sleep on the floor beside Bridget, disturbed every so often by the nurse who comes in at regular intervals to check that there are no problems, and check Bridget's pulse and blood-pressure. Bridget sleeps fitfully and noisily (discovering at one point that the tube from the blood-pressure collar that has been left wrapped around her ankle can be whacked against the cot bars with a nice ringing sound. Apologies to the other people in the ward.)

This morning, Bridget was fine: chirpy, energetic, keeping her food and drink down. We were discharged soon after 10, with a leaflet full of ominous signals to watch for, friendly advice suggesting that we're very, very unlikely to see any of them, and slightly condescending and guilt-inducing comments about stair-gates and vigilance.

Hester has delivered Bridget to nursery and is, I hope, asleep. I'm at work, feeling dazed.

Bridget has already forgotten that anything happened - had forgotten, it seems, by the time I saw her last night. I'm not going to forget the minutes between the porter's message and hearing Hester on the phone quite so quickly.

Posted by Mike at 11:01 AM | Comments (0)

TEETH!

Last Tuesday, Bridget was running a bit of a temperature, for no obvious reason. This recurred on Wednesday afternoon, and we were all prepared to have to keep her away from Stepping Stones on Thursday, but she seemed fine in the morning, so off she went. She had a bit of an unhappy day, but not enough for them to call us. However, they suggested that she might be teething. The next day, when life was obviously still not quite right, I got out the Bonjela and had a delve in Bridget's mouth. It was rather a surprise to me to find that she had three molars coming through. That explained the fever and general unhappiness! This seems to me like a very early appearance of back teeth, particularly since she was so late with the first ones, and she still hasn't even got all her front teeth. Oh well. Bridget's never been one for doing things to order.

We seem to be past the worst of the pain now. She was certainly much brighter this morning, and also seems to be fighting off the cough that's been plaguing her for the last week or so. It's a big relief all round for us, particularly since we had a bout of wheezing yesterday afternoon, which has got me worrying about asthma already.

Posted by Hester at 01:25 PM | Comments (0)

Grandparental visitation

Sorry about the long delay in postings. Mostly, we have to confess, this is due to an (un)healthy amount of playing of Myst IV in the evenings, so we don't get to doing the things we ought to be attending to at the computer.

After a couple of uneventful days at home, Bridget and I set off for a weekend with my parents. Once again, Bridget demonstrated her tolerance with the things that grown-ups subject her to. We spent an hour and a half sitting in a traffic jam on the M5 near Worcester but a snack and a Walking Oliver CD managed to keep her occupied for most of the time. Bridget must have spent nearly four hours in the car without a break and only slept for about 45 minutes, but hardly complained at all. I felt very thankful, and was even more thankful to arrive at my parents', even with snow on the ground outside.

We had a lovely relaxed weekend. Bridget discovered the joys of a big chunky train set, complete with squeaks and exciting possibilities for moving it around the house and up the stairs. My godmother, Jane, and her husband spent a lovely afternoon with us on Sunday and Bridget took to them immediately (she hasn't seen them for most of a year), bringing them books to be half-read and bits of her train. On the day I left, Bridget had got so used to being with her grandparents that she demanded a hug from Grandad. I think it made his day.

A rather less eventful journey back (apart from a stop to see my aunt - her first look at Bridget and Bridget's first encounter with a houseful of seven cats) was much welcomed by Mummy. And the remaining day and a half passed pretty smoothly. Nevetheless, I very much appreciate having Mike back, even when half comatose with jetlag, as he was for the first couple of days.

Posted by Hester at 01:17 PM | Comments (0)