So you know how moms (irresponsible ones, that is) have stories about how their children fell down the stairs, fell out of their car seats, etc when they were babies? Every time I heard one of those stories my thoughts were, "How can you admit that to people? How could you let that happen? How could you be so careless?" Well, on Sunday, I became one of those mothers.
Since Aidan was born, I have been changing him on the floor. I rarely leave him unattended for more than a few moments, and I thought I knew how to do all the "right" things to keep my son safe.
On Sunday, I was putting away my laundry and Aidan was happily watching from my bed. Now, I know Aidan can roll, but his feet were facing the edge of the bed and he would have had to turn his body 90 degrees and THEN roll to fall off the bed. Apparently I underestimated the speed with which he can move. I smiled at him and turned to put some clothes in the dresser. In that split second of turning, I heard the loudest thud that's ever been made, followed by the loudest wail Aidan has ever cried.
I turned around, and Aidan was not on the bed! Danielle (my sister) came running upstairs, thinking the thud had been a dresser or something falling on Aidan, it was that loud. He was on the floor, on his back...at least he hadn't landed face first (I think that would be worse?). I picked him up and tried to console him. Danielle found the number for health link, a 24 hour number that lets you talk to nurses who will assess non-emergency situations. I immediately nursed Aidan, since this usually calms him down and it was time to eat anyway. While I was on hold, I started wondering if I should call 911. It felt like I was on hold forEVER. When I finally got through, about 12 minutes later, Aidan had finished eating and was happy - babbling and smiling. The nurse asked me a few assessment questions and determined Aidan was probably fine, but that I should check on him every 30 minutes to make sure he was alive (that's not actually what she said).
Aidan had a doctor's appointment on Tuesday and my doctor told me about how she, as a doctor, had to bring her 9 month old to the children's hospital after she had fallen down the stairs. This made me feel somewhat better, but I still feel like a pretty bad mom. There was no need for me to have Aidan on the bed. I wish I had just had him on the floor. I really thought only terrible moms let their children fall, and maybe that makes me a terrible mom, but I actually think it can happen waaaaaaaay faster than most people think so be careful, mommas!
And, of course, to complete the blog - a picture of Aidan with pants on his head.
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