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My Child’s Bloody Trauma
So many times in my life, I have either seen or experienced a trauma to the head.
Compared to other parts of the body, whenever it’s an actual wound to the head, I have seen how much blood is involved because of all the capillaries that run through that thin layer of scalp.
Well, for the first time since I learned to balance myself through breath, my yogic breath was borderline non-existent this past weekend when my 2.7-year-old son decided to disobey me and continue jumping on my bed. Yes, most of us parents remember how, as children, we experienced the joy of bouncing up and down on our parents’ bed or couch despite their warnings. Well, I am sure you can assume what happened next, as you must have heard similar stories like this before. My son jumped up and down, lost his balance, fell backwards, and cracked the back of his head on my window ledge.
“Whaaaaaa…” he cried. I could see it all unfolding right before my eyes, so I quickly picked him up and proceeded to rub the back of his head gently as I would any bump or bruise. But to my surprise…no, no, that wasn’t it…to my HORROR, I felt warm liquid fill the palm of my hand.
I stopped breathing at that moment.
I held my breath, understandably horrified.
Then I glanced down at my hand, saw the blood, and felt it running down my son’s back on to my other hand, which was holding him. Quickly, I rested my hand on to the back of his head, not even wanting to take a moment to see how bad the wound was.
Next thought…
Breathe before I pass out from lack of oxygen.
Next thought…breathe, damn it!
Okay. I tried to pull myself together, knowing that I had to keep some pressure against my son’s head while attempting to calm myself so that he would calm down. How could I make him feel safe? I told myself to breathe with a light tone so that he could feel the vibration from my body – something like a gentle “OM.”
His father moved as quickly as possible as I called for ice, a towel, and a telephone. Luckily, my son had just woken up and was only in his diaper. With his back completely covered in blood, it was not a pretty sight but at least it could be easily cleaned and we didn’t have to worry about pulling anything over his head.
Talk calmly to him, keep ice pack firm, get Arnica tablets into him…breathe. Essential oils…breathe. No aspirin, but a little children’s Tylenol from his last injury administered at a half dose.
Thank goodness, everything began to settle down after 20 minutes of what seemed to be an eternity. The bleeding slowed down, and he wanted to eat and drink water, which was a great sign. We cleaned all the blood off his back and then I cleaned up all his blood that was on me. He sat quietly for a bit, watching his first snowboard DVD with daddy, and then he became more rambunctious for the rest of the evening.
Needless to say, I did not sleep very much that evening or the next. My son lay on his belly in an inclined position through the night and I kept my ears alert to his breathing. I made up for the lack of sleep later in the week.
I still hold my breath when I recall this incident. It was a good lesson to have certain things in place for events such as this, although I can only hope that it never happens again.
These past few weeks, I’ve been worrying about so many different things that have been happening in my life. Well, those few minutes, when I held my precious son close to me, put everything into perspective and made me realize what is really important in my life. Thankfully, my son’s injury wasn’t as serious as it could have been and I feel totally blessed that he’s now back to his happy, healthy, wonderful self.
[tags]blood from the head, injury on head, trauma, injury of my child, baby crying[/tags]
I know how you feel.
Something similar happened to my 8 year old daughter when she was 2.
The blood wouldn’t stop from a cut over her head after she tripped and hit a step. We had to take her to hospital to get her patched up.
I was beside myself with anguish at the time, but six years on she has a scar and we have a family story we can laugh about.
Christina, I’m very glad to read that your son is doing well. Having a child be injured is always so traumatic but you obviously handled it very well and should be proud of yourself. Now, just don’t let this incident rule you and make you overly protective! Keep breathing and keep yourself aware and in the moment with him. Parenting is an amazing yogic experience and certainly a way to take your practice off the mat.