Grace's Accident

On Sunday afternoon Grace fell at the playground. She was having such a great time just moments before the event. While running on the sidewalk I heard her daddy tell her to stop and she fell. I didn't witness the event because I was tending to Jonathan. I did hear daddy tell her to stop running and then I heard her crying. I immediately turned to find her on the ground, her daddy quickly sweeping her off the ground. As I quickly walked to look at her I noticed some blood droplets on the sidewalk. I looked up at her face and there was so much blood coming from her mouth. I screamed several screams that you wouldn't want to hear repeated and went to put Jonathan in the stroller. Daddy was trying to comfort her and tell me that it would be okay, but I was so worried about our daughter. A nice couple came to assist us. I ran back to him with the burp cloth and he kept trying to put pressure on where he thought the bleeding was coming from. I was trying to assess the damage. Grace was crying and I couldn't see the damage because of all of the blood still. Because there was so much blood I thought that we were going to have to take her to the emergency room for sure. Jonathan and I ran back to the house to get the car, but when I got there I forgot that Marc had the keys. While the nice gentleman from the park watched Jonathan in the stroller, I ran back to meet Marc and I met him half-way. Marc said that Grace was calm now and that she was sucking her thumb. There was so much blood on both of them, I was so scared. We quickly got her inside and gave her a bath to clean her up. We were then able to take a better look at her mouth. He lip was very swollen and I found two deep lacerations that appeared to be made from her lower anterior teeth. One of the lacerations was right over what is called the maxillary frenum. It is the tissue attachment in the middle as you raise your lip up. Due to this area being highly vascularized, we knew that this must have caused most of the excessive bleeding. Although I did not get to look at her teeth for very long, I didn't notice any huge damage. Slight mobility in the upper front teeth but no bleeding from the teeth, excessive chips, and the teeth had not been shifted in position. Thank goodness! We gave her some ibuprofen, and soon she fell asleep with me holding her in the tub. I called my fellow dental buddy and she assured me that everything that we were doing was correct. We got her dressed and made sure that she was given a soft food diet. She won't let me put ice on it. I have been keeping an eye on her lip daily. The swelling has decreased and it appears to be healing very well. I haven't noticed any change in her teeth. Marc and I still can't seem to get the accident out of our minds. It is like a nightmare thinking about it. When you see your child injured, it cuts you deeply. I even went to the playground to inspect the scene. There is still blood on the sidewalk. Until it rains, it will be there. I don't think that I want to take her back until it rains first. We just got rid of the burp cloth. I didn't want to take any pictures of her injury because I didn't want to continually be reminded of the event. We are both thankful that her guardian angel was looking out for her when she fell. Although it looked like the most gruesome image we had seen before, we knew that it could have been worse. She seems to be recovering very well. She is so brave and strong, much more than her mommy. I screamed in terror when I saw her and I am sure that this probably did not help the situation, but it was my reaction. I know that although we hope not, there will probably be more accidents in the future as she continues to get braver. I hope and pray that she will always be protected. I know that God and her guardian angel will always look after her. I am so thankful for our faith! We love you Grace Marie!