Back to Vermont: The Worst Day of My Life

July 8th

We started the day early in New Hampshire. We were actually up and out of the house before anyone else got up. Breakfast was eaten in the car. Spencer was really happy on the way back to Vermont.

And then something unheard of happened. He actually fell asleep in the car. For a whopping 20 minutes. This had not happened since Mother's Day 2009 (when he slept for a whopping 5 minutes). I took a picture for evidence sake. Once back in VT we went to Pat and Sarah's house for lunch. I think it was 100 degrees outside, and they don't have air conditioning. We were sticky and sweaty. Sarah made us a fabulous lunch and they were kind enough to let us wash all of our clothes while we hung out.

We left their house around 4 and headed to Amy and Gabe's house for dinner. After we ate Spencer insisted on watering more plants. He remembered doing this from when we were there the week before.

Amy and Gabe also don't have air conditioning so the plant watering quickly evolved into a wet romp under the hose (in underwear, of course).

Then things took a turn for the naked and Spencer ditched his underwear.

Wet slide+naked butt= FAST
Spencer almost biffed it at the bottom. He thought it was hilarious.

Right before we left to head back to Aunt Sandi and Uncle Ruggie's house for our last night of vacation we took some posed pictures. Well, as posed as Spencer would allow for.

WARNING

The rest of this blog post contains graphic and gory images and graphic and horrific storytelling. You've been warned.

We left Gabe and Amy's house around 8ish and headed back to Sandi and Ruggie's house. They also don't have air conditioning and when we got to their house it was 96 degrees inside. We were already packed to leave for the airport the next day so we decided we would take a cool shower and then go to bed damp so at least the fan would feel cooler.

Spencer and I got in the shower together. I washed his hair and body. He was just standing there while I started to wash my hair. Then, out of nowhere he just slipped and fell. He hit his face on the side of the tub as he fell. I immediately saw blood even before he rolled back over. Then he rolled over and I saw his face. Then I started freaking out and screaming for Michael.

Michael came running in and then he started freaking out. This is why.

I told you it was going to be gory and graphic and horrific.

I quickly rinsed my hair while Sandi and Michael tried to stop the bleeding. Then I threw on my clothes and we scooped up Spencer. We live 1 mile from a hospital. At home. We were not at home. The closest hospital to Sandi and Ruggie is at least 40 minutes. At least 40 minutes of back country, winding roads, some of them dirt, some of them gravel.

Spencer refused to let us get him dressed so we strapped him in the car seat naked and off we went. I sat in the back while Michael drove at speeds varying from 50 to 80 miles per hour. I did not know this tidbit until later, thank goodness. Oh, and it also started to rain for the 1st time in a week. Because rain and wet roads are EXACTLY what we needed at that moment.

We got to the ER and Spencer let us put underwear and shorts on. We ran in and they got us through triage and into a room within 5 minutes. The doctor came in and looked at him and confirmed stitches. This is where the worst experience of my life comes in.

It can be very dangerous to sedate a 2 year old, even for something like stitches. Michael and I had to hold Spencer down along with a nurse and a tech for upwards of 20 minutes so the doctor could do the stiches. After like 5 minutes they had to wrap him tightly in a sheet to restrain him while the 4 of us held him down. At one point Michael lost it and had to leave the room because he was crying. The only reason it wasn't me having to leave the room is because I was right next to Spencer's face and I had to maintain composure for his sake. I knew that as awful as holding him down was it would be worse to freak out and leave him with strangers.

In the middle of all this terrible restraining and stiching (and my bird's eye view of the stitching) and Spencer demonstrating that he has the strength of an adult grizzly bear, Spencer looked right at me and then at the tech and then back at me and said, perfectly clearly, "Mommy, you get that man off of me right now." It was the saddest and simultaneouly funniest part of the whole awful mess.

Finally, the stitches were done. He got 6.

We loaded back in the car and drove the 50 minutes back (10 extra minutes because we weren't going 80 miles per hour) to Sandi and Ruggie's. We all went to bed. It was not the vacation ending we were looking for.

P.S. Those pre-stitch pictures were taken at the ER after we had seen the doctor while they were prepping for the stitches. Spencer was actually pretty calm while we took them. I am NOT that terrible of a mom that I made him wait to go to the ER while I took pictures as he was freaking out.