One Little Monkey...

Well, my little monkey can't jump on the bed quite yet, but that sure didn't stop her from bumping her head yesterday.

Forgive me if this post reads a little dryer than usual; I'm still pretty upset about it. 

Madison has been getting really good at walking through the house, both in her walker and holding our hands.  It's definitely her new favorite thing.  She's gotten so good at it, that I don't (didn't) hold her as tightly as I used to while she's walking.  Usually I just keep (kept) a loose grip on her hands.  She'll frequently see some object (or Bella) that she wants to touch/grab/hit/etc.  When that happens, she frees one hand so she can do her thing.  I'm betting you can see where this is going.

Yesterday, after we walked together from the kitchen to the living room, she saw something on the coffee table that she wanted to grab.  I honestly don't remember what, but I'll go ahead and assume it was something electronic (remote control, XBOX controller, phone, etc).  She let go with her right hand and started playing with said object.  She stood there for a while, and I was tired of stooping over, so I sat down on the couch right behind her.  We were between the couch and the coffee table.  I was holding her left wrist, and she was alternately playing with whatever it was and holding on to the coffee table.

I still don't know what happened to make her fall forward.  It's possible that she noticed one of her books on the floor by her feet, or maybe she just got tired and lost her balance.  Whatever caused it, she lurched forward so fast that I couldn't catch her before her head hit the edge of the coffee table.  There was a quarter-second silence during which I pulled her to me and started rocking, followed by the worst cries I've ever heard.

I didn't know at first how bad it was, because I didn't look at her before trying to comfort her.  I was imagining the worst, blood everywhere, a huge lump, black eye, something.  It took me about a minute and a half to find, measure, and give her some Tylenol, which calmed her down immediately.  I looked all over her head for a mark and couldn't find one!  I was still concerned, so "Mama called the doctor..."

Well, the doctor didn't answer, but the nurse, after asking a few questions, said that I didn't need to bring her in, but just to watch her for any abnormal behavior, sleepiness, bleeding, vomiting, or any other strange symptom.  I also needed to check her every thirty minutes during her nap to be sure I could get her to stir, and every two hours during the night.

By the time I got off the phone with the nurse, Madison had a mark on her little face:

Also at the nurse's suggestion, I put ice a frozen bag of corn on it as much as Madison would allow.  This was her first real experience with "cold", so her curiosity kept me from being able to leave it on for long.  She's been acting completely normal, and stirred just fine all night, so we're supposed to be in the clear now.

From what I could tell in her early morning feeding, the mark is gone now.  I should say the mark on her head is gone.  The one on my conscience is as dark as ever.  No, I'm not digging for encouragement here; I know it could have happened to anyone, it was bound to happen eventually, she'll be fine, all that great stuff.  I still feel like I didn't protect her like I should have.

Does anyone know a good place to buy baby-sized bubbles?
-Kelli

*Update: Madison does still have a mark on her head.  The area is a little swollen, and the faint red line in the picture from last night is now a greyish purple.  Poor baby.