A trip to hospital (A bad mama moment)

Sunday started off as such a lovely day, we had a nice big breakfast had a bit of a lazy morning and then we went for a family swim at the pool.

It was really hot even by mid afternoon so Arthur and I were playing in his room with the Air Con on we had a really nice hour or so.

I then for some reason I will never really no let him play on the bed, his play mat had been put on there as Mark had been cleaning the floor (he’s a keeper!) and rather than move it back i left it up there.

As with every house here I know all the floors are tiled, it helps to keep the house cool and its easy to clean with all the sand and dust but it isn’t baby friendly at all.

I’m sure you can see it coming, Arthur fell off the bed.  The sound of him hitting the floor made me feel sick to my stomach.  I ran to him and grabbed him.  Initially he screamed but once I had him cuddled up he went really quiet.  I grabbed Mark and we got a few things together for Arthur and went up to the hospital.

He had a bump on his head and it bruised straight away, being so quiet made us think he had a concussion so we were desperately trying to keep him awake in the car.  Of course we were stuck behind the slowest driver ever who was literally stopping and waving to everyone he saw.

In the car I broke down crying I think, I think it was because I gave myself a second to realise how awful it was that I let this happen to our baby.  I started thinking that Mark was going to hate me because i’d let it happen and of course I was extremely worried that there was real damage to our little guy.

At the hospital there was hardly anyone around and you could see everyone really had that Sunday feeling, no urgency  all the nurses were sat around watching local TV (showing what can only be described as the Seychelles version of songs of praise).

We didn’t have to wait long at all to see the doctor which i was impressed with.  His English was not good and it was difficult to communicate with him but he figured out that Arthur had a fall and hit his head.  He shone a big torch in his eyes (like a torch you would take down into a basement not a little doctors one) and asked if he had been sick (he hadn’t).

The doctor then grabbed the book that said ‘paying patients’ on it, I felt like he was excited to fill this in.  He said Arthur was fine but he was going to keep him in for 4 hours to observe him.  We were taken to the children’s ward which had one little girl in who was clearly quite poorly.  We sat there with Arthur the nurse eventually came looking a little annoyed that we had made her miss some of her tv.  She asked us if he had a temperature we said we hadn’t taken it so off she shuffled to get a thermometer.  He didn’t have a temperature.  She gave him some medicine for any pain he may have from the bump.

After an hour it was time that Arthur would normally have his dinner and we had nothing like that with us.  We asked if he could have food the doctor said no not for 4 hours, the nurse corrected him and said 2 hours will be fine.  Mark drove home and got a bottle for him so we would have it ready when he could have it.  We decided we would just give him milk and see how he got on with that.

By the time we had been there for 2 hours I went out and said Arthur was hungry and asked if I could I feed him.  The doctor then said we could go home.  After some confusion it was determined we would have to pay 800sr (around 40 quid) for our 2 hours in the hospital.  I can’t help but feel a little ripped off, I know we had piece of mind which of course is amazing but I am not really sure where that figure came from (the cynic in me thinks maybe it covered the next months TV costs so they could watch more songs of praise!)

Arthur settled down very quickly for bed, it was an hour past his usual bed time so this wasn’t a surprise.

Although I was relieved that Arthur was safe I couldn’t relax.  I checked on him continuously through the night and spent the whole time just beating myself up about what a crap mum I was that this had happened.

Mark was amazing through it all and kept me calm and reassured me that I’m not crap!  I also got lots of lovely support off my parents the next day and from lots of my lovely twitter friends who all confirmed that this had happened to them in some shape or form with their babies.

I am still feeling pretty crappy about the whole thing but Arthur is fine, just a little bruise on his head.  I think its a lesson that had to happen and a reminder that I will always have to stay on my toes with Arthur.

23 thoughts on “A trip to hospital (A bad mama moment)

  1. Oh bless you! We’ve all done something like this or similar. In my daughters first year she fell off the bed twice and down the stairs once. With the stairs she had just started walking, I put her down to toddle into the bathroom but she turned and threw herself at the steps. It was horrific but she was fine. You’re not a bad mother, you’re human. The fact that you care so much proves how good of a mother you are.

  2. How awful for you, I can just image how terrible you felt! But it is true, everyone, at some point drops the baby somehow. A few weeks ago my little lady fell off the sofa for the first time and I felt terrible. It was the first time she’d fallen off anything, and I was the first of me and my husband to “drop” her which made me feel even worse. I confessed to my sister in law and was surprised to hear that something similar had happened with both her children. Although I didn’t feel any less guilty, it was a small relief to know that it really does happen to everyone at some point!

    • Thank you so much for your comment, it really has made me feel better knowing it’s not just me that this had happened too!! I totally agree that knowing you were the first one out of you and your husband does seem to make it all worse too!! X

  3. Awww sweetie no way are you a bad mum. The fact that you feel so bad about it shows how much you care and how much of a lovely mum you are. We have all been there my lovely. I’m glad he is doing good, everything always seems so much worse than it is. I felt really bad when my son got chicken pox as I knocked one of his scabs off while giving him a hug and it scarred, and when my daughter tripped over my son and I couldn’t catch her before she fell on a wooden aeroplane that was in her way. She had a massive graze on her chin it looked awful. Keep smiling knowing your beautiful boy is ok and he will never remember it xxxxx

      • Right back at you 😘. It’s so lovely to know there are other mums out their that think and feel the way I do. I don’t really have any real life mum friends that I see day to day as left them behind when I moved but love I have a little network through social media. Feel very lucky to be in touch with you x

    • Thank you Hun! When I look at it now it really does feel like it was just a matter of time until something like that happened, let’s hope Toby can avoid it for as long as possible (preferably forever!) x

  4. I missed this also but i put my hand up i’ve done this too! And loads of other stuff. Once i didn’t put the brake of F’s pushchair properly and it rolled off a step and went over right onto his head – it was horrendous!
    Babies are made of harder stuff than you think though and i’m so glad Arthur was ok xx

    • Thank you 🙂
      It’s a bit sick but I do feel better from knowing other people have done the same!!
      I have to say I was surprised at how calm he was about it all after the initial noise it was me that was hysterical!!! X

  5. The night after Little z leaned to crawl (at 8 months), he woke at night and wanted a feed. I stuck him in our bed whilst I went to make a bottle and he was looking at me wide eyed. I made it halfway down the stairs and hear a massive thud and then very loud crying. He’d flipped over and crawled straight off the bed banging his face on the floorboards and bleeding through his nose. We rushed him to A&E and I felt so bad but he was completely fine by the time I got there. It’s just one of those things unfortunately that sometimes happen and I’m really glad Arthur is fine too although sounds like the service wasn’t 100% fantastic in hospital. You’re a brilliant mummy. They know how to keep us on our toes don’t they?

    • Thank you so much for your comment!! They certainly do know how to keep us on our toes the little monkeys 🙂
      Poor little Z falling off like that! It is amazing how quick they get over it, the next day Arthur was on the bed again and tried to do the same thing (he was much more heavily supervised this time obviously) but clearly he’s not scared or bothered by it at all!!!

  6. Pingback: 8 months | seychellesmama

  7. To make you feel better, the first time I cut T’s nails at a few weeks old I cut the end of his thumb off – Clear cut it off with the clippers. It poured and poured with blood and he screamed like I was killing him. I have never been so upset in my life! Thankfully it healed ok but I haven’t cut his nails since! What I’m trying to say is – These things happen 🙂 x

  8. Oh, I’m only just catching up on this. I’m so sorry you had to go through that, it is horrid the first time they injure themselves and you do feel awful, but it happens to everyone in some shape or form. The first time it happened to me, I had my husband rush home from work because I was so upset I was shaking and crying and couldn’t function properly. As a parent you wish you could take their pain. xx

    • Awww thank you Carin it really is awful isn’t it! If Mark hadn’t of been here I would have done exactly the same as you!!
      You definitely would do anything to take their pain, a sign of true love!!! Xx

  9. Molly once fell off the bed and it was awful! She cried and cried and then suddenly stopped. I was so scared. She was quickly back to normal but I think it stayed with me for much longer. I was sat right with her and yet she somehow still managed to fall, she can move so fast and there was nothing I can do. Luckily they are stronger than we think. Glad your little one wasn’t seriously hurt. xxx

  10. Oh bless you. That must have been so scary. Potato dived head first off his changing table at 6 months old. I have no idea how he managed it, as I was right there. He dived through my arms, which failed to catch him, and caught his face on the drawer on his way down, landing on the top if his head. I was in the car and on the way to A&E in minutes. I remembered to change slippers for trainers, but still had my apron on when I got there. 10 mins later, Potato was flirting with the pretty nurses and running up and down the hospital corridors!
    You are not a bad mamma xxxxx

  11. Pingback: Being a Seychelles mama 0-8 months (the harder bits) | seychellesmama

  12. Pingback: Being a Seychelles mama 0-8 months (the harder bits) - SeychellesmamaSeychellesmama

Leave a reply to Carin Cancel reply