Diagnosis: Foreign Body

Hands: BOTH
Feet: BOTH
Leg: BOTH

or so the docs at Children's Hospital told us. August 29, 2007 goes in the baby book at Abbie's first trip to the emergency room.

What?!

So here's the story. Grandma and Grandpa Farley have come to visit. It's a lovely late afternoon / early evening here in Seattle so we're out on the deck having some water and a snack. Abbie is showing off and performing all of her tricks: she's scooting very carefully across the deck, something she has done without incident before, and she's going up and down the stairs with the assistance of Mommy. We have a towel for her to play on, but she'd prefer to scoot around on the deck. Well, at the conclusion of the scooting Grandma asked if her leg way OK because it appeared to be sort of scratched-up. Since Mommy is used to the scooting callous that Abbie gets, Mommy assured Grandma that Abbie's leg was fine. Well, upon closer inspection Mommy realized that Abbie had splinters in her leg. After getting the needle and alcohol pads and attempting to extract the first splinter Mommy realizes there are more than a dozen splinters in Abbie. There is no way Mommy can extract all (or even any of them.)

What happens if one leaves fairly shallow splinters in a baby's leg? According to the on-call nurse they fester and baby loses her leg. (OK, maybe Mommy is paraphrasing here and the nurse actually said something like they could get infected) but either way the splinters must be removed.

Daddy, who's not answering his phone, gets a text message, 'Call me need 2 go 2 childrens.' We make arrangements to pick him up on the way to hospital.

Abbie, who's already been to visit her pediatrician that day for her 15 month appointment and two shots, is not pleased to be back for more health care. She's in no distress from the splinters, but is screaming when the registrar puts an ID band on her leg and when the nurse listens to her heartbeat and checks in her ears, and takes her temperature (with a dealy that rests on her forehead momentarily), and when the social worker collects the paperwork, and when the other nurse brings a blanket so Abbie and Mommy can cuddle.

Oh, and if you think the hospital has special splinter-removal tools, you are mistaken. It's a needle and tweezers. But they do have access to special numbing gel. And latex gloves which can be blown up into a 'bah' with fingers and used to distract Abbie.

Well three hours later we left the hospital with a very tired little girl with substantially fewer foreign bodies in her system; grandparents very glad to have brought their books with them, and a tired Mommy and Daddy. Now we just need to wash and dry the affected area and put an antiseptic gel on her leg to prevent infection.

Abbie is not allowed to leave the house in anything less than footie jammies with gloves. At least until she learns to walk.