Party crashing

So far July has been a busy month for birthdays and celebrations and this weekend was no different. On Saturday morning, I was honored with a brunch along with my fellow pregnant friend Jessie by our playgroup mamas. It was a nice way to kick off the weekend and get a little fun time away from the kids, and I appreciate these ladies more and more every year. Being the next one up is a little daunting, but as I've seen over the past couple of months, each second time labor has its own unique story and challenge. Some have been easier, but mostly, I think they're just different which is something I'm trying to keep in mind as the days dwindle by. Later that day, we were off to celebrate another milestone for a playgroup family: Monica and Humphrey's one year anniversary at the Douglaston Club in Long Island. It was during their son Bix's birthday party last summer that I learned about Humphrey's colon cancer and the swift treatment he would begin to beat it. He and Monica decided to marry right away which didn't leave lots of time to organize a party obviously. But this summer, they more than made up for it with a gorgeous celebration of their life together and the news that Humphrey is cancer-free. In fact, he will soon be taking part in the PAN-MASS challenge, a bike ride across Massachusetts to raise money for cancer research. I can't think of a better reason to toast them and eat some fabulous cake...

The club was a beautiful setting for the whole affair and the kids had the run of a game room downstairs, complete with an old fashioned three-lane bowling alley and video arcade. Of course, mostly they just wanted to dance in the entry hall where the speakers were set up and so we did lots of that to keep the party going. The atmosphere was fun and lively and Nacho and I both enjoyed chatting with the couple's friends and family. It was a perfectly relaxing evening until the sound of a loud crash jolted me out of my seat in the dining room. I'd been sitting there winding down from the long day while Elisa and her friends paraded in and out of the room with toys and left again to dance. There were lots of parents around with kids so I didn't feel that she was bothering anyone and lately, she seems to hold her own with conversations so I figured she would come back to us when she needed something. But the epic boom from the hallway just sounded like disaster and by the time I rounded the doorway, I could hear a familiar wail beginning. Another mom was scooping Elisa up and looking frantically around for someone--anyone--to take her. I was there in seconds, but still there was that pang of guilt for not being there. I didn't see what happened and as I took Elisa into my arms and tried to assess the damage, it was hard to tell with the shards of glass everywhere and the overturned radiator cover what exactly had hit her in the head. But there it was: the goose egg bump to set my pulse racing and Elisa was inconsolable while people rushed to and fro getting me bags of ice that she wouldn't let me get near her head. It's the worst kind of helplessness to know what needs to be done, but to have a child who won't cooperate for fear of more pain. It's heartbreaking really. But within minutes it was clear there were no other lesions or bumps so my only problem was assessing the one staring back at me. It was giant and purple and I really didn't know if she would start vomiting or have a seizure or what. But thankfully, by the time we called an ambulance (our first!) both of us were calming down and the decision to go have her checked out at a nearby hospital was made.

It's never easy to know in the heat of the moment if you are doing the right thing medically when it feels like there are a thousand choices and still doing nothing would probably turn out okay. Why is that? Yet part of me was also reflecting on the sudden passing of a thirty-something coworker of Nacho's that died last week after hitting her head in the shower. She fell into a coma and died 4 days later. Stuff like that just snaps you out of your life for a second when you realize how absolutely devastating something so trivial can be. Still it's always good to be the parent of the most jovial child in the ER which we definitely were last night. Elisa was a champ through the whole thing and didn't fuss at all through the exam. She really impressed me by listening and doing exactly what was asked which was a small silver lining to the entire ordeal. We were in and out of LIJ in just over an hour (a miracle by any standard) and the doctor was very reassuring that he didn't feel anything to indicate a fracture under the swelling. So we kept a close eye on her last night and today she woke up with a much smaller purple bump and nothing else. Considering how much fun she had dancing the night away at the party, I'm sure it was much less traumatic for her. But for this pregnant momma, I think I'll take the rest of the week to recover from the adrenaline rush and just hope that the next hospital I'm in gives me a new baby to take home!