Bad Things Happen All At Once

Last Monday, I decided I better go up to the clinic to see about my leg!  It had actually started to hurt the friday before but not enough to worry about.  Since I have a blood clotting disorder, Factor Five Ladien, I am prone to getting blood clots.  My first clot was in my left leg when I was pregnant with Emry, it turned out to be superficial, but still really hurt.  When I found out I was pregnant with Calum I was tested for Factor Five Ladien, because my mom and sister both have it, the chance I too had it was very high.  I tested positive for both genes.  Throughout my pregnancy with Calum I had to take a daily dose of fragmin injected into my tummy, which Jared did very willingly for me!  I got through that whole pregnancy without any clots, the fragmin really worked!  Two weeks after Armin was born I noticed a red spot on the inside of my right leg just above my ankle, it was tender to touch and quite warm.  It turned out to be a superficial blood clot, after following up with an ultra sound.  I continued taking fragmin, which I had been taking throughout my pregnancy again.  Two days after my fragmin was finished I noticed a red spot on the inside of my left leg, just above my ankle.  By the time I went into the clinic last Monday, the red spot had spread all the way up to the middle of my thigh and was extremely painful.  The doctor was pretty sure it was only superficial but wanted to make sure with an ultra sound that was to be scheduled for the next day.  The next day, being Tuesday, came and I was so proud of myself for being showered and dressed before 9 am, just in case the clinic called and said my appointment would be that morning!  I am getting to the part where bad things happen all at once!  

Armin was so alert that morning and was so content to just lay where ever I put him and look around.  When I put him on the living room floor Calum instantly saw him and came running over, I scooped Armin up before Calum could and moved over to the pool table to organize my purse and make sure I had enough diapers and other baby supplies I would need when Armin and I went for my ultra sound.  I needed both hands to do this task so I laid Armin down in the middle of the pool table on top of his blanket, he again was so content looking all around.  I realized I was missing something in my purse and remembered it was in our room on the desk, I ran in there to get it thinking Armin would be safe where he was, he isn't rolling and Calum can't reach him, or so I thought.  The next minute happened so fast, I heard this horrible thump which honestly sounded like something being crumbled.  As I came out of our room I was blasted with Armin's blood curdling scream.  I was only steps away and didn't even hear Calum until it was too late.  Calum was able to reach the blanket Armin was laying on, and being the curious little boy he is, he pulled it to see what was on it, unfortunately it was Armin.  When I picked Armin up his blanket was still under him, so I think Calum pulled the blanket over enough and then tried to grab Armin as if to hold him, couldn't quite do it and ended up dropping little Armin.  When I picked him up he was still crying but instantly turned very pale, almost grey.  I ran up and asked Myrna what I should do and she took him for a second to get a better look and instantly told me to take him to Emergency.  The bump on his head was nasty, it looked like a goose egg near the back on the right side but also swelled in a line like shape over his ear to the front of his head.  He was still crying while I was putting him in his car seat and while Myrna said a little prayer for us.  He did fall asleep on the way to Vulcan but woke up when the nurse took him out of his seat and checked his vitals.  The crying was never more welcomed than it was that day.  He had to have a x-ray done and it did show a fracture, the doctor wanted a more comprehensive test done to see if there was any bleeding or bruising on his brain so he sent us to the Children's hospital in Calgary for a CT scan.  He said it would be better there than in High River because they turn the radiation down very low to reduce the risk of children developing cancer.  They sent us up on an ambulance, my first ride in one, and wow was it ever bumpy.  Armin slept the whole way and only opened his eyes when we would go over the really bad bumps!  This entire time his vitals remained normal and he would wake up easily and nurse when he was hungry.  

Once we got to the Children's hospital they checked him over again and took some blood, we didn't wait too long before he had his CT scan.  I was able to stand right beside him while the scan was done, I was actually able to keep my hand on his chest as he moved in and out of the machine.  He fell asleep while the 2 and a half minute scan went on, I think it was a combination of the way he was swaddled, the whirring noise of the camera spinning around his head and the back and forth movement of the bed.  

The blood work came back good and the CT scan was all clear, we were able to go home, the only concern now is to watch the fracture to make sure it fuses together, but we won't know until his soft spot on top of his head closes, so around 12 to 18 months.  The nurses both in Vulcan and at the Children's hospital were worried about the clot in my leg, and the cuimadin the doctor gave me the night before, there is a chance of that type of blood thinner going into the breast milk and if Armin was bleeding internally the cuimadin could make him bleed more.  Thankfully he had no bleeding and it usually takes 3 days before that blood thinner makes it into your system.  

Before Vulcan sent us up to the Children's hospital, the doctor assured me that the ambulance would be able to bring us back to Vulcan if we were able to come home that night.  I told Jared not to come up, when we were discharged the nurse asked me if I had someone coming to pick us up and I told her the ambulance would take us back to Vulcan, she gave me a little laugh and said ambulances do not take people home!  Thankfully my dad lives in Calgary and had just gotten home from being on the road.  He came and picked us up and told Armin to tell Calum if they want to see Grandpa Glen just call and he will come down, we don't have to make a special trip to the hospital just to see him!  

All in all everything turned out good, except for me feeling completely stupid for not thinking.  Calum felt pretty bad, when he saw me crying after I picked Armin up he came over to me and patted my shoulder and said "okay, mama?"  Even after I left the house with Armin Myrna said he came over and sat with her and was pretty sad, he would say, "Armin broke head."  When Jared told Emry that night where Armin and I were, she asked "Why would someone put him on the pool table?"  Jared informed me that even a six year old knows better than to put a baby up high!  I am thankful I have kids to keep me in line!  I am thankful everything turned out fine, Armin is never beyond arms reach and never left up high.  Oh, and my blood clot again is superficial, the reason it is so painful though, the vein has a solid clot from my ankle all the way up the middle of my thigh!  I will forever be on blood thinners now.

I am also so thankful for Myrna and for her being so close when things like this happen, I am also thankful for her insight to have said the little prayer she did before we left, I truly felt calmer and I knew we were being watched over.  I am thankful for my mom meeting us in Vulcan and sitting with me while the doctors decided what to do, and for bringing me lunch and lending me her cell phone!  And I am thankful for my dad for bringing us all the way back to Vulcan at 10 o'clock that night after being on the road for the last two weeks!   I am thankful I have such wonderful parents, two sets to be exact, who are willing to do anything for their children!