Disaster Strikes

A week ago Saturday I was enjoying a wonderful play at the Children's Theatre just up the highway a bit. My husband, my daughter (for whom the play trip was most beneficial), my infant son, and I were all there, enjoying ourselves. I took Baby into the cry room to feed him. The seating area was up a few steps, so up I went, happily nursing and rocking my little guy. When he was done, I stood up to go rejoin the rest of the family. Silly me. I took my first step and noticed that the stair lights were not working. I tried to feel my way, but to no avail. I fell hard, clutching the little guy to my chest, heard my bones crack, and fell on my back.

Once we were on the ground, the baby rolled off my chest and onto the ground, where he wailed. Thankfully, someone picked him up. I was a bit pre-occupied. I was lying on my back, holding my thigh up with my left hand, and my right hand was holding my calf, which was angled out at 90 degrees. Here's the funny thing: the firemen and EMTs were telling me that it looked not so good because of the swelling. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Seriously... the swelling was what caused concern, not my leg heading to the right with the rest of me headed to the left? C'mon. After the fact, Michelle (who gets a tribute here in a sec) told me that no one wanted to worry me by pointing out the obvious. That's pretty funny.

Michelle is my new hero. Steve was being a fabulous daddy, shepherding our children away from the disaster scene and calming fears. I wanted him to do that. But this other mommy, Michelle, made sure that her little son was taken care of, then stayed with me, holding my hand, letting me rest my head on her lap, and helping me hold up my thigh. She stuck it out until I was carted off to the hospital. She even laughed with me as I was bummed about their having to cut off my K Swiss shoes, shoes I have wanted since Kristin had them in 7th grade, and finally bought for myself this winter! I'm such a consumer. We talked about all sorts of random things, and we even laughed! We have a date for ice cream once I'm more mobile.

So now I'm coping with the aftermath: children who miss time with mommy, being very dependent on others (thank God for Mom's visit!), dragging my sorry ass across flat surfaces with the help of a granny walker, and other issues. All these must be saved for another post. Oh, and the fact that the baby seems to react badly to all solid foods except for rice cereal. Can you tell I'm in a bad mood? Let's hope my mood turns upward very soon. I'm remembering that lots of people have much worse injuries, and cope cheerfully for years on end. That's the kind of person I want to be. I'll get there, eventually.