Monday, July 12, 2010

My sad-making mommy moment

I was going to try to finish a project this afternoon but then I experienced a terrible and sad-making mommy moment. I put my eight-month-old son in the middle of my bed and then bent over to put on my shoes. Two seconds later (at least it felt like two, and it couldn't have been much more) he fell with a horrible thud onto the floor. He hit his mouth on the sideboard on his way down and his little bottom tooth poked a baby-sized hole in the space between his upper lip and his gums. I swear there is no sound more horrible than that of your injured baby. And is there anything worse than the sight of your baby's blood? I feel like a terrible mommy even though I know that all babies get hurt at least once. I managed to stay calm so I didn't upset him any more than he already was. After all the ministrations I could think of he finally calmed down and probably began to wonder why I was letting him eat more Gerber puffs than usual while getting to watch some TV.

The waterworks finally started when my husband came home from work and I had to tell him about the accident. Being the wonderful man that he is he didn't judge, blame, or get angry, but he did give me a much-needed hug. The little guy is all tucked away in bed now and you can't even tell he has a hole in his mouth. Being a mommy sure is hard stuff.

I can't help but wonder if there is a section in the baby books for first accident. There probably should be. I would take a picture to remind myself to be more careful if he would let me hold up his lip for more than a millisecond.  

1 comment:

Emily said...

Dagny, this same thing happened to me with my little brother. He was a newborn and I brought him into my room to get something. I guess I set him too close to the edge of my bed, because he rolled over and thudded on the ground. Worst. Guilt. Ever. But he turned out all right, great in fact. Scary though, and I totally understand how you felt!