First Stitches

Well, there's a first time for everything, I guess. Alex got his first set of stitches last Thursday. Thankfully he was not seriously injured. It might have been as traumatic for Mommy as it was for him...


The story:
I was at home with all three boys in the middle of day last Thursday. It was between lunchtime and naptime, when everyone is really wound up and needing a rest. The big boys were getting really crazy inside and started chasing each other. Running in the house is NOT something we allow, but if you are a parent, you know that kids forget such rules on occasion...

Anyway, Alex ran past me into his room and the next thing I heard was glass shattering and he screamed for me. I have never had a more frightening moment than that one! When I came around the corner, he was in the flower bed outside his room and the window was broken. He had gone right through it like a rocket. I reached right through the window and pulled him back inside so I could check him over, trying really hard to stay calm and not upset him. Thankfully he did not have any cuts on his face or other obvious places, so I was already thankful. I put the little boys in safe places (their cribs) so I could thoroughly check Alex for cuts. He had a single deep cut on his wrist so I called Jason immediately. I'd like to say I was calm, but I wasn't. Jason was very calm (as always) and talked me through examining it. He determined on the phone that it was not serious enough for immediate attention, but he would come home from work in an hour and check on it. I was utterly amazed that Alex did not have any other injuries. He had a big scratch across his tummy from when he went through the window, but he was wearing a double layered shirt that protected him from a deep cut. I am thankful he won the clothing battle that morning and wore the shirt he picked out. =)

This is a picture of his window. X marks the spot where he went through.

There are so many reasons to be thankful in the midst of such a scary day.... I am not sure what happened when Alex actually went through the window. He probably tripped, but I am not sure. In any case, he must have gone through in just the right way to avoid serious injury. He must have landed just the right way on the ground to also avoid injury. He was wearing long jeans and a thick shirt, both of which protected his body from serious cuts. Ultimately, I believe God completely protected him. We pray every night for God to keep our boys safe and healthy (along with a laundry list of other requests for them =), and we believe God answered our prayer that day. God was merciful to help me through a very scary few moments and gave me grace to stay calm and care for ALL of my boys that day.

Needless to say, hearing shattering glass and finding a kid outside a broken window is NOT on my list of things to experience again. I know that with a house full of boys there will be plenty of injuries, but I'm not quite ready for them yet. I'm guessing five stitches is a warm up for the years to come...Consider this as a request for y'all to join us in praying for protection for our active little boys! =)

Thank you, Dear Target, for providing an inexpensive solution to avoiding this problem again.