My Baby Has a Black Eye

Well, yesterday was quite the day. It was Rosh Hashanah, so Daniel had the day off. We decided to finally tackle our bedroom walls and get rid of that lavender paint once and for all (seriously, lavender?).

We got everything all ready and put Aubrey on the floor with some toys outside our room. We also took a full-length, unframed mirror (which we plan to hang on the wall after we paint) and propped it against the wall outside our door. This not only got it out of our way but also made a nice distraction for Aubrey, who loves looking in the mirror. Daniel even propped it up nice and straight for her so she could really see into it.

Oh, for the record, the mirror looks like this:

See those sharp edges? Yeah, you can probably see where this is going.

The worst thing is, I even had that nagging thought, "Maybe we shouldn't put this out here with her. She might knock it over onto herself and get hurt." But did I listen? No. Instead, I rationalized, "Well, we'll watch her and make sure she doesn't get too close to it." And actually, I did watch her, and she never went near it. Ironically, she'd have been better off if she had. If she had knocked it over herself, it probably would have landed on her and bonked her head or something. I don't think she would have been cut by it. But as fate would have it, she was just about exactly the length of the mirror away. Bad news.

You see, Aubrey started to get fussy awhile into our painting. It was getting to be nap time. So I decided to leave Daniel to finish the room while I handled Aubrey. Only I'd stepped in some paint and needed to clean off my foot before I walked all over the carpet. So I hopped to the bathroom, grabbed a wipe, and started scrubbing my foot. But Aubrey was really sad, so I decided to sit by her while I cleaned my foot off. I plopped myself down by her and talked to her reassuringly, and once the paint was off, I pulled myself up by the door frame. And in the process I somehow--I still don't really know how--bumped into the propped-up mirror ever so slightly. And because it was propped up so straight, it never stood a chance.

I heard a thud and then instant crying. I turned around to see Aubrey lying there with the mirror next to her and blood all over her face. It was the most horrible moment. I could tell that the corner of the mirror had just caught her on the face, but I had no idea what part of her face was hurt or how badly. I hurried and grabbed her from the ground and shouted, "Aubrey! Oh my gosh, Aubrey!" in such a way that Daniel knew something was really wrong. He came running out of our room, saw the blood, and sprinted downstairs to the kitchen. I followed, holding Aubrey tightly to me (and getting blood all over my shirt). Daniel grabbed a paper towel, and I held it to her face for a second, pulled it away to see what was actually bleeding, and discovered that there was a small cut under her eye and big gash across her nose. I held the towel there to stop the bleeding while Aubrey just screamed. It was awful.

I instantly burst into tears and kept apologizing to Aubrey and telling her I loved her. Daniel, much more calm than I, was quick-thinking and remembered to give her a Priesthood blessing. That helped calm me a little bit, and I thought to give her some infant's Tylenol. We then made some phone calls and ended up at our pediatrician's office (where we had never been before... what a great first impression!).

Long story short, Aubrey's eye was okay (SO grateful for this), but they weren't sure if her nose needed stitches--it was right on the border--so they sent us to the E.R. in Providence. We were there for four hours or so (ugh), but thankfully Aubrey didn't need stitches. They iced her nose (she was NOT a fan) and then put Dermabond on it. The doctor said she has "perfect skin," so it should heal well and not scar. We're really hoping it doesn't. 

In the end, it ended up not being too bad an injury. The cut looked better and better as time went on and it stopped bleeding. But just a little to the right, and our baby could have been blinded or lost her eye or something equally awful. And the amazing sweetheart that she is, she only cried for the first ten minutes or so after it happened, and then she was sweet and happy again. Man, I love her.

Now it's the first day after the injury, and the cuts are looking okay. But Aubrey now has a little black eye. I can't decide if I think it's pitiful or hardcore. Either way, we feel like awesome parents.