We knew it was coming...

Our first ER trip, that is.

Let's face it. I've got two very active boys who play hard all the time, and don't have the common sense to know what will hurt them. So far we've gotten away with scrapes, cuts, goose eggs and bruises too numerous to count, and one bad fall out of a camper. Many times I've worried that someone is ready to report us at any time for the abuse these two appear to have suffered. But so far, none of it neede more than, time, love, and a band-aid.

Until this morning.

I was washing the sheets to our bed, so all of the covers were in a pile next to the footboard. Dan and I were getting ready to take food to a friend with a new baby, and Max and Luke were playing on the bed. All was proceeding as normal until a blood-curdling scream erupted from my oldest child. Even that is not unusual in the slightest. What was unusual was the a large amount of swelling right between his eyes. It turns out that he was trying to climb up on the bed using the comforter as a step stool. He slipped, and crashed face-first on the foot board of the bed. Within seconds of his fall, the deep blue swelling appeared and my heart lurched. It was hard to tell where it all was starting, and I feared a broken nose. (Although, looking back, I realize that that would have been accompanied by a large amount of bleeding, most likely.)

Dan and I did the thing that all parents do - one held Max while the other hopped on Google while dialing the pediatrician. Both suggested that an ER trip was in order, so off we went.

By the time we arrived at the hospital, Max was acting as perky as ever, and said that it didn't hurt that bad. We decided to have him seen anyway, just to make sure. With the help of very kind Nurse Chris and fantastic Dr. Trueworthy (seriously his name!), Max got the all clear. The verdict? A badly bruised frontal head bone. An inch lower and we would have had a majorly broken nose, but we lucked out. Since he had no loss of consciousness, no nausea, no alteration of his personality (other than the fact that he was sweeter than usual), we were free to go without any further treatment.

Over the next few days Max will have some swelling, and more bruising. The poor little bridge of his nose resembles a Klingon, and I'm sure we'll see a lovely rainbow of colors as the bruising heals. But in about the smoothest way possible, he broke us into the world of the ER.

Hopefully it's a world we don't become too familiar with over the next few years. That's one frequent flier card I don't want.