Blood-phobics, beware....

Now don't say I didn't warn you....this post contains blood and lots of it, so there, you've been warned.


So last night, I was headed out on a date with my husband for the first time since.....
well, I really have no idea how long it has been since we've been on a date. So I had dropped my urchins off at my (STILL) best friend Hannah's house, with some considerable guilt since she had already had a long week with her husband out of town. But she assured me that it was fine and that I should go get dolled up and have fun.

So I dolled up and we had just gotten to the restaurant when H calls with

"Now, everything is fine, but..."

and before she got the "but" I had turned white and my heart dropped into my shoes.

"The paramedics are on their way..."

I thought my heart had already hit my shoes but it did a double flip flop bungee drop spectacular....because H is no wimp, so paramedics means REAL. BAD.

The two calls I made to H while Hubby drove like a maniac in heavy traffic to their house were fuzzy, even the one when I spoke to the EMT who told me that Charleigh was resting calmly and the bleeding had stopped.

Apparently, my enterprising four year old was trying to slide down their back-yard slide and wanted her hands free, so she stuck the YARD STICK, that's right...the stick that measures things and is three feet, into her mouth. Since Chuck is vertically challenged and only aspires to three feet, the stick reached the bottom of the slide before she did, only to jam into the back of her throat resulting in ...you guessed it...

copious amounts of blood.

Think, crime scene.

Unable to verify the extent of the bleeding or even really, the source, H did what any smart, babysitting person would do at the time...she reached her bloody hand up and made a bloody phone call to the soon to be bloody EMTs.

They were fantastic, according to H, and soon had her calm and nicely settled on the couch with a new, pink teddy bear. By the time we arrived, they were all just hanging out, and Chuck, though a little big around the eyes...make that, a little BIGGER around the eyes, was just fine. The scrape/puncture/boo boo extraordinaire looked much better and obviously, didn't even warrant a trip to the ER.

After Robb verified her safety and the EMTs had their paperwork signed, he exercised his anxiety by cleaning up the blood and examining the scene of the fall. When everyone had been debriefed...including Mattie, who admitted that the amount of blood had her worried that Charleigh would die of blood loss, we packed it up and headed for home, comfy PJs, a shot of Tylenol for Chucky, and something a little stronger for Mom and Dad.

(and also for H)

*sigh*