Ainsley's Accident

Roxanne asked me to write the details to explain what happened to Ainsley.

Thursday night after going to bed we were awakened around 11:30 or so at night to the sound of Ainsley crying. We waited for a few minutes to see if it persisted and she stopped crying. Any one who has been a parent knows that not all cries in the middle of the night mean danger so assuming all was well we went back to sleep.

The next morning all was normal. I woke up around 5:30 am ... no noise. Later, Aubs, Walker and Mavs woke up and the morning proceeded as normal. As I was preparing to leave to work Roxanne asked Aubrey to go get Ainsley. I heard Aubrey yell for Roxanne and then heard Roxanne scream.

Our crib had been through 4 kids and several moves from BYU to apartments to homes, etc.. Over the years of setting up, packing up, etc.. the crib had taken it's fair share of beatings. The gate of the crib (as you are looking at it ... the part that slides up and down ... ) was missing a pin on the lower right hand corner. it was loose. Not enough that we ever imagined in our wildest dreams that our child could slip down there but .... that's exactly what happened.

During the night Ainsley had somehow slipped between the frame of the crib and the frame of the bed. When Aubrey found her she was on her hands and knees ... asleep (amazingly), but her head was wedged between the crib frame and the bed frame.

We pulled her out. She had some deep impressions on her head from the metal bed frame and scrapes and bruises. Her ear looked to have taken the most damage as it was folded over flat against her head and was bright red.

Ainsley, however, seemed fine, notwithstanding, and we didn't take serious alarm at first. She wasn't even crying at all. We took her downstairs to observe her. We were cognizant of the accident that has been plastered across the news of actress Natasha Richardson passing away after a head trauma following a minor skiing accident, so we decided to take her to an urgent care center not far from our house, prepared to demand a CAT scan. I followed Roxanne in my car assuming that I would show moral support for a short doctors visit and then make my way to work.

When we got out at the urgent care center we noticed that a lump half the size of at baseball had formed over her right ear, with her ear ballooning to double in size. Fearing the worst, we raced off to the ER. Her head on both sides (where the small marks originally appeared) had swollen to unimaginable dimensions. We rushed over to the ER, a mere 5 minutes away, and even upon our arrival to that location the swelling still continued.
They told us that she was a number one priority, so they raced Roxanne and Ainsley off to the bed, took the vitals and were soon ready for the CAT scan. We bundled her up and restrained her (they can't move during the scan.) This was probably the worst scene of the them all. Roxanne tried to sing to Ainsley to calm her down long enough for the scan, so she tried to sing I am a Child of God, but it was too high (and for a mom was crying there was not a lot of range left) instead all she could think of was "Popcorn Popping" to which Ainsley looked at her mom like she was crazy. It worked. She was too busy looking at her mom strangely to make any movement.
Of all the anxious moments for me, I think waiting for the results of the CAT scan were the worst. We were relieved after waiting for awhile in the ER to see a clean scan come back ... fortunately no fractures, pressure on the brain, or broken bones. However her face and ear were almost unrecognizable at this point.

Ainsley had a second degree burn on her ear ... probably from rubbing her ear while struggling to get out. Blisters formed all over and around her ear. She contracted an infection called cellulitis so they put an IV in her and started antibiotics.

We were admitted to the hospital after being told that we would be there 3 to 10 days as they observed Ainsley. (And I'm sure, they wanted to observe the parents' interraction with the child.) No problem, just glad the swelling was on the outside of the skull ... not the inside.

After settling down in our hospital room for about 20 minutes we were greeted, not too enthusiastically, by three armed police officers and a representative from Child Protective Services (CPS) ... great! After they pulled me out to interview me and then Roxanne separately the police were convinced that we didn't beat our child. I then had to take the CPS agent to our home to take pictures and to interview our other children. I know they are just doing their job and I'm glad b/c there are bad people out there, but ...

After Aubrey was done talking to the CPS agent in my home office she skipped out and said, "Dad, that was easy!". She assumed that she was being tested. I asked her what kind of questions he had asked her. She mentioned a few basic questions that I expected like, "What happens to you when you get in trouble ..." She answered "I get sent to my room" ... good Aubrey ... good. Then she said, "He asked me, 'Do you always have food in your pantry when you're hungry?'" I asked her what she said. She said, "I told him 'not always' and then he asked me 'what do you mean?' and I said 'well ... sometimes we only have healthy food and my mom only lets me eat healthy food!'" Perfect response Aubrey! I have no idea what Walker told him ... I can only imagine. I just know the worker came out of the room laughing. The irony: the pantry was open with a ton of food, and Roxanne had just purchased more bulk foods for our food storage so there was 50 lb bags of rice, beans, and even sugar laying on the floor in the open dining room. Take that CPS.

Saturday the swelling increased significantly even more. Ainsley's right eye closed completely ... they warned us that it might get worse before it gets better, but it was hard to watch. Fortunately, Ainsley had her attitude back ... she was fun ... running around the hospital laughing and poking her head into other kid's rooms in the pediatric wing. Chasing a 15 month old child up and down the hall all day with an IV tower is tiring, but we were glad she was her enthusiastic self again. The nurses asked repeatedly if she was always this busy. Yes ... always. Ainsley was cracking the nurses up too because she there was one nurse who had the responsibility for checking Ainsley's IV/checking her vitals and Ainsley didn't like that at all. So whenever that particular nurse entered the room, Ainsley would scowl at her and then turn her head as if to make her disappear. The nurse would always reply to this disdain with a sheepish "I know, I know, I'm the bad nurse."

It was funny, but sad at the same time. She was running around very cute, but looked a little scary. At one point she was walking down the hall and another little boy walked by on the other side, looked at Ainsley, and started crying ... her appearance scared him.

The difference in her appearance between Saturday and Sunday was truly miraculous. She woke up Sunday morning and the swelling had gone down significantly. Both eyes open, etc.. We were very grateful. When the doctor saw her on Sunday afternoon Ainsley got her walking papers and we were able to bring her home.

She has continued to heal quickly since she returned home. Her ear continues to improve and the swelling on her head reduces daily. Her pediatrician said that she will make a complete recovery.

We are humbly grateful for so many who have jumped to help us in so many ways. From bringing food, offering blessings, prayers, watching kids, kinds words, etc.. We are truly blessed to be surrounded by so many wonderful, great friends and family.