I was home alone with the Lil Monster on Saturday.
The hubb was at work to pass on the "mess" to the new guy before he moved on next wk to join back his team doing shift hours --to which I am not very excited about coz we will see lesser of him, although technically, he will have more free time as he will get two days off with every two days of shift work. Bummer... oh well, more of that later...
That afternoon, the Lil Monster had two long naps of 3hrs. I took the time to throughly clean and mopped the whole house and even had time to cook chicken rice.
So when the Lil Monster woke up that evening, I took her to the room and put her in the cott to change her diaper. Checking that the gates of the cott is pulled up, I made a quick dash for the next room to get the new pack of diapers.
Just as I was about to turn back to the room, I heard a loud "THUD" and the loudest cry ever from the Lil Monster. I was shocked to see the Lil Monster face up on the floor.
It was REALLY a heart-stopping moment. Many times have you been warned by the elderlys "Be careful. Dont let her fall" to which you smile. You never think it'll happen to you. And then, BAM! when you least expect it. Your forehead is stamped with the words "GUILTY OF NEGLECT"
Ironically, a few days before, I was crossed at my hubb for letting the Lil Monster fall (again!) from her standing position while under his care. I even said "she falls more under your care than when she is under mine" GULP!
The Lil Monster is without a doubt a more active and energetic baby than any other babies, well at least compared to her two cousins who were born few weeks ealier than her. Although she is stil trying to stabilise her stand, she is already climbing up stools and chairs. So it is very unlikely that she will not fall, it is more like a rite of passage. But of course it is no excuse for us.
Back to the tragic scene, I rushed to her frantically, hugged her close and consoled her. At that moment my mind went, "SHIT! My mom will kill me for this" I tried distracting her by bringing her infront of the mirror and almost immediately she stopped crying, sobbing occasionally. And then within minutes, she was happily gurgling away. What a relief it was!
It was only through the reflection on the mirror that I saw the big red patch on the right side of her front forehead, the size of a 50 cent coin. The Lil Monster had actually fallen face down at first! I tried to apply cold compress and the big patch later sothered down to a smaller 5 cent coint patch which seemed to look more like it is the result of an abrasion rather than a knock.
I called up the hubb and was expecting a scolding but instead he sounded very concern and said that he will leave work immediately.
We lowered the cott to the next step. But we are still very puzzled on how did Lil Monster climb over the gates which were as high as her chest. My hubb said she did a "suicide window" fall.
We kept checking on her that night.
No vomitting.
No fever.
No unusual behaviour.
Apetite for milk - ok
Sitting and picking things up - ok
Pulling self up to stand - ok
So did I get that scolding from my mum?
No.
She was more worried for the Lil Monster.
But I did get alot of "tsk..tsk" from the other relatives at my cousin's wedding the day after.
Just as Lil Monster wore her 5 cent mark of rememberance, I wore that "GUILTY" stamp on my forehead with much shame.
posted by LiN at 8:56 PM
