barney thumb - part II

I get a phone call from my husband that daycare was trying to get a hold of me (one of the few times that I am actually away from my desk). My heart sunk. “What happened?” I asked. He went on to explain that Bear was playing and his thumb started gushing blood (I don’t recall the exact word he used but I think it was explained to him that basically he was hemorrhaging blood out of this thumb). They had already gone through several band-aids. Surprisingly I wasn’t overly concerned, I just figured the pressure of the blood under his fingernail finally broke through and it would eventually stop. However, daycare wasn’t as calm about it.
My husband was supposed to call them back so I told him to tell them I will call them in 15 minutes and if it hasn’t stopped bleeding by then that I would come and get him. I was certain that it really wasn’t a big deal they would just have to wait for the blood to drain out from behind his nail. I get on the phone with my 24 hour nurse hotline, otherwise known as my mother, while my husband tries to call our insurance company nurse hotline (one of the many services they offer so that you don’t take your kid to the hospital every time he sneezes I guess). Both references had the same thing say: let it drain (it’s good that it’s draining), don’t cover it up but keep it clean. The insurance nurse hotline added to soak it in warm water for 5 mintues periodically throughout the day. No Problem! We got this!
I call daycare. They are in a panic. They tell me that my son is also very upset (probably because he reads people very well and picked up on their panic) they also mentioned that he was in a lot of pain. There is no compromise when it comes to your child’s wellbeing so I left work and went to pick him up, if nothing else just to get him out of that environment.
I get there and he is lying on a mat. He comes running towards me with his thumb up in the air, “Mommy I’m so glad to see you!” He gives me a big hug. The daycare worker is distressed and happy to see me too, although she didn’t hug me. “Let me see!” I said to him. They had put a band-aid on it and said it was still bleeding periodically. Barney thumb was caked with dried blood. I took him into the bathroom and put his thumb under warm water. The remainder of the blood swirled down the drain. We did this for a few minutes. He already seemed to be feeling better and thanked me for “rescuing” him. I watched the water bubbles dance beneath his sickly white finger nail the reality hits me that his nail is going to fall off, regardless of my efforts to think otherwise. Barney thumb was now Casper Thumb.
It eventually did fall off and he wasn’t really too upset about it. He just asked for a band-aid and went on about his business. I’m sure it was sore and tender but he made no indication that it was bothering him. A few days ago I noticed that the new nail is coming through and it’s pushing out the remains of the old nail which was snagging his clothes so I had to pull it out. Again, he flinched for a half of a second but went on playing. He really is my little-boy-superhero :)

Moral of the story kids: Don't play fast-pitch with your toddler....without putting on hockey equipment first!