Little man aka Mishmish (apricot in hebrew) is now two months old, waking up twice at night - I am fine with the 3 1/2-4 1/2 hour blocks of sleep. Really I am. Throw into the mix a 5 year old coughing all night and you have a completely different story. After 3 nights of vigilant watch and care - the worst is when she looks at you at 3 in the morning and states "I have NEVER felt so bad in my Life!" - sleep deprivation causes worry and desperation to flood the psyche. After a day at work and a night of childcare - the only thing I knew was - I needed to get the girl something to eat - whatever she wanted, I was going to prepare. Salmon? no problem - coming right up. But what about the baby who lasts 3.8 minutes in any swing, seat, bouncer before breaking out in vocal protest? "I can't leave him on the floor, at least if he is up on the counter, I can talk to him while I chop" was the logical conclusion (yes, I am blaming sleep deprivation for the rationalization). I turned my head for a moment and crash!
  I see little man on the floor, I pick him up, he is shocked for a second and begins to SCREAM! I comfort him and he settles down - I notice a large lump the size of a marble on the side of his head and immediately call the ped. She assures me that though it is probably nothing - babies are resiliant - take him to the ER. Salmon be damned - I grab my sick 5 year old, call my husband to meet me and take the girl- last thing I want is her in the hospital catching God Knows What. Cedars Sinai is 10 minutes away and I am rushed to the front of the line. As we are being admitted, he nurses - already I have been assured by the nurses that the fact that he did not lose conciousness, and he is nursing are good signs.
Long story short - after 6 hours in the ER, a CAT scan of the brain, and full body X-ray - Mishmish is fine - no brain damage/bleeding, a slight skull fracture, no concussion. He exhibited no change in his demenour except when someone dared touch his bump, which disappeared within 18 hours. We spent the night on the Pediatric floor for observation. Spontaneous Hemorrhage may occur within 24 hours so we were kept for observation. Luckily - Mishmish was fine and no procedures were necessary.
Important Lessons:
1. looking at pupil dilation or lack therof after a fall - is only for severe damage. You can have a problem a few hours or next day. So keep checking.
2. most important is the soft fontanel - it must remain soft and dented - if it bulges there is inflammation/bleeding - big problem
3. don't put seats on counters/tables/chairs/anything elevated!!!!!!
4. You have an accident and your child is under 1 year of age - be prepared - by law - you are going to have to talk to a social worker in the hospital, an emergency county social worker, a police officer, and then a county social worker will be assigned to your family and interview everyone in the family.
5. Mistakes happen and you can't beat yourself up about it and you must forgive yourself and treat yourself with compassion.
6. Mistakes are sometimes preventable - learn from them and pass on the info - so others don't do the same stupid thing!