By the chicken coop
(I wrote this on Saturday night...)
So, the girls and I had a rough school day, I was busy with housework, the fridge was nearly empty (it’s September 30th and I shop for the month – you get the idea!), so I was itching to get out of the house for a little bit. I had a gift card to Bath & Bodyworks and a coupon that was expiring in 3 days, so I was excited to get to the mall for the first time in over a year. We spent quite a bit of time at the store – the girls slathered themselves with just about every tester, and Natalie even got some black lotion on her. Or wait, that actually was a facial mask. A kind employee helped Natalie wash up. In the meantime, I picked out some great-smelling things for our house and we left for the restaurant to meet with my dear friend Yulia and her husband Matt.
The reason we like to meet at there is because every few months I get their coupons, Buy One – Get One Free entrees. Those entrees usually consist of two orders of Chicken Florentine Crêpes and two orders of Swedish Crêpes. Last night we decided to fill three coupons and ended up ordering 6 plates full of pancake goodness. We were starving and it was already past 9pm. I was busy cutting up Natalie’s crêpe, trying not to drool on it. At that moment, our sweet young server brought in a plate with two carafes with hot water for our teas, and she placed the plate squarely in Julie’s NO-FLY ZONE. For all of you who have had babies, you know what I’m talking about. For years Dmitri and I have laughed (with a measure of frustration), that no matter how hard we try to control the No-Fly Zone, waiters just LOVE to put food and drinks right in it, probably thinking, “Hey, what a nice big area for me to put down their smoking fajita skillet and a boiling pot of coffee!”
You can imagine how the next several seconds went down. Out of the corner of my eye, while the fork and the knife were still in my hands, cutting up Natalie’s food, I saw Julie grab the plate with the hot carafes as soon as the waitress set it down. A second later, her shrieks pierced the hum of the restaurant. I jumped up, fumbling to unbuckle the seat strap. Thankfully, Yulia, a nurse, immediately urged to strip Julie of her clothes – a long-sleeved fleece sweater and pants, already saturated with hot water. We worked fast, but within seconds the skin on her right arm was already broken. That’s when I started to hyperventilate… My eyes caught Natalie’s, who was already sobbing. Emily had left the table and was in the bathroom crying. A minute later, after I regained my composure, I took a screaming Julie to the bathroom to nurse. While we were there, the ambulance arrived. The EMT guy assessed Julie’s condition to be a second degree burn on her arm, and a first degree burn on her chest. He recommended going in the ambulance to Children’s Hospital, but I, foolishly thinking about the costs, first said that I would drive myself. He then urged me again, that at her age and degree of burns, we should get to the hospital ASAP, and I would never get there as fast as a speeding ambulance. I agreed, and after giving Yulia my van keys, and waving good-bye to my girls, I got into the ambulance with Julie, who was still screaming at the top of her lungs.
The ride in the ambulance surrounded me with a cacophony of the siren, honking and Julie’s screeches. It was a rough ride, and the EMT guys had to put in an IV in her hand. For some reason, they chose her right hand – that’s the one with the burns! My cell phone was about to die, Dmitri was not responding, probably being somewhere in the air, so I called Becky, our small group leader’s wife. She went to our house where Matt had taken the girls. She showed them some Bible passages; Emily got her Bible out and read from it. Natalie grabbed "Fun With Dick and Jane" and read from it too - hey, that's the only book now she's reading! :) Becky prayed with the girls and put them to bed. Oh, poor Matt had to answer a barrage of tough questions, mainly from Natalie, such as, “Is Julie going to die?” He said no. Then she said, matter-of-factly, that he was going to die someday, but sooner than her (Natalie), because he is older. He said he probably wouldn’t die before bringing the girls to the house.
In the meantime, Julie and I arrived at the Children’s trauma unit, and were promptly surrounded by a host of nurses, medical students and doctors. They assessed her and gave her some baby drugs for the pain. Shortly after she calmed down and we were taken to a room to await a response from Shriner’s, whether they needed to see her immediately or not. While we were waiting, Julie returned to her normal, cheerful self. She was singing, dancing and flashing grins to everyone who entered the room. A nurse came in to show me how to dress the burns, and she was astounded at how tough Julie was – she never cried during the whole bandaging ordeal. The doctor came by to let us know that we were free to go and that people at Shriner’s were expecting our call on Monday morning.
Yulia drove us home and generously filled up the gas tank and bought me a feast of rotisserie chicken, sushi, strawberries, and chocolate! We were ravenous as we never ate our dinner. Julie was fast asleep in her keep-sake sleeper from the hospital. Oh, besides my phone being dead, I also realized that the diaper bag was out of diapers (the doctor made a cute comment about Julie’s Nemo swimmer – I actually had swim diapers!), and there was no change of clothes. I guess I’m not getting the Mother of the Year Award…
Julie slept fairly well, though she did throw up in her sleep one time, probably from the drug. Today she was cheerful and alert, and we all had a wonderful time at a Fall Festival at Granny’s Garden on Camp Ernst Rd.
Yulia came by this afternoon and helped dress Julie’s burns for the first time. Julie complained but never cried. It had to have hurt! Tonight I had to do it by myself and it felt quite awkward… But, it’s covered with ointment and has plenty of gauze on it, including a layer of non-adhesive gauze. We are going to Shriner’s on Monday.
I’m incredibly thankful to God for all the help I got from Yulia, Matt, Becky, and for all the prayers and notes I got from many other loving people. As I have reflected on the whole ordeal, I have found numerous reasons to be thankful. The burns could’ve been worse; and I was with a friend who is a nurse and thus had the experience, knowledge and composure that I could rely on. I am a part of a wonderful Small Group that takes such care of my girls and me when Dmitri is gone.
Oh, another lesson I should learn – listening to my husband who told me not to eat out last night to save some money. And I thought I was being frugal by using coupons. Ahem…
Smiling even with the boo-boo on her arm!
This is what it looked like two weeks after the accident.
This is three weeks after the accident.
And here she is by my mom's first quilt! Mom made it herself without any fancy gadgets and made up the pattern herself.
So, here we are, a week later. A week ago at this time we were at Children's Hospital, and Julie, after being so rudely introduced to the intense pain that this world can cause, was finally calming down, aided by some baby drugs. Less than a week ago, I awkwardly fumbled with the gauze, bandages, adaptec, tape, bacitracin, bowls of soapy and clean water... Now I do it alone in less than 5 minutes, stat, even with her trying to wave her hands or trying to interfere. 
This evening we went to nearby Kinman Farms, and what a perfect time it was! Natalie was such a little cowgirl, loving the pony ride!
The girls picked out their little pumpkins - there were hundreds of them!
Emily looks so big on that pony... She is growing up so fast. She was taking wonderful care of Julie most of the evening, carrying her around with her, including on the hayride. At one point, Emily ran up to me as I sat by the fire, munching on my s'more. I asked her why she wasn't playing, and she said that all of a sudden she got a feeling that she needed to be by me, because she doesn't do it often. So, we snuggled together, and I told her that many years from now, she would be tucking her kids into bed at this hour, and hopefully she would remember this evening, as we sat by the fire together, quietly singing Russian camp fire songs. I felt incredibly blessed to have this sweet time with her, especially after a rocky morning together.
Here we are with Sarah and her son Josh - time has flown too fast... We first met when Josh was just a couple of months old and I was pregnant with Natalie. Sarah is one of the most generous people I know and she has blessed us with so many fun trips and events throughout these 6 years. Josh is like a brother to Emily and Natalie. And, tonight he was so attentive to Julie. I look forward to Julie getting to know Josh and her "aunt."
Julie's 1st Hayride
