The Day Brooke Burned Her Hands

So you've probably noticed that it's been a while since my last post. I've had several things I wanted to post and then last Tuesday happened and I didn't want to post anything. I didn't even want to breathe.

As most of you already know, I am always worried about one of the girls getting hurt. So I make everyone else crazy by coming up with unrealistic scenarios about what could happen that could hurt one of them. I've been especially worried about our fireplace.

When Katelyn was a baby we lived in our condo in Orem sans fireplace. So it was never an issue. But in our home now, we have a gas fireplace with a glass front, down in our family room. It is really nice and makes that room so cozy and warm. But I have been reluctant to even use it if Brooke was in the house, let alone in the room.

Well on Tuesday, I was starting to get sick and felt awful. But Katelyn's Christmas break from school had just officially started and she was so excited. So in an attempt to do something "Christmassy" we decided to watch a Christmas show and wrap presents. It was cold, so we also turned on the fire. That meant that Brooke had to be confined to her Exersaucer. She was fine with that though because she loves playing in that brilliant contraption. We also selected a movie that we thought she would particularly enjoy - A Wiggly Wiggly Christmas. She absolutely loved it, so much in fact that she barely played. She just sat and watched the Wiggles every move. Katelyn also still thoroughly enjoyed the show and informed me that we should really get the CD so we could listen to it in the car. Maybe we should get that for Kyle for Christmas. He would love it.

So we watched the show, got some wrapping done and had a really good time even though I was feeling worse by the minute. So I decided it was time to clean up so we could head up to start dinner. So I cleaned up anything on the floor from our wrapping project that could possibly be dangerous to Brooke and then lifted her out of the Exersaucer. Just then I noticed a few things behind me that should probably be moved. So, I moved them and as I turned back around I saw her somehow catapult up to the fireplace and stand while pressing both of her tiny little hands on the molten hot glass. The whole thing was seriously in slow motion. I screamed. I lunged. I grabbed. But it was too late. She burned both of her hands and I think broke her heart at the same time. She honestly cried more than night than in her entire life up to that point.

The rest of the evening was a blur and still is, but I know that I immediately got her hands into cold water and tried to calm Katelyn down. Kyle wasn't home yet, so after a few minutes I decided to pack the girls up and head to the ER. Fortunately Kyle pulled up as we were pulling out. We called our good friends who came to the rescue - Aric helped Kyle give Brooke a Priesthood blessing and they had Katelyn stay and play with their daughters while we went to the ER.

I seemed to go through waves of stability. I would be OK and then I would fall apart in the next second. When I really lost it though was when I saw how big the blisters had gotten when we arrived in the ER. I couldn't even breathe after I saw them. The good news was that the giant blisters on her palms popped while we were there and they were able to give her a shot of morphine to help with the pain (I thought about asking for some for me, but decided I better not). Here is a video of Brooke after the ER and the morphine...

She has been so brave through the whole thing. The palms of both hands were burned but her left hand was definitely worse. The fingers on that hand were also burned, but you'd never know it when you watch her in action. Upon returning home from the ER she freed her fingers and thumbs from the bandages and has continued to crawl and play. She will whimper a little every so often, but most of the time she just rolls with it. She has also figured out how to crawl without putting pressure on the blisters on her left fingers. She's doing that so well that they still haven't popped. This is a photo of her left hand 2 days after the burn happened.

One of the many things I am grateful for during this whole ordeal is that I was right there and was able to pull her away from the glass right away. They told us that night that babies her age often pull away but then fall back onto it either again with their hands or even their face, body or head. Her doctor said that she will heal quickly and have no lasting damage or scars. I on the other hand will probably need years of therapy.