Our Brave Little Girl

"She's very brave for her age," the doctor whispered to me as he pulled out Kaitlyn's stitches.  Thinking back upon her life, I couldn't agree more.  Earlier that week, Kaitlyn had the mishap of going down a slide during a field trip and ended up getting so tossed and turned around that she landed chin first at the bottom of the slide and split open the bottom part of her chin.  When I received the call from her preschool teacher, I was definitely not expecting them to tell me that she had a 'significant gash' and it more than likely would need stitches.  I took her word for it, and after picking up Kaitlyn from school that day, we went straight to the doctor without my even looking at it.

Once we finally were at the doctor's office, a nurse pulled off Kaitlyn's soggy band aid to reveal the horrible gash.  It was indeed 'significant.'   Kaitlyn was worried about seeing the doctor, but composed herself well.  When the doctor came in, he confirmed my worst fear at that moment; she would most certainly need stitches.  Without wasting any time, I called for some back up from Shayne and my sister in law Sarah, to help me with Liam and offer moral support.  We started some numbing cream every 10 minutes and braced ourselves for what I knew was going to be hard on my baby girl.  I would have given anything to trade places with her.

Kaitlyn's had a big history of having to be brave for doctors.  Starting with her coin incident in June 2012, esophagus stretchings,  multiple EGD's, and surgery again in November 2013, if there's something I have come to know about Kaitlyn it's that she IS amazingly brave for her age.  I once read a quote that relates to her well; "Courage is being scared to death... and saddling up anyway." - John Wayne.  Kaitlyn knows when it's time to saddle up and 'get it done.'  When the moment came to give her stitches, she laid down, took a deep breath, and held as still as a statue and let the doctor work.

I crouched closely by her head and tried to distract her from the pain and work the doctors were doing. I could see tears falling from the corner of her eyes, and hear her squeaky voice saying, "that hurt!" but letting them finish what had to be done anyway.  At one point near the end, she hollered out - yet holding still at the same time - and the doctor said, "oh, I think she felt that one."  It broke my heart. As a mother, the pain I was feeling being there with her and knowing I could do nothing more to soothe her or make it go away, was unbearable. My heart felt heavy.  We both couldn't wait to leave.

 I don't know many four year old's, or adults for that matter, who could have done what she did the way that she did it.  Kaitlyn is so tough and I am very proud to be her mother. One can only hope that stitches will be the worst of her earthly problems... but whatever comes her way, there is no doubt in my mind that Kaitlyn will be able to handle them.  Love you, Kaitlyn.  To the Moon and Back.