I say yearly because in Sophie's short 2 year duration, she's already been to the ER twice. The first time, she was a mere 6 weeks old. She had gotten the flu from Trevor, and I had always been told that fevers in babies under 3 months were a big no-no. Kids older and stronger than she was have died from the flu. Needless to say, I was freaked out, and we rushed her to the ER on the advice of her pediatrician. Then they poked and prodded my little girl until she and I were both in tears, only to diagnose her with the flu (duh!) and send us home 4 hours later. They had wanted to admit her and also wanted to do a spinal tap to rule out meningitis (didn't they hear me when I told them her brother had a confirmed case of the flu???), but we opted to take her home and keep a close eye on her instead. She made it through like the trooper she is.
Cut to yesterday. Sophie was hanging off the couch, as the girls like to do for whatever reason. Her hand slipped, and she face planted on the floor. She hit hard, so I knew it had to hurt, and I was totally prepared for the imminent screams and tears. She sat up, took a deep breath, and then nothing. She had flopped over on her side on the ground with her blanket over her face. I thought she was doing that thing where they a really quiet for several seconds before yelling loud enough to make your ears bleed. When I pulled back the blanket, her eyes were rolled back, and she was snoring. I knew this meant she had a concussion. You would think I learned this in Nursing school, but no, I learned it from watching Johnny Knoxville on Jackass get his face punched in by some boxer. He had the same reaction. The point is, I knew it wasn't a good thing for a 2-year-old to be doing. I got on the ground, grabbed her by both arms, and jostled her and spoke to her very loudly, trying to wake her up. She came to a several terrifying seconds later, so I had to keep her awake while frantically calling the pediatrician. They said an ER visit was in order, so off we went. Luckily we had a sensible doctor that had a list of criteria to be met before putting a toddler through a CAT Scan. Was she out for more than a minute, showing signs of neurological problems, acting unlike herself, unresponsive? No to all, so no CAT Scan was ordered. It was a wait and see situation at this point, because as I was told, brain bleeds (BRAIN BLEEDS???!!!) would happen within the first 4hours. So Sophie and I sat in the room for the next few hours. Well, I sat, and she climbed. And she jumped. And she screamed, and she blabbed. So, luckily for us, she was in good working order. She was finally diagnosed with minor brain trauma, which is hospital speak for minor concussion. Today she is being treated to anything and everything she wants- food, soda, tv. It's Sophie's day today and probably for the next few days because I know how bad it could have been and am so grateful that it wasn't.
Update*** This is the video I'm talking about. This is what is was like, except I didn't punch Sophie, and she's not a mentally handicapped adult that has a career getting hit in the crotch with random objects.