Our First Concussion

Well, last night we experienced our first concussion with the boys. We attended the Upward Soccer award ceremony at church. Because I work in the nursery so much, the kids are really comfortable playing there...probably too comfortable. We told the kids it was time to go, and we were upset they had wandered off and around the church. It makes a huge circle around the sanctuary. Anyway, Braden and Kanton were walking toward us, and Ashton was by my side. Kanton's soccer coach told the boys they needed to RUN. Well, Ashton took off running toward the boys. I'm not sure if he was going to race them back to us, or if he just wanted to run with them. Kanton and Braden took off running toward us. Kanton was in a dead sprint, and he was looking down at the ground. He plowed over Ashton, knocking him backward onto the cement-covered carpet in the foyer. We heard his head hit the ground, and Ashton was screaming. I ran over and scooped him up, looking for blood. He hit so hard. Ashton's eyes were not dilated, and the coach said he was fine.

Mommy instinct knew that Ashton was not fine. He was squinting, he was holding his forehead, and he was pale. He told me he needed to go to sleep, and I wouldn't let him. We decided to take the other boys home, and Ashton started throwing up in the van. This freaked me out, because I knew he had a concussion at this point. I started crying. Ricky dropped me, Braden, and Kanton off at the house. He changed Ashton's clothes and cleaned out the car seat. Ricky then took Ashton to the doctor. I didn't go with him, since I'm pregnant...if they needed to do an x-ray, I would rather Ricky get to go in with him than Ashton have to be alone. He took him to the Urgent Care Center first, and it was closed. Ashton threw up in the parking lot. So, he took him to the Emergency Room. The doctor looked him over, asked the questions, examined him, and told Ricky that he had a mild concussion. Because he had only thrown up twice, we could continue to watch him at home.

I was relieved it wasn't as serious as it could have been. The doctor said to let him sleep if he was tired. We were supposed to bring him back if he experience convulsions, a stiff neck, difficulty controlling his bladder/bowels, and if his arms/legs didn't work. Ashton took some Tylenol and slept fine. He woke up around 2:30 a.m. whining, which scared me. He wanted a drink. I was relieved at this, gave him his drink, and we went back to sleep. My boss was nice enough to let Ashton sleep in this morning. He didn't go to bed until 11 p.m., so we slept until 9 a.m. We got up, and he ate breakfast and took his bath as usual. He seemed his usual self.

Now, I'm having to make the kids be careful with Ashton for a few days. Ashton is going nuts not being able to run and do full contact football or soccer. I told him that he couldn't play football for a few days. He doesn't understand how long that is, and he asked if he should wait until the Aggies are winning to play again! Ha. I think he thinks that's a long time. Well, we're doing better, and I'm trying not to be Mrs. Over Protective, but it's really hard. I don't want him to hit his head again, and I'm trying my best to let him rest and recover, but keeping this boy in 1st gear is a little difficult! He wants to go full throttle all the time! We are very thankful that it was just a mild concussion and not more. It was a very scary experience!