Jovi Fell Off the Bed

I hated waking up this morning.  It wasn’t because I didn’t get a restful night’s sleep, it wasn’t because I had something to do today that I thought I wouldn’t enjoy.  It’s because instead of the alarm on my phone I was jolted awake by a thud.

Karah was in the shower, Jovi was asleep on our bed in-between myself and Karah’s pillows, I didn’t need to wake-up for ten more minutes.  Oh, I wish I would have woken up and stayed awake.  I don’t remember getting out of bed, I don’t remember picking her up.  I remember opening my eyes, not seeing Jovi on the bed, and knowing that she had fallen off the edge.  Never have I felt worse.

She was screaming, I couldn’t hold her tight enough, I was yelling for Karah.  She didn’t have any blood on her, that was pretty much the only thing I noticed.  I had no idea what to do.  After calming down, grudgingly and with Karah’s help I took Jovi into my office to check Jovi’s eyes (she was tracking things), ears (responding to my voice and snapping in different directions), limb rotation, and body for sensitivity.  Jovi already had a doctor’s appointment for this afternoon, but Karah informed them of what happened (they didn’t see a need for the emergency room since she was now acting normal) and we moved-up the appointment to a little earlier.  I hope everything is fine.

I looked-up everything I could about babies falling (seven months old, about three foot fall) on line and found that if she doesn’t have bruising or a broken limb the only thing she could have is brain damage (which is what I was freaking out about when I was yelling for Karah, I could never forgive myself).  A concussion is the most common form so here are dome things to check for, and what we’ll be watching closely with Jovi for the next 24 hours (actually longer, but you only have to worry or twenty-four):
1.  Lethargic.  Thankfully Jovi has a full personality and likes to move so it will be easy to tell if she is not her normal active self.
2.  Dilated Pupils.  This is hard to see in our apartment because the lighting is so horrible (third worst thing about this complex), but outside her eyes seemed normal.  But we’ll check them every hour or so.
3.  Vomiting.  Jovi doesn’t spit-up much anymore.  But excessive or unusual vomiting can be a sign of a brain trauma, such as a concussion.  Blood in the vomit is also a concern, but is a sign of internal organ injury, not brain injury.
4.  Naps.  She shouldn’t stay asleep for more than two hours at a time.  This means no long naps and waking her up a couple times during the night (to check her eyes).

I am still shaken up about it.  I don’t know how to handle it if she is not okay.  To think I could have killed my baby girl by not being alert…. That horrid ten second eternity when I didn’t know if she was alive, if I didn’t know if she had broken bones, if she could still smile…. I never want to experience that again.