Pure panic

Last night Molly went down just before 8:00. Well, she crawled in bed at that time, but she was still awake. I heard her babbling away. Then I heard her counting to 20, skipping the number 6. Then it was quiet. I turned on the tv and a little after 9:00 I heard an audible thud (tv was ON at this point remember). My heart immediately sank at the sound and I was up and halfway to her room before the screaming started. I hit the hall light on right before I open her bedroom door and Molly is on her back on the floor... the hardwood floor. She had attempted to get over the side railing of her bed. Not the front toddler rail that's a foot and a half off the ground, the SIDE rail that is part of the original crib set up and comes to my waist... a good THREE feet off the floor. I immediately think she might have a neck injury and want to keep her still. The light is on in the hallway, but her room is dark. I start to turn around so I can turn on the bedroom light and Molly immediately starts to sit up so she can get to me and not let me leave. I scoop her up into my arms while she continues to wail. She is moving on her own at this point and isn't freezing in pain so I rule neck injury out. I try to get her to stand, but she doesn't want me to let her go. I think I see her avoiding to put any weight on her left leg so I think that might be broken. Keep in mind mere seconds have passed. I scoop her up and take her out to the living room where there's better light and the futon is flat. I lay her down so I can assess any damage and she just wants to be held. She is now standing in front of me so obviously her leg is not broken and I take her back into my arms where she calms down pretty quickly. I ask her where it hurts and she tells me her head... she bonked her head. I don't feel a huge welt or anything so I figure she might have landed on her butt/back and then head.

I give her some love for a few moments and then she crawls out of my arms and situates herself on the couch and demands Monsters, Inc. Um, no. I take her back to her room and try to get her to tell me what happened. Yeah, right. Like she's going to admit to any wrong doing. What was I thinking?!? I call N (who's halfway to Tahoe) for a sanity check. She had a pretty nasty fall, but she is acting normal again so no need to rush down to the ER. He recommends I keep her up for a bit to make sure she's not showing any signs of a concussion and then stay with her until she falls asleep so she doesn't pull any more monkey maneuvers. I put her down about 20 minutes later when she starts yawning and rubbing her eyes and read to her for a bit. I then lay down on the floor next to her bed while she tosses and turns and peeks over at me every few minutes. When she finally stops tossing and turning and is belly down I stroke her head for a few minutes until her breathing gets heavy and deep and then slowly sneak out as she's asleep.

Or so I thought.

I was standing outside her door listening for a good minute and *just* as I'm about to walk away I hear movement. I open her bedroom door, flip on the light, and the little stinker is standing at the same side rail with her leg halfway up with the intention to swing it over again. Um, HELL NO! She is frozen for a second and then makes a dive for under her covers. Yeah, like I'm not standing RIGHT HERE and didn't just see that! The next few minutes consist of me firmly and repeatedly telling her to NOT climb her bed while she attempts to distract me by being cute, her fake cry, reaching out for hugs, and finally acceptance she has been busted and a very hushed whispered, "I'm sorry."

This time I simply lay down next to her bed and wait until I'm damn sure she's asleep.

Snoring was involved.

Her, not me.

I hop online to do some quick research and a couple sites recommended waking your kid up a few times the first night after a big fall. So I did, MUCH to Molly's dismay. They want you to wake them up to make sure you *can* wake them up. She woke up, but was NOT happy about it. Pretty much pleaded for bed as soon as she was awake enough to form words. Sorry kid, you gave me a freakin' heart attack... I need to make sure you are OK.

Molly has been totally fine today. I've asked her if her head hurts and she tells me no and gives me a look like I'm a crazy person for asking. So all is well.

Mild heart attack aside.