I made a HUGE mistake, but one that I will never do again-as a parent. Normally, I feel pretty confident about the decisions I make regarding parenting, and Elem, with the education I have had, and all the experience I have had with kids. Of course, I dont know every little thing about raising a kid, but I do my best. And to this point, have been so proud of the limited illnesses and injuries Elem has had. I can safely say I have been able to protect him from any major head or teeth injuries :) haha, really from anything happening to his face (which I am very proud of because it freaks me out!). And other than the regular bumps and bruises that come along with being a very active 3 year old little boy, we have been so lucky! Until recently. The other night Elem took his bath, jumped out, brushed his teeth, and while he was looking at himself in the mirror, I quickly grabbed a Qtip to clean out his ear. Now I usually do this about once a month, and I have a fear that I am always going to hurt him. So I really am very gently and he usually giggles and thinks it tickles. So I cleaned the left ear, just fine. Moving on the the right ear, and screams of bloody murder began to pierce MY ears! Never have I heard Elem cry or scream so loud and genuine, and I knew I had done something to his ear. Next thing I know, Elem is telling me that I stuck "that tooth pick" in his ear and hurt him really bad. Talk about feeling awful. :( I looked at the Qtip and there was barely 3 strands of cotton on the end I stuck in his right ear, meaning I basically did stick a Q tip in his ear! OUCH!
So I held him, and after noticing that he was covering his ear and trying to lay on it so it wouldn't hurt, I just felt even worse. The point when he asked me for some medicine to make it go away, this coming from the child who swears up and down he is not sick, just to get out of taking medicine, just about broke my heart because I knew something bad had happened. Over the next couple of days, he continued to complain about his ear, but it seemed to be getting better. With work and school, I didn't really see him but early in the morning and late at night, so I had to go on limited info. By Friday (this happened on the Monday), he was so upset and still complaining about his ear, and I could see blood coming out of it. So I took him bright and early to the doc on Saturday. Once we got there his Pediatrician looked at the ear and said yes something had been done to it. And that there was dried blood all over his ear drum. To which she told me his ear drum did not look like it had burst due to infection (which I already knew), and that I had perforated the ear drum. Basically, I poked a little hole in it. But with all the dried blood inside his ear and coating the eardrum, she couldnt tell where the hole was, how big it was, if it was healing, etc. :( Talk about feeling bad. Break my heart right there on the spot and just stomp on it. I feel awful, I know it hurt so bad, and it was totally my fault! Sigh. So sorry little man, mommy did not mean to do that!
One thing I took away from the whole experience, DO NOT ever put a Q-tip in your child's ear. EVER. And so I have been told by the pediatrician, and everyone else in my life (including Elem) haha, and so I listen. No more Q-tips. Ear wax is a good thing and it is there for a reason, which is what the Pediatrician said, so I guess I will get over my little fetish of thinking it is nasty if I can see it when Elem is sitting in my lap. Oh well.
For now, E went through some ear drops for a week, and he appears to be all better. No pain, and the dried blood has all come out. That we can tell. This is one thing that I can assure you will never ever happen again.
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