Stitches and an Allergy

A week ago Saturday, while I was painting the basement, Oliver said, "Hey Mom! Watch this!" I looked down to see Oliver dive head first over a toy basket. The basket flipped over (which I think came as a surprise to him). Then came the screaming--the kind a mom hears and knows something is wrong. I bent down to pick up Oliver and saw blood everywhere. When the basket tipped over, Oliver's head landed on a pile of wooden blocks. Immediately I started hyperventilating as I frantically grabbed my baby and carried him out to where Noah was. Noah took over since I was a little hysterical. We got Ollie cleaned off, and knew right away he'd need stitches.
Oliver was brave. He didn't cry, and held stiller than I've ever seen the boy hold as the doctor numbed him and stitched his head back together.
We were instructed to apply neosporin and hydrogen peroxide twice a day to help with the scaring and to come back in a week to get the 7 stitches removed.
However, two days later, Oliver's forehead started swelling. Noah first noticed it on Monday night at 7:00 PM, when the swelling was about an inch and a half in diameter around the cut. We got a hold of our after hours clinic, and they called in an antibiotic.
By midnight, the swelling had reached 4 inches in diameter and Oliver developed a fever of 102.5 F. I tried calling the after hours clinic again as I was a bit frantic with concern, but after waiting on hold for 25 minutes, I decided to take him to the ER.
The ER trip was a complete waste of time. They gave Oliver Tylenol. Had his cut been anywhere else but the center of his forehead, they would have opened it and drained it.

You can bet I'll be raising my fist to them when I get the $300 bill.

The swelling started improving over the next two days. It was so painful for him when I touched it that I stopped putting the Neosporin and hydogen peroxide on it--until the third day.

When the swelling had nearly gone completely down (Thurday), I put Neosporin on Ollie. Within ten minutes of application, his cut started swelling up and oozing blood and pus.
As it turns out, two of Noah's sisters are allergic to Neosporin. I guess it runs in the family.
Oliver is now doing much better. He looks [and acts] like his old self again. And you can bet I'll never be giving him Neosporin ever again.