It's Begun...

I am officially that mom. You know, the one who hears their child cough and automatically assumes it's pneumonia? In my defense, I do think my antennae are up because of the whole insurance debacle, because I was never really an alarmist before.

Let me give you some background. Gavin is generally a happy baby. Both babies are generally happy, really, but Gavin fusses less than Charlotte. They are both easy to appease, usually stop crying once they are held, and can often be put to sleep without a major amount of effort. (She says, as she pauses to glance at the ceiling for evidence of a lightening bolt about to strike.)

So today, at his normal naptime, Gavin was inconsolable. He had a full belly, a clean diaper, and I could tell he was tired because he was rubbing his eyes. Normally under these conditions, he's asleep before I turn on the monitor. Today was different---he would not. stop. screaming. I brought him back downstairs, where Michael and I both tried to calm him down. No luck. In fact, the screaming got worse. I thought perhaps he needed another diaper change, and when I removed the diaper, I saw what appeared to be a yellowish-blue bruise stretching across his abdomen. This sent my mind reeling. Was there some blunt trauma that I didn't know about? Could a too-tight diaper have caused this? Was he bleeding internally?

I frantically called the doctor's office, but the staff was out to lunch and due to return in ten minutes. Ten more minutes and I would have completely lost my mind, so I hopped in the car with Gavin screaming in his car seat and headed straight to the office. I was barely out of the driveway before he fell asleep.

I decided to forgo the trip to the doctor's office for the moment, but I was still panicked, so my mom came over to have a look at the bruise and help determine my next course of action. Turns out it wasn't a bruise after all. We were out taking a walk earlier in the day, and it was pretty hot, and I think some of the dye from the Winnie the Pooh design on Gavin's diaper transferred onto his skin. At least, that's what I'm guessing, since the "bruise" washed off with soap and water.

I have a feeling this won't be the last time I'm thrown into a panic over something like diaper dye.