I resemble that remark

I've been known to say that natural childbirth is useful in the sense that it completely changes one's reference for pain. "It prepares you for motherhood. After that you can slam your hand in the car door and just walk away thinking, 'Well at least it's not as painful as giving birth.'"

I'd now like to reascend that comment, because as of today I can testify that shutting one's own finger in the door is in fact MORE painful than childbirth. And now here's a little story:

I had a coupon (naturally) that needed to be used for haircuts so I took the three youngest to Great Clips. Our usual lady was there and made John as cute as ever. The unusual lady was there and did not listen well (or chose to ignore) my instructions for dear Joseph. "Use #4 clippers on the back. Scissor cut the front to be shaggy. Long sideburns, please. We do not want to see his scalp."

Well, let's just say she got a little crazy. Maybe she made a mistake with the clippers and used the rest of his hair to cover it up. I don't know, but he ended up with a Lego hair cut. He, too, is as cute as ever, but he does resemble a Lego man.



(I'll add a picture here tomorrow. He's sleeping right now.)

Getting back into the van, I was pondering his hair and whether that really is what a $6.99 haircut looks like, when I shut the door with all my might on my right thumb. My response to this pain was one of flight (not fight) and I pulled my thumb out of the closed door. SERIOUSLY, I have never been in so much pain. The nail immediately turned purple. I drove home with my thumb stuck in my Diet Coke while moaning loudly.

Of course, I had Joseph there to encourage me. "Mom, do what you tell us to do. Just relax, Mom. Breathe. Think about something happy, Mom. Try not to think about it. Are you breathing, Mom?...."

We were to leave for our weekend trip in an hour and I was sure that my thumb was broken. The pain would not let up. By God's grace, I found a hand doctor that agreed to see me as a walk in as his last appointment of the day. Why go to the ER for a three hour $800 visit/Xray, when I knew they were just going to send me to see the ortho doctor who wouldn't be in until Monday?

The xray showed a small chip which will cause some discomfort, but no casting was required. He said the major pain will come from the nail which may or may not fall off. I kind of which it would fall off right now to relive some of this pressure. I can sit here and count my heart rate.

So with only a slight delay we made it to Nashville in good time. Tomorrow looks to be a fun day!