Mia is a monkey. She loves bananas, climbs all over everything, makes ape like noises and cannot resist a good bed to jump on. Since she got her full size bed she jumps on it non stop.
I'm used to her jumping. She will often throw her head back land flat on her back. I'm constantly asking her to stop. She listens for a couple seconds but her body compulsively starts bouncing again. I've read that some Autistic kids will often jump to regulate their body. It feels good and can calm the anxiety that they often feel. I guess I think about that when she's jumping so I ease up on trying to stop her.
Yesterday, I came in her room with the vaccuum. I was listening to a podcast on my headphones. I could hear the sound of her laughing faintly playing over what I was listening. I heard a thump. I looked up to see Mia's head smack against her headboard. A look of shock and pain washed across her face.
She erupted into tears. Her arms lifted and she looked up at me in pain. I picked her up and held her, rocking her back and forth. I lightly ran my hand over the back of her head to see if there was blood, bump or cut. Nothing.
As a kid, I hit my head like that a hand full of times. That I can remember. I never went to the doctor. With my daughter, when she gets hurt the worst case scenarios go through my head. I remember Real Sports with Bryant Gumble showing a story about head injuries as they related to football. They showed a video of a 12 year old boy playing football. He got hit and immediately fell to the ground holding his head. He was able to walk off the field and seemed to be fine on the sideline. That same night, he was in the hospital and slipped into a coma. His brain had swelled and bled without anyone knowing. This horrific story was all I could think about watching Mia's activity for the rest of the day.
She seems fine today, but as I was washing her hair in the tub I noticed her head was shaped differently. I brushed her hair aside to find a huge bright purple bump. Maybe she'll stop jumping on the bed now.
