Chins and Gyms

I am squeamish. Always have been. Being a mama hasn’t changed that – as I discovered on Saturday. 

My little girl fell from a chair and cut her chin open. There was blood (lots). There were screams (lots). There was a fast and frantic drive to the hospital. There was fainting (me!). It was awful.

My toddler has a large haemangioma on her left arm. It is a big bump just above the elbow (technically it’s an overgrowth of blood vessels). They couldn’t put the drip in her left arm. And the veins in her right arm weren’t straight enough for a drip. So after several attempts, and lots more screaming, the drip went in her foot.

By this time, she seemed more upset about the hospital procedures than the gash under her chin. 

And we were pretty upset by it all too. (I know it’s a parental rite of passage, but when it’s your little one on the table, it is just unbearable). I actually fainted when they were injecting the local anaesthetic around her cut. So embarrassing. They shoved me in a wheelchair and made me lie on a bed in another cubicle. Yes, I’m very squeamish!

Our little girl now has five stitches under her chin. She might end up with a scar just like her Dad’s. In exactly the same place.

Thankfully, it wasn’t more serious and, like all little ones, she is incredibly resilient. And so very brave. Hopefully I’ll be more brave when the stitches come out on Saturday!

And, on a completely different note, where do other mums find time to go to the gym? We have gym membership through our medical insurance and I’m keen to start going regularly. But I’ve been saying this for weeks. And I can no longer rely on breastfeeding as my main calorie-burner! 

So, mums (and dads), I need to know: Do you work out? When? And where – are you a gym girl or an outdoor runner? Pilates or team sports? How do you manage to fit exercise in around all your other Mama-demands?